Before the 'After' in 'After World Religions' : Wilfred Cantwell Smith on the meaning and end of religion

Writing the Foreword to a book with a title that begins with the word ‘After’ suggests that I should reflect on what comes ‘before’ the ‘after’ in the title. In their Introduction, however, Christopher Cotter and David Robertson have done just that by succinctly and clearly describing the historical background to and the development of the World Religions Paradigm (WRP). This leaves me with the problem as to what I can add in a Foreword to a book in which the Introduction sets out the compelling academic need to analyse, critique and eventually demolish the WRP (although Cotter and Robertson demonstrate that many academics tenaciously resist all efforts to challenge the paradigm and continue to produce books that are devoted to outlining the history and beliefs of the ‘big five’, or sometimes six, so-called world religions).