Studying Religion by Finngeir Hiorth, Lima: EFA, 2000, pp. 205 (Spanish version of the original one in English by Human-Etisk Forbund  St. Olavsgt. 27, N-0166 Oslo, Norway, 2000. Web page: www..human.no.
E-mail: info@human.no).

This book gives an introduction to the scientific study of religion.
In the history of scientific studies of religions, 1870 is an important year.  That year the German born Sanskrit scholar Friedrich Max Müller, professor at Oxford University, delivered a lecture in London in which he advocated the establishment of a science of religion.  This lecture was followed by similar lectures and in 1873 they were published as Introduction to the Science of Religion.
The first chapter, Basic Concepts, gives a short introduction to the scientific study of religion by discussing such concepts as religion itself, deism, pantheism, classical theism, and the God of the Bible.  Chapter 2 then gives a survey of the historical beginnings of the science of religion.  More or less serious studies of religion had, of course, occurred many years before Max Müller proposed a new approach.  Chapter 2 is mainly devoted to some early scholars who in different ways contributed with important studies in the new science of religion.
An important figure in these early studies of religion is the American psychologist and philosopher William James.  His contributions to the study of religion are surveyed in chapter 3, whereas chapter 4 is devoted to pioneers like Freud, Adler and Jung.  Chapter 5 traces further developments in the psychology of religion, whereas chapter 6 is devoted to some anthropological studies of religion.  There are many social anthropologists who have been seriously interested in religion and who have contributed with thorough studies of religion in the societies which they have investigated, so chapter 6 only gives some glimpses into this rich field of research.The final two chapters, 7 and 8, are devoted to sociological and philosophical aspects of the study of religion, both vast subjects in themselves.
Religion frequently claims to deal with the deepest questions of mankind, but it ordinarily does so without paying much or any attention to the sciences, and often with a total lack of rigorous thinking.  Religions are much older than the sciences and for many centuries mankind had to have recourse to mythologies when they needed scientific explanations.

Contents

Preface 3

1. Basic Concepts 8
The Etymology of the Word "Religion" 8, Short Definitions of
Religion 8, "Religion-Making" Characteristics 10,
Types of Religion 13, Deism 15, Pantheism 18,
Baruch Spinoza 19, Panentheism 20, Michael P. Levine 20,
Paul Harrison 21, The Pantheist Credo 21,
Classical Theism 22, The God of the Bible 25.

2. Beginnings of the Science of Religion 31
Antecedents of the Science of Religion 31, Müller and the Science of Religion 34, John Lubbock, Edward B. Tylor, and Andrew Lang 36, James G. Frazer 40, Emile Durkheim 43, Rudolf Otto and the Holy 47.

3. William James 51
William James 51, Varieties of Religious Experience 51, Pragmatism 55, Conclusions 59.

4. Freud, Adler and Jung 62
Sigmund Freud and Religion 62, Basic Views and Concepts 62, Religion 64, The Future of an Illusion 67,
Moses and Monotheism 71, Freud and Psychology 71, Concluding Remarks on Freud 73, Alfred Adler 76,
Carl Gustav Jung 76, Life and Main Ideas 76,
Psychology and Religion 77, Concluding Remarks on Jung 80.

5. Psychology and Religion 62
Some Notes on the History of the Psychology of Religion 81, Granville Stanley Hall 81, James H. Leuba 81,
Edwin Diller Starbuck 81, James Bissett Pratt 82,
Erich Fromm 83, Introductions to and Surveys of the Psychology of Religion 85, Robert H. Thouless 85,
Hjalmar Sundén 85, Jörgen Hviid 85, L.B. Brown 85,
Josef Rattner 89, Atle Roness 90, Bob Altemeyer and
Bruce Hunsberger 91, David M. Wulff 91.

6. Anthropology and Religion 93
Stewart Guthrie 93, Robin Horton 100,
Brian Morris 103.

7. Sociology and Religion 104
Auguste Comte 104, Herbert Spencer 105,
Max Weber 107, J. Milton Yinger 109, Bible Believers 11 3,
Secularization 120, Secularization in General 120,
The World Christian Encyclopedia 121, Western Countries 123,
Communist Countries 124, Islamic Countries 124,
Black Africa 124, Latin America 125, Asia 125,
Thirteen Western Countries and Japan 127,
Comments on the Results of the Encyclopedia 128,
Japan 129, Indonesia 130, "Statistical" Religious Believers 130,
Another Look at Secularists and Secularization 131,
Conclusion 132.

8. Philosophy and Religion 133
Religion and Morality 134, Religion and Morality
in General 134, Biblical Morality 136,
Divine Command Theory 139, Religion and Science 140,
Faith and Reason 142, Theology and Revelation 145,
Mysticism 150.

Literature 153

Other books by Finngeir Hiorth published by EDICIONES DE FILOSOFIA APLICADA (All translations from English into Spanish):

-Introduction to Atheism
-Introduction to Humanism
-Ethics for atheists
-Values
-Big Bang or no Bang? Science, Religion & Philosophy