Steven Loza explores how the iconic aspects of religion transcend mere symbolism with a collection of essays that examine the arts and their relationship to religious belief in three cultural areas of the world: the Mexican mestizo belief in the Virgen de Guadalupe, the West African Yoruba religion''s base in a divination system of orishas, and the Sufi sect of Islam''s musical/textual practices of devotional ecstasy to God. The essays included here were originally presented at the 2004 international conference "Towards a Theory for Religion as Art: Guadalupe, Orishas, and Sufi," organized by the Arts of the Americas Institute at the University of New Mexico. While they reflect the interdisciplinary design and dialogue of the conference, the essays also reveal that many of the arts are conceptualized cross-culturally, ranging from visual art and poetry to music and dance, and offer comparative studies of their relationships to society, politics, and culture in general. Contributors to Religion as Art:Gregory A. Cajete, University of New Mexico, AlbuquerqueTimothy Canova, Chapman University, Orange, CaliforniaMartinus Cawley, Guadalupe Trappist Abbey, Lafayette, OregonFrancisco Crespo, University of California, Los AngelesLorena Díaz Núñez, Centro Nacional de Investigación, Documentación e Información Musical, Mexico CityAkin Euba, University of PittsburghFrancisco Miranda Godínez, Colegio de Michoacán, MexicoJuan Gómez-Quiñones, University of California, Los AngelesLinda B. Hall, University of New Mexico, AlbuquerqueClarence Henry, University of KansasRay Hernández-Durán, University of New Mexico, AlbuquerqueTeresa Marrero, University of North TexasOrlando Ricardo Menes, University of Notre DameMargaret Montoya, University of New Mexico, AlbuquerqueCharles Moore, Long Beach State University, CaliforniaLuis A. Payan, University of Texas, El PasoStafford Poole, C.M., Los AngelesA. J. Racy, University of California, Los AngelesJoe Sando, Jemez Pueblo, New MexicoJanice Schuetz, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque Robert Stevenson, University of California, Los AngelesSylvia Tan, University of California, Los AngelesMaria Williams, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque