Where psychology meets religion and culture: remarks on Jacob A. Belzen's “Towards cultural psychology of religion: principles, approaches and applications”

Abstract

Jacob A. Belzen's Towards cultural psychology of religion: principles, approaches and applications is the most important book on the topic to date and offers an excellent overview of theoretical, methodological, and historical aspects of the psychology of religion and cultural psychology. In this commentary, I concur with Belzen's main arguments and offer additional support for them by presenting a historical perspective that allows us to see his suggestions as the latest and most refined approach within a meritorious tradition of social scientific thinking. My critical comments pertain to the inadequate integration of concerns stated by indigenous psychology.