PSYC 452 Psychology and Religion

A greatly expanded and updated reference work that builds on the foundation of the highly successful previous edition. and continues to offer a rich contribution to the development of human self-understanding. This reference work provides a definitive and intellectually rigorous collection of psychological interpretations of the stories, rituals, motifs, symbols, doctrines, dogmas, and experiences of the world's religious and mythological traditions. A broad range of psychological approaches are used in order to help readers understand the form and content of religious experience as well as offer insight into the meanings of religious symbols and themes. It provides a technical and phenomenological vocabulary that will enable collaboration and dialogue among researchers in both fields.

One of the world's most famous psychologists, Argyle ranges over the whole of psychology to look at the results of psychology's study of religion including those of his own important experiments. Psychology and Religion is full of fascinating and surprising insights into people and their religious worlds.

This book surveys the major theoretical positions in the psychology of religion. William James, Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Gordon Allport, Abraham Maslow, Erich Fromm, Alan Watts, and Viktor Frankl are each accorded an entire chapter.

This two-volume handbook presents the most comprehensive coverage of the current state of the psychology of religion and spirituality.

In this hypothetical correspondence with a student, Jeeves argues that we must avoid false choices in the relation between Scripture and science. Christians need not choose between a "God of the gaps" that competes with science, a "neurotheology" that bases our understanding of God on the latest scientific theory, or a scientific reductionism that claims to have explained God away as a mere function of the brain. Students encountering the brave new world of neuroscience need not view such research as a threat to the faith.

This introductory guide, drawn from more than fifty years of classroom experience, provides students with a coherent framework for considering psychology from a Christian perspective. The authors explore biblical themes of human nature in relation to all major areas of psychology, showing how a Christian understanding of humans can inform the study of psychology.