1. The Beginnings
Edwin Starbuck
The Psychology of Religion, 1899

2. Psychology as the Behaviorist Sees It, 1913
John B. Watson
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select – doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief and, yes, even beggar-man and thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and race of his ancestors. I am going beyond my facts and I admit it, but so have the advocates of the contrary and they have been doing it for many thousands of years.
Psychology as the Behaviorist Sees It, 1913

3. William James Father of Psychology First U.S. laboratory
Principles of Psychology (1890)
The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)

4. The Middle Period--Fear
Some religious leaders feared:
1. naturalistic explanations of behavior
2. determinism and issues of human responsibility
3. humanistic views of human nature
4. sex and Freudian notions
5. feelings
Some psychologists were fearful because of:
1. superficial understanding of religious faith
2. their identity problem
3. unclear perceptions
4. time constraints

5. Contemporary Period Trends of growth in the field:
1. Academic journals
2. Psychology of Religions text books
3. Important articles and books
4. Graduate programs
5. Professional organizations