Religious experience and behaviour can be understood in many different ways. In religious psychology, the focus is on the psychological process in religion: how can it be explained that human beings have religious experiences in their development, through their inner and outer relationships, in interactions between individuals, groups and institutions? This volume briefly examines the elementary topics, questions and problems involved in a psychoanalytically oriented psychology of religion and their significance for practical theology. The hermeneutic concern of the text is oriented towards the practical world of church, school, culture and society. It also offers fresh stimuli for interdisciplinary dialogue.

Dr. Matthias Marks is a Minister in the Protestant Church of Westphalia.