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PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY
the problem: how much of what constitutes a so-called
‘instinctive’ action is innate and how much is acquired? A well-known
English writer on the psychology of religion, Waterhouse,?
points out that while a child will show signs of anger, curiosity
and enjoyment without being taught how to express these
feelings, signs of religious behaviour are not found until
instruction has been given.
Religious Disposition
It is not necessary to deny that religious need may be innate
because one discards the idea of a religious instinct. Among
those who, in the interest of psychological clarity, warn against
the misuse of the term ‘instinct’ in a religious connection is
Bishop Tor Andrae. He prefers the expression ‘religious
disposition’. ‘An innate tendency expressed in actions of different
and perhaps complicated kinds we prefer to call dispositions,’
he writes. ‘By disposition, we mean the ability to practise a
psychic function, if this ability has its ground in a condition
which is innate for the person in question.’
Bishop Tor Andrae’s? penetrating examination of the problem
of religious disposition clearly reveals how complex it is. He
points out that the religious attitude derives from something
inherent in human nature, whether we call it an instinct or a
disposition. He shows that there is an important difference
between these two words, and is careful to warn his readers
against misconstruing the technical term ‘disposition’. In its
popular sense it entices us to think of something that
distinguishes one individual from another; and this is not what he
means.
Tor Andrae also expresses the clear opinion that no person
can be said wholly to lack religious abilities or talents. He
thinks the main question for psychologists is whether the
religious disposition is common to all human beings, and suggests
that the old opposition between religious and non-religious
people is probably to be explained by an innate difference
between them.
On the whole there is much to be said for reserving the
1 Psychology and Pastoral Work, London, 1939.
2 Die Frage der religiösen Anlage, Uppsala universitets Årsskrift, 1932, Bd. II.
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