Teaching a course on religions of the world is challenging, especially considering the cogent critiques of that paradigm and the history of its construction. In our courses and text, we have employed a strategy comparing different representations of a single religion to help students develop analytical and critical thinking skills. Within this approach, we employ a functionalist methodology that addresses how each representation of a religion empowers particular groups as well as how the practices and ideas within each religion function. Organizing a course and textbook in this fashion coordinates with assignments that ask students to compare the construction and functions of different representations of the same religion, thus reinforcing to students that no single description of a religion is complete or free from individual and group interests.