What does it mean to study religion?

One of the most difficult aspects of studying world religious traditions is defining what a religion is.

There is no consensus on this definition.

Although it seems as though this would be fundamental to undertaking any study of religion, there exist many different definitions and views of what constitutes a religion. How do you define religion? What images come to mind when you think of religion? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH-aWbybeOU

Emile Durkheim

William James

The Elementary Forms of Religious Life

Durkheim defines religions as a "unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things (31) According to Durkheim, sacred things are things "set apart and forbidden beliefs and practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them (37) These arent limited to just gods or spirits "a rock, a tree, a spring, a pebble, a piece of wood, a house, in a word, anything can be sacred (40-41)

The Varieties of Religious Experience

James defines religion in this way, "the feelings, acts, and experiences of individual men in their solitude, so far as they apprehend themselves to stand in relation to whatever they may consider the divine. (31) James takes the term "divine" to mean "any object that is godlike, whether it be a concrete deity or not (34) which individual people react to in a solemn and grave manner.

What are some of the similarities in Durkheim and James definitions of religion? What are some of the differences? What could account for the differences?