Regardless of whether or not religion and psychology are ready to join forces, many argue that it is slowly happening. For example, William James studied religious experience and suggested that the spiritual process works to curtail people’s negative behaviors (James, 1936). For James, spirituality helps individuals recognize their own earthly suffering as either a consequence of individual pathology or addictive behavior, or both. When people begin to criticize or consciously reject problematic individual behaviors as a permanent way of being, then they become open to the possibility of rising to a higher awareness. This higher awareness of his or her own behavior is then integrated as a part of the person’s psychology. James was already considering the role religion plays in a person’s consciousness early in the twentieth century. Alfred Adler, another pioneer of psychology, believed that our ideas about God are important indicators of how we view the world (Ansbacher H., & Ansbacher R., 1956). According to Adler these ideas have changed over time as our vision of the world and our place in it has changed. Adler suggested religion was of importance because our view of God embodies our goals and directs our social interactions. Compared to science, Adler believed that religion was more advanced because it motivates people more effectively. Religion exerts a great influence on our social environment and is important as an agent of social change. According to Adler, only when science begins to capture the same intensity as religion, and promotes the welfare of all segments of society, will the two be more equal in people’s eyes. Not all of the pioneers of psychology agree with the blending of religion and psychology. Sigmund Freud, for example, viewed religion as originating in children’s relationship to their fathers. Therefore, many cultures view God as a Heaven...
