Customer Reviews

The Psychology of Religion, Third Edition: An Empirical Approach

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This book is _the_ reference on the topic of the psychology of religion. The reference section itself is worth the price of the book! As a text, it would be more appropriate to a graduate level than an undergraduate level class, but then few schools offer a class on the subject at all. However, anyone interested in pursuing this topic would do well to have a copy of this book on their shelf, preferably within reach at all times.

First of all, I consider this book a "Must", in every theologian's, psychologist's, sociologist's, or researcher's in humanities book collection. It's got tons of information on various subjects, by dozens of researchers on the field, of the past and the present. It's referring to a lot of empirical research, with tables as accompanying features. It's good for the beginning and seasoned researcher, as well.

The only drawbacks, I've seen, are the minor mispellings and syntax errors, which sometimes (when you're trying to figure out what's the meaning of a theory, or to find the correct reference article at the back of the book) get annoying. But that's all in the "game"! Besides, we should all read the "original text", if we wish to understand something correctly! ;D

Wow jeez dam - this is a college student coming out of a PSY Religions class (undergraduate thank you very much!!). This is definately an empirical approach. Studies, references, surveys gALORE! This is really great when studying religion, which can be so ...wishy-washy I'll say. I agree with the other commentor -the references are quite valuable when studying in this area, and a lot of other studies as well. Spilka et. al. do a wonderful job of succinctly speaking on what seems to be nearly every highly desired topic in the subject, and more. WELL DONE SPILKA AND those-of-you-who-don't-get-your-name-in-the-reference-and-have-to-settle-with-ET-AL...YA ET ALS!!!!