本文主要討論「宗教是什麼？」以及「如何研究它？」兩個近來宗教學界爭論不休的問題。本文首先質疑啟蒙時代以來將宗教物化的「科學化約論」觀點，也指出將「研究者」與「信仰者」對立的三元架構有其根本的弊病。本文提出，對於宗教的認知與詮釋，宜將其視為類似音樂更為適當，此不但在個人私密的心理層次，在群體的儀式場域亦有其解釋效力。為論證此觀點，本論文在前項層次上探討士萊爾馬赫（Fri edrichSchleiermacher）、奧圖（Rudolf Otto）、詹姆士（William James）的宗教理論，而在後項層次上，則援引古里利（Andrew M. Greeley）和舒茲（Alfred Sch）的社會學理論作為說明。本文強調，「人」是宗教的主體，宗教的表現，縱然多元複雜，但細膩、敏感、整體卻是其共同特徵，此是宗教的本質，也是研究宗教必須考慮的前提。將宗教類比於音樂，正可以保存宗教的主體性與完整性，亦可提醒研究者不可忽略傾聽、專業知識、融入參與和其身為轉介角色之重要性。

This paper explores What is Religion? and How to Study It?, two questions that have again captured great attention among scholars of religion in recent decades. It first refutes scientific reductionism as a product of the Enlightenment that tends to reify religion. It also questions the dualistic mode of thinking that separates the researcher from the believer. Instead, it proposes a thesis that linkens religion to music, considering it essential both from epistemological and hermeneutic points of view. To substantiate this stance, the paper proceeds on two levels, one individual or psychological, the other corporate. For the former, it draws on the theories brought about by Friedrich Schleiermacher, Rudolf Otto, and WilliamJames as support For the latter, it refers to the insights of Andrew M. Greeley and Alfred Schutz for inspiration. All in all, the paper affirms that human agency is the subject and the centrality of religion. Although religious expressions are diverse, human religiosity is universallydelicate, sensitive, and holistic. It is highly appropriate, the paper argues, to compare it to the learning of music, if one intends to understand it This analogical approach, the paper concludes, views religion as an integral whole and, as well, reminds the researcher of the importance of such indispensable commitments as attentive listening, participation, and his or her role as an interpretive mediator.