Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/140

 RFJIEWS.

A PsYCHOLOOicA?. Stidv OF RELIGION. Its Origin, Function, and Future. By jami:> H. Leuba. New York : ALacmillan Co., 1 91 2. Sm. 8v', pp. xiv + 371. 2$ n.

This book is a good illustration of the effective application of the principles of psychology to the investigation of the qrigins of primitive beliefs. There is much in it which is beyond the scope of this review, — the relation of religion to morality and theology, the latest forms of religion and its future, as illustrated by the revival in western lands of Buddhism, Christian Science, and the like. But enough remains to constitute an important contribution to the investigation of primitive beliefs. The book is so closely packed with matters of interest that it must be read as a whole. Here it is possible only to give a summary of the main conclusion.^, and that, as far as possible, in the author's own words.

F"irst comes an attempt to define " religion " : — " Religion is that part of human experience in which man feels himself in relation with powers of psychic nature, usually personal powers, and makes use of them. In its active forms, it is a mode of behaviour, aiming, in common with all human activities, at the gratification of needs, desires, and yearnings. It is, therefore, a part of the struggle for life. ... In its objective aspect, active religion consists of attitudes, practices, rites, ceremonies, institu- tions : in its subjective aspect, it consists of desires, emotions, and ideas, instigating and accompanying these objective mani- festations" (pp. 52 et seq.). "The reason for the existence of religion is not the objective truth of its conceptions, but its biological value. This value is to be estimated by its success in