The Need to Believe. The Psychology of Religion: By Mortimer Ostow and Ben-Ami Scharfstein. (New York: International Universities Press, 1954. Pp. 162. $3.00.)

This short book is popular in the sense that it could be read without any previous knowledge of psycho-analysis, but it gives a lucid account of some of the more important aspects of the psychology of religion. The authors wish to present facts rather than to defend a special point of view, but they have definite views to offer. In their opinion, religion has positive psychic and society-protective functions. These include the gratification of otherwise unacceptable passive wishes, the dissipation of unconscious guilt, and the maintenance of the social conscience without which no society could remain stable. The similarity between ritual and compulsive behaviour can be over-emphasized because ritual 'is a practical instrument of ethics. When effective it not only curbs, but also helps to create the desire to serve the community …' (p. 101). While admitting that psychiatry cannot prove or disprove many religious claims, good and bad religions are distinguished mainly on the ground of their social usefulness. Moreover 'Believing is almost as necessary to humans as eating'. 'The particular metaphors in which we define our experience always change, but there is never any change in the need of society to enlist the conscience of its members, or of the individual to believe more than he can prove.' (p. 155)