120 - Religion and the Life Cycle

Religion and the Life Cycle
By Robert C. Fuller
Philadelphia, Fortress, 1988. 157 pp. $10.95,

Donald Capps explored Erik H. Erikson's insights for ministry in Life Cycle Theory and Pastoral Care 1983). Now a professor of religious studies at Bradley University (Illinois) takes an interdisciplinary approach to Erikson's work to introduce the psychological study of religion to inquiring laity, seminarians, and clergy. The result is an instructive mapping of the psychological, religious, and philosophical terrain of "optimal" human growth.

Fuller's analysis has a textbook quality accessible to beginners and convenient for professionals. He proves a reliable guide to life cycle research, object relations theory, death and dying literature, and non-Hebrew-Christian assessments of the life course. His thesis is that "limit experiences" are opportunities for intrinsically validated spiritual growth. He examines both the formal and functional dimensions of religion with several empirical studies. He argues that the crises of childhood, adolescence, midlife, and aging call forth a religious or spiritual orientation. An annotated bibliography completes this solid and often intriguing presentation.

Gary S. Eller
Whitehaven Presbyterian Church
Memphis, Tenn.