Spirituality and Counseling Book Report

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Religion & Psychology

In the book Invitation to the Psychology of Religion, author Raymond Paloutzian assesses and carefully examines scholarship that links religion and psychology. Philosophers and psychologists have raised questions and looked for answers over the centuries about religion, denominations, personal faith and God's role. In Paloutzian's book the approach is scholarly and meticulous. This paper reports three differences and similarities between religion and psychology.

Psychology and Religion -- Similarities and Differences

In clarifying personal vs. institutional religious behavior, Paloutzian explains that a person may well be part of religious "social group" that is in effect a religious institution. That individual, for the sake of illustration, could be Jewish. He attends a synagogue and participates socially with others within the Jewish faith. But there is also a psychological process taking place within the individual that serves to differentiate between one believer and another believer. Paloutzian points to the possibility that one person within that social religious organization may believe that God hears and answers prayer -- while another in the group of believers may not fully accept that concept. That second person may believe that the act of praying is a good way to release deep psychological thoughts but he may not really believe God is listening.

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In terms of the Jewish faith, both individuals are members (similarities), but when it comes to the psychological side of a practicing believer, there are distinct differences. Hence, the religious similarity is they both practice the Jewish faith and the difference is they have very different ways of participating psychologically in the same religious institution (Paloutzian, 1996, p. 9).

On page 57 Paloutzian finds similarities between psychology and religion as he explains that both psychological and religious behavior function on the "…assumption that behavior…and the things we choose to do of our own free will…" results from "natural cause-effect laws." He goes on to point out that each act a person engages in is determined by natural cause-effect laws, and that particular act would be repeated given similar conditions.

Paloutzian projects a scenario in which a person has "a sudden religious conversion" (64). The question he poses is this: if there is a psychological explanation for this conversion and also a psychological explanation (in face both explanations were valid), can they both be valid explanations? The psychological explanation….....

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