Psychological approach to religion:
How might faith provide psychological consolation in suffering and trauma (pp. 13-14)?
Sigmund Freud (pp. 28-30), founder of psychoanalysis, “argued that religion was ‘wish
fulfillment,’ ‘an illusion’ that would disappear as people evolved into more rational
beings. According to Freud, religious belief projects onto the external world a God…who dispels
the terror of nature and gives us comfort in the darkness of death….These are ideas we
desperately want to be true.”(p. 29) “Consequently, for Freud, religion was the result of a
neurosis, which could only be overcome by the scientific method…Religious resurgence,
however, has been happening all over the world, even in the most scientifically oriented
societies.” (p. 30)
Why do you think religion has grown instead of disappearing, as Freud predicted?
Sociological approach to religion:
