The existence or nonexistence of God is completely and totally irrelevant. That is, specifically in this context, even though people love to argue about the existence or nonexistence of God, from a psychological perspective or a “scientific” point of view the existence or nonexistence of God is irrelevant. Freud argued that the only correct and proper scientific approach to religious beliefs and spirituality would be a "functional" approach. That is, since one cannot put God or Spirit under a microscope being that both of those have a transcendental characteristic beyond ordinary scientific measurement or quantification, then the existence or nonexistence of God become a moot question and irrelevant to a very large extent to any proper psychological analysis. Further, assuming that Freud was correct then the function of religious beliefs must then be sought in the influence on human consciousness, in one form or another.
I should mention in passing that I have had a handful or two of "transcendental spiritual experiences," so, of all people I regard "transcendental spirituality" as having a certain truth and reality. However, I have found that the "personal truth" of those experiences is found as a way of looking at the world and a way of thinking. For me, while there is some interesting scientific evidence for the existence of, psi, psychic, or “transcendental spiritual experiences,” the question of the physical reality of spirituality has always been a secondary question. Personally, like many who have experiences I relate spirituality to a drive, guidance, as well as situational sense and intuition - which, in an analogy to a fighter jet, would be the main engine of the jet with the afterburner kicking in occasionally which creates “transcendent spiritual experiences,” from time to time, and somewhat haphazardly in my case. That is, the salience and Truth of religious beliefs and of spirituality is to be found in the way of looking at things and a way of thinking which would revolve around meaning and meaning structures. Of course, this might then make the "theological question," a question of a "divine consciousness," as it were.
Arguing about God and Spirit is where psychology and "science" went wrong. All of their arguments about the "supernatural," especially in light of the fact hat it is "super"-natural, are completely irrelevant - which makes much of their writing worthless - such as most all of the studies about prayer , which essentially attempt to quantify "divine intervention."
What, Exactly, is Relevant about Religious beliefs and Spirituality?
The “relevance” of spirit and spirituality, I believe, could best be illustrated by the theories of Carl Jung and Viktor Frankl, who both argued that spiritual processes in the mind generate and create meaning(s) as well as Higher Meaning.In the anthology, Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology (2014), Paul Wong, the prominent psychologist, observes: “ Frankl considers meaning seeking as stemming from one’s spiritual nature ." In Volume 8 of the Collected Works, paragraph 648 (1968 revised), Jung stated: “Life and spirit are two powers or necessities between which man is placed. Spirit gives meaning to his life , and the possibility of its greatest development. But life is essential to spirit, since its truth is nothing if it cannot live”
Higher Meaning, for instance, might be best illustrated by the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."Clearly the profound expression of ideals and the bold declaration of purpose in the Declaration of Independence are not a rational analyses or scientific statements. And, certainly, if one can’t label those statements rational analyses, then those statements would necessarily appear to be spiritual expressions and declarations.
There are those who say that spirituality is an illusion. I would argue, then, that the Declaration of Independence and the principles of justice, and equality then must also be illusions - since it would seem evident that the Declaration of Independence is an incredibly profound expression of spiritual beliefs and meanings. Einstein clearly and unequivocally stated that right and wrong are beyond the scope of science. Except for Jung who states that “Creativity” is beyond the scope and understanding of psychology, to my knowledge, no other psychologist has expressed the problem of addressing the myriad intangible concepts of human consciousness of which “ideals” are only one – or any limitations of psychology and science when it comes to right or wrong, or ideals. Ideals are only one class of meanings and intent which are generated and created by spiritual processes, as both Frankl and Jung clearly stated, and which the positive psychologist Paul Wong appears to agree with to some extent.
Furthermore, Jung clearly argued that the spiritual process, which he expressed in the context of unconscious archetypes (predispositions inherent in the unconscious) which he argued have been present since prehistoric times in the human mind. Science has shown that 'religiosity" and personality have some genetic or inherited roots. It is true that humans have believed in spirit and spirituality for tens of thousands of years, so it would stand to reason that unconscious-nonconscious processes would evolve to grasp spirituality which historically, in light of humanity's preoccupation with religion, seems to revolve around meaning-purpose. As the famous religious scholar pointed out, the first evidence of a human "Ideology" can be found in the cave paintings in France and Spain. It would seem that it would stand to reason that these ideologies functioned to form and structure 'groups" and eventually "societies."
Further, the prominent psychologist Bargh and other psychologists of the unconscious-nonconscious school of thought which has recently emerged in psychology argue that it is primarily the unconscious processes which drive motivations, perceptions, and emotions-beliefs. So those arguments would seem to play in Jung's favor, not to mention the considerable research into stereotypes (which could possibly be viewed as perhaps types of archetypes). Since these spiritual processes would be nonconscious, people ordinarily wouldn't be aware of their functioning. I would argue that even people who do not believe in "spirituality" have spiritual processes operating in their minds. That is: Of course human beings have processes that deal with meaning within the functions of the mind and it would only stand to reason that at minimum the unconscious (archetypal) ideas of spirituality would be at work in tandem with those meaning oriented processes.
Footnote
I felt I should add this footnote due to some comments made on my essay: In a sense, human beings (and creation) are the "final proof" of God, as it were. So, human consciousness (and divine consciousness) would be the proof of the pudding. That is, while I believe transcendence does happen and occur occasionally, ordinarily one can only perceive, experience, and think of God in how we perceive, experience, and think of God. That is, human perception, experiences, and consciousness are limited. I should emphasize this view coincides with St. Gregory of Nyssa's understanding that God is beyond comprehension and beyond words. It should be noted that St. Gregory also believed in that human beings are made in the image of God, that human beings are also beyond comprehension. Most scientists seem to view the human brain as the most complex 'organism' in the universe. The Greek philosopher Xenophanes, St. Augustine (who viewed this as 'wrong thinking'), and later Hume all argued the even more narrow argument that humans tend to only perceive God in human terms and human forms. However, as Einstein points out imagination allows people to not only conceive of "what is" but allows people to conceive of alternate possibilities and potential.
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Content Copyrighted Charles E Peck Jr. Copyright ©
References and Footnotes
Profile of Dr. James Doty: https://profiles.stanford.edu/james-doty
The Center for Compassion And Altruism Research And Education: http://ccare.stanford.edu/
American Psychological Association: https://www.apa.org/
Association for Psychological Science: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/about/links.cfm
Albert Einstein comprehensive website: http://alberteinsteinsite.com/
Albert Einstein Biography: https://www.biography.com/people/albert-einstein-9285408
Godel’s Theorem of Incompleteness: https://www.jamesrmeyer.com/ffgit/godels_theorem.html
John Bargh, PhD: http://bargh.socialpsychology.org/
https://www.rogerdooley.com/john-bargh-priming
http://www.psych.nyu.edu/bargh/index.html
Rupert Sheldrake: https://www.sheldrake.org/
Viktor Frankl: http://www.viktor-frankl.com/
Viktor Frankl: http://www.viktorfrankl.org/
Dr. Harold Koenig: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Harold Koenig: https://medicine.duke.edu/faculty/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Roy Baumeister: http://www.roybaumeister.com/
Roy Baumeister: https://psy.fsu.edu/faculty/baumeisterr/baumeister.dp.php
Dr. Paul Wong: http://www.drpaulwong.com/
Dr. Paul Wong: https://positivepsychologyprogram.com/paul-wong-biography/
Clifford Geertz: https://www.biography.com/people/clifford-geertz-9308224
Carl Jung: https://www.biography.com/people/carl-jung-9359134
Carl Jung: https://www.psychologistworld.com/cognitive/carl-jung-analytical-psychology
12 common Archetypes: http://www.soulcraft.co/essays/the_12_common_archetypes.html
Emile Durkheim: http://durkheim.uchicago.edu/
Emile Durkheim: http://faculty.rsu.edu/users/f/felwell/www/Theorists/Durkheim/index2.htm
William James: https://www.biography.com/people/william-james-9352726
William James: https://study.com/academy/lesson/william-james-psychology-theories-lesson-quiz.html
Tania Singer references: http://cultureofempathy.com/References/Experts/Tania-Singer.htm
https://charterforcompassion.org/discovering-empathy/dr-tania-singer-and-the-neuroscience-of-empathy
Dr Amit Sood Mindfulness: https://www.mindfulleader.org/amit-sood
Dr. Harold Koenig Director, Center for Spirituality,
Theology and Health: https://spiritualityandhealth.duke.edu/index.php/harold-g-koenig-m-d
Dr. Koenig on what spirituality can do for you: https://www.beliefnet.com/wellness/health/2006/05/what-religion-can-do-for-your-health.aspx
Keith Karren – Body, Mind, Spirit:
http://pgrpdf.abhappybooks.com/mind-body-health-keith-j-karren-ph-d-pdf-5716009.pdf
E O Wilson Biodiversity: https://eowilsonfoundation.org/
E O Wilson - PBS on Ants: http://www.pbs.org/program/eo-wilson/
Anthropologist Malinowski: http://anthrotheory.wikia.com/wiki/Bronislaw_
MalinowskiSocial Anthropology - Malinowski: http://scihi.org/bronislaw-malinowski-social-anthropology/
St. Augustine (Catholic source): https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=418
St. Augustine: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine
Konrad Lorenz: https://www.age-of-the-sage.org/scientist/konrad_lorenz.html
Konrad Lorenz: http://www.famouspsychologists.org/konrad-lorenz/
St. Gregory of Nyssa (Franciscan): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-gregory-of-nyssa/
St. Gregory of Nyssa (wikiorg): https://orthodoxwiki.org/Gregory_of_Nyssa
Neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene: https://www.edge.org/memberbio/stanislas_dehaene
Imants Barušs, psychologist and parapsychologist: http://www.baruss.ca/
Julia Mossbridge, psychologist and parapsychologist: https://noetic.org/profile/julia-mossbridge
https://sharingthesearch.com/tag/j-mossbridge/
https://www.closertotruth.com/contributor/julia-mossbridge/profile
Friedrich Nietzsche: http://nietzschecircle.com/
Nietzsche biography: https://www.biography.com/people/friedrich-nietzsche-9423452
Abraham Joshua Heschel: https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/abraham-joshua-heschel-a-prophets-prophet/
Iroquois:
http://www.ushistory.org/us/1d.asp
Greek Mythology: Apollo and the Oracle of Delphi
https://www.greekmythology.com/Olympians/Apollo/apollo.html
https://www.thoughtco.com/apollo-greek-god-sun-music-prophecy-111902
http://greek-gods.info/greek-gods/apollo/
https://www.coastal.edu/intranet/ashes2art/delphi2/misc-essays/oracle_of_delphi.html
https://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/7_p1.html
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641
https://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/pythia-oracle-delphi-001641