Religion in Mind : Cognitive Perspectives on Religious Belief, Ritual, and Experience

Rating:
Summary: A new paradigm for religion and psychological studies?
Review: This is an anthology for scholars interested in cognitive psychology as applied to the study of religion. It requires some familiarity with the field, and a few of the essays are very very dense. Unlike most previous attempts to link psychology and religion or spirituality, this avoids personality theory and clinical counseling models, and focuses on the research in cognitive psych that has been done over the last few decades. The application to religious studies depends on philosophical choices about methods, definitions and concepts. Not all of these will make specialists in religious studies happy, since some seem to ignore developments in that field over the last several decades. For a comparison, look to "Religion and Psychological Studies: Mapping the Terrain" edited by Parsons and Jonte-Pace, which is a quite different account of "the field."
My reason for giving "Religion in Mind" 3 stars is that I just do not know if this is the wave of the future for this area, or one more attempt to create a new scholarly field out of an intrinsically undisciplined set of interests and concerns.

Rating:
Summary: A new paradigm for religion and psychological studies?
Review: This is an anthology for scholars interested in cognitive psychology as applied to the study of religion. It requires some familiarity with the field, and a few of the essays are very very dense. Unlike most previous attempts to link psychology and religion or spirituality, this avoids personality theory and clinical counseling models, and focuses on the research in cognitive psych that has been done over the last few decades. The application to religious studies depends on philosophical choices about methods, definitions and concepts. Not all of these will make specialists in religious studies happy, since some seem to ignore developments in that field over the last several decades. For a comparison, look to "Religion and Psychological Studies: Mapping the Terrain" edited by Parsons and Jonte-Pace, which is a quite different account of "the field."
My reason for giving "Religion in Mind" 3 stars is that I just do not know if this is the wave of the future for this area, or one more attempt to create a new scholarly field out of an intrinsically undisciplined set of interests and concerns.