The first part of the course introduces the different methods for studying religion and then identifies the specificity of phenomenology and philosophy of religion and their methods. This is followed by a presentation of the problem of the universality and origins of the religious phenomenon, whose proposed resolution is to come from first-person phenomenology, which seeks to grasp the essence of religion in religious experience, and comparative (third-person) phenomenology, which identifies the structural and functional dimensions of religion (narrative, artistic, ritual, social, doctrinal, and ethical). The second part of the course seeks the ultimate causes of religion, as well as its meaning for human life, as individual persons and as members of society. The question about the method and limits of the sciences of religion will be addressed through a historical look at insufficient reductionist interpretations of the religious phenomenon, and denials of the value of religion (atheism, secularism, fideism). In dialogue with neo-Scholastic metaphysics, as well as existentialist and personalist anthropology, a resolutio of the religious phenomenon will be sought in its quasi-material (human nature and person open to the Absolute and to Revelation), formal (the essential definition of “religion,” including a necessary approximation to truth), efficient (habits and tradition), and final (glory of God, salvation and justice) causes. The course will conclude with the application of the above findings to propose orientative schemes to solve current problems in contemporary pluralistic societies: religious freedom, interreligious dialogue, and the role of religion in society and politics.