This book examines the role of religious and spiritual experiences in people’s understanding of their environment. The contributors consider how understandings and experiences of religious and place connections are motivated by the need to seek and maintain contact with perceptual objects, so as to form meaningful relationship experiences. The volume is one of the first scholarly attempts to discuss the psychological links between place and religious experiences.The chapters within provide insights for understanding how people’s experiences with geographical places and the sacred serve as agencies for meaning-making, pro-social behaviour, and psychological adjustment in everyday life.

Over a century ago, psychologists who were fascinated with religion began to study and write about it. Theologians and religious practitioners have responded to this literature, producing a fascinating dialogue that deals with our fundamental und- standings about the human person and our place in the world. This book provides an introduction to the important conversations that have developed out of these interchanges. The dialogue between psychology and religion is difficult to study for a number of reasons. First, it requires knowledge of both psychology and religion. People with a background in psychology often lack a solid understanding of the religious traditions they wish to study, and theologians may not be up to date on the latest developments in psychology. Second, it requires conceptual tools to organize the material and understand the basic problems involved in any attempt to connect the science of psychology with religion. These concepts can be found in many places, for instance in the writings of philosophers of science, but they are complex and often hard to follow for those without a proper theological and philosophical ba- ground. Finally, authors who write on the topic come to the study of psychology and religion from a variety of academic and personal backgrounds. This makes for wonderful diversity in conversations, but it makes understanding and mastery of the material quite difficult.

This unique collection highlights the importance of landscape, politics and piety to our understandings of religion and place. The geographies of religion have developed rapidly in the last couple of decades and this book provides both a conceptual framing of the key issues and debates involved, and rich illustrations through empirical case studies. The chapters span the discipline of human geography and cover contexts as diverse as veiling in Turkey, religious landscapes in rural Peru, and refugees and faith in South Africa. A number of prominent scholars and emerging researchers examine topical themes in each engaging chapter with significant foci being: religious transnationalism and religious landscapes; gendering of religious identities and contexts; fashion, faith and the body; identity, resistance and belief; immigrant identities, citizenship and spaces of belief; alternative spiritualities and places of retreat and enchantment. Together they make a series of important contributions that illuminate the central role of geography to the meaning and implications of lived religion, public piety and religious embodiment. As such, this collection will be of much interest to researchers and students working on topics relating to religion and place, including human geographers, sociologists, religious studies and religious education scholars.

In the past four decades or so, the so-called psychology of religion – after having been deemed extinct, impossible or unlikely – has risen to prominence again: the number of publications is rapidly growing, an impressive secondary literature (handbooks, introductions, etc.) is available already, infrastructure has been developed (a number of new journals devoted to the subject have been founded, organizations have been established, increasingly funding is going to the area), attracting many new researchers. Organizations like the American Psychological Association are now publishing in the field of psychology of religion (and its Div. 36 [“psych of rel”] with almost 3,000 members is already midsized among the APA-divisions). This book documents this re-emergence and development.

The third edition of this successful book, which applies the science of psychology to problems of religion. Dr Thouless explores such questions as: why do people believe? Why are their beliefs often held with irrational strength? How are changes in belief systems related to mental health? What are reasonable attitudes towards alternative belief systems? This edition includes samples of the experimental and statistical studies of religious problems, including the author's own study of the strength of religious beliefs. This edition also pays more attention to the problems of non-Christian religious systems, with special consideration given to the problems of mutual toleration. Finally Dr Thouless considers whether it is reasonable for modern man to adhere to any religious belief system. This is an excellent textbook for students of the social sciences, particularly psychology and theology, and will also interest the general reader who has an intellectual curiosity about religion.

This book presents an integrated review and critical analysis of the recent research in the positive psychology of religion, with focus on the positive psychology of religion across different cultures and religions. The book provides a review of the literature on different contributions of religion and spirituality to positive functioning and well-being and reviews religions across the world, including Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism, Native American religions, and Hinduism. It fills a unique place in the market’s increasing interest and demand in the psychology of religion, as well as positive psychology. While the target audience is researchers, scholars, and students in psychology, cross-cultural studies, religious studies, and social sciences, it will be useful for anyone interested in better understanding the contributions of religion and culture in subjective well-being.