The relations between psychology and religion are rather complex. Some of the most important work that was done when psychology emerged as a scientific field of study in the late 19th and early 20th centuries took as its topic of investigation religious phenomena and beliefs. We cannot properly understand the relations between psychology and religion unless we become familiar with this history. Fortunately, excellent work has been done with precisely this aim in mind, particularly with regard to the psychology of religion. Beyond any doubt, the best text book in the psychology of religion is David M. Wulff’s Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary.[1] However, the relations between psychology and religion are not exhausted by the psychology of religion, for religion is not merely a subject for psychological research. Among religious thinkers and writings, we often find reflections on psychological phenomena, so, just as we can discuss the psychological study of religious phenomena, we could also investigate the religious study of psychological phenomena.
[1] David M. Wulff, Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary, 2nd ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997).
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