Agreed on not just choosing a school for the POI, there are other important factors, but I have literally heard the exact opposite on "name brand." Scholars in the field, who will be on your hiring committee, aren't going to be starstruck by a Harvard Ph.D just because it's from Harvard. What will impress them is evidence of high quality research. I think they would much rather hire a Ph.D from a "non-brand" institution which has a solid Religion department and whose research has obviously benefited from good mentoring rather than hiring a Harvard Ph.D for the sake of the name. (Disclaimer: no hate on Harvard)