CHAPTER III

The Christian Faith and Psychology

The Psychology of Religion: its precursors and founders 89

I. The Psychology of Religious Experience: points emphasized in the discussion 92 1. The normality of religion 92 2. The power of religion in the individual and in society 96 3. The need of salvation 100 4. The way of salvation 102

II. The Metaphysical Implicates of Religious Experience 105 1. The Physical Explanation: religion the result of bodily conditions; religion and sex 106 2. The Psychological Explanation: religion and the subconscious 111 3. The Social Explanation: religion and society 114 4. The Theistic Infer enc 119 The Pragmatic Argument for Theism 119 The Mystical Argument: its strength and its weakness 120 The Evidence of Christian Experience 122