Psychology of religion consists of the application of psychological methods and interpretive frameworks to the diverse contents of religious traditions as well as to both religious and irreligious individuals. The various methods and frameworks can be summarized according to the classic distinction between the natural-scientific and human-scientific approaches. The first cluster amounts to objective, quantitative, and preferably experimental procedures for testing hypotheses about causal connections among the objects of one's study. In contrast, the human-scientific approach accesses the human world of experience using qualitative, phenomenological, and interpretive methods. This approach aims to discern meaningful, rather than causal, connections among the phenomena one seeks to understand.
The study of religiosity and intelligence explores the link between religiosity and intelligence or educational level. Religiosity and intelligence are both complex topics that include diverse variables, and the interactions among those variables are not always well understood. For instance, intelligence is often defined differently by different researchers; also, all scores from intelligence tests are only estimates of intelligence, because one cannot achieve concrete measurements of intelligence due to the concept’s abstract nature. Religiosity is also complex, in that it involves wide variations of interactions of religious beliefs, practices, behaviors, and affiliations, across a diverse array of cultures.
Ronald M. Enroth was a professor of sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, and an evangelical Christian author of books concerning what he defined as "cults" and "new religious movements" and important figure in the Christian countercult movement.
Christian counseling is distinct from secular counseling. According to the International Association of Biblical Counselors, Biblical counseling "seeks to carefully discover those areas in which a Christian may be disobedient to the principles and commands of Scripture and to help him learn how to lovingly submit to God's will." Christian counselors, therefore, approach psychology through the lens of the Bible. They see the Bible as the source of all truth.
Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by Johns Hopkins University Press. It was established in 1993 as the Christian Spirituality Bulletin: Journal of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and obtained its current title in 2001. It is the official publication of the Society for the Study of Christian Spirituality and covers research on Christian spirituality while fostering creative dialogue with non-Christian traditions. As such, it explores the relationship between spirituality and cultural analysis using the disciplines of history, philosophy, theology, and psychology, among others. The journal includes original articles, reviews, and translations. Readership includes academics as well as a general audience. The editor-in-chief is Steven Chase.
The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Psychological Association that was established in 1965. It covers the fields of social and personality psychology. The editors-in-chief are Shinobu Kitayama, Colin Wayne Leach, and Richard E. Lucas.
The Collected Worksof C. G. Jung is a book series containing the first collected edition, in English translation, of the major writings of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung.
Etzel Cardeña is the Thorsen Professor of Psychology at Lund University, Sweden where he is Director of the Centre for Research on Consciousness and Anomalous Psychology (CERCAP). He has served as President of the Society of Psychological Hypnosis, and the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis. He is the current editor of the Journal of Parapsychology. He has expressed views in favour of open scientific enquiry and the validity of some paranormal phenomena. The Parapsychological Association honored Cardena with the 2013 Charles Honorton Integrative Contributions Award. His publications include the books Altering Consciousness and Varieties of Anomalous Experience.
Donald Eric Capps was an American theologian and William Harte Felmeth Professor of Pastoral Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Narendra Nath Sen Gupta was a Harvard-educated Indian psychologist, philosopher, and professor, who is generally recognized as the founder of modern psychology in India along with Indian Scientist Gunamudian David Boaz. In 1916 he established the First independent department of psychology in India–the Department of Experimental Psychology, at the University of Calcutta, the second being in University of Madras by Dr.Gunamudian David Boaz.
Handbook of Religion and Health is a scholarly book about the relation of spirituality and religion with physical and mental health. Written by Harold G. Koenig, Michael E. McCullough, and David B. Larson, the book was published in the United States in 2001. The book has been discussed in magazines and reviewed in professional journals.
David Oscar Moberg is an American Christian scholar, who is Emeritus Professor of Sociology at Marquette University. His areas of specialization included methodology in qualitative research, sociology of religion, sociology of American evangelicals, ageing and religion (gerontology).
The Journal of Contemporary Religion is a triannual peer-reviewed academic journal which covers anthropological, sociological, psychological and philosophical aspects of religion.
The Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS), founded in 1956, is an association of American Christians in the counseling and behavioral sciences. It holds a yearly conference and publishes the Journal of Psychology and Christianity, which is indexed in psychological and other scholarly databases.
J. Harold Ellens was a psychologist and theologian. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Psychology and Christianity and also the Executive Director of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies International from 1974 to 1989. He was one of the key figures in psychological biblical criticism and served as Chair of the Psychology and Biblical Studies Section of the Society of Biblical Literature.
The Journal of the American Academy of Religion, formerly the Journal of Bible and Religion, is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The JAAR was established in 1966, and like the AAR itself, emphasizes a more inclusive religious studies approach to religion rather than a narrower approach emphasizing only social science. It is generally considered the flagship journal for the field of religious studies. It covers current work in religious studies, including the full range of world religious traditions, methodological studies, and book reviews.
Religious Studies is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Cambridge University Press. It addresses problems of the philosophy of religion in the context of a variety of religious traditions. Issues were published approximately biannually from the journal's founding in 1965 until 1969, and have been quarterly since 1970.
Historical Reflections is a peer-reviewed academic journal of history published by Berghahn Books. Established in 1974, the journal publishes articles in both English and French. HR/RH promotes interdisciplinary and comparative scholarship, including historical approaches to the intersection of art, literature, and the social sciences, as well as mentalities and intellectual and religious movements. The editor-in-chief is independent scholar Elisabeth Macknight. The co-editor is Brian Newsome of Georgia College & State University.
Faith and Health: Psychological Perspectives is a book of scientific psychology on the relationship between religious faith and health. Edited by Thomas G. Plante and Allen C. Sherman, the book was published in the United States in 2001.
David Gordon Benner is a Canadian depth psychologist, author and teacher.
