June 1, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



863 



sistant Professor of Education at Leland 



Stanford Junior University. With a Preface 



by William James. London, Walter Scott. 



1899. Pp. XX + 423. 



Within the last decade a number of arti- 

 cles have appeared that center about the re- 

 ligious phenomena of adolescence and point the 

 way toward a scientific religious pedagogy. 

 Two of these were by Professor Starbuck {Am. 

 J. Psy., VIII. and IX.), and out of them, by the 

 help of improved methods and of largely in- 

 creased data, the present volume has grown. 

 Part I. treats of conversion. Part II. of relig- 

 ious growth not involving conversion, and Part 

 III. of the essential unity of the two lines of 

 growth. It is shown that conversion is essen- 

 tially an adolescent phenomenon, that parallel 

 experiences occur where strong upheavals are 

 absent, and that these experiences in their 

 totality are intimately related to the bodily and 

 mental phenomena connected with puberty. 

 The general outcome is a clear exhibition of the 

 various ways in which the religion of childhood 

 gives way to that of maturity. 



The study is purely empirical. In fact, its 

 freedom from all apparent consciousness of 

 dogma is rather remarkable. The data consist 

 of statements of personal experience from more 

 than 400 persons who have replied to question 

 list circulars. The fact that nearly all the re- 

 spondents are American Protestants and that 

 the research concerns the adolescent period al- 

 most exclusively, suggests a question whether 

 the title is not somewhat too broad for the con- 

 tents of the book. It is only fair to say, how- 

 ever, that the data have been so related to 

 physical and mental laws as to display general 

 rather than merely, special tendencies. The 

 manipulation of the returns has been very skil- 

 ful. In spite of the necessary defects of ma- 

 terial derived from what untrained observers 

 tell about their own mental states, the broader 

 features of growth — those upon which general 

 pedagogical practice must be based — are ade- 

 quately set forth. 



The volume is significant of new scientific at- 

 titudes and occupations. It means nothing less 

 than that the modus vivendi with theology 

 whereby two supposedly distinct fields of study 

 were delimited, has come to an end. Theology 



moved in this direction when it adopted scien- 

 tific methods in the study of the Scripture and 

 in the history of religions. And now science 

 also throws off her reserve and, agreeing with 

 Karl Pearson that wherever facts can be ob- 

 served and compared, there is the realm of sci- 

 ence, assumes that ' there is no event in the 

 spiritual life which does not occur in accord- 

 ance with immutable laws ' (Starbuck, p. 3). 



However much this may look like an ' invas- 

 ion ' of religion by science, it is, in fact, in log- 

 ical harmony with the theology of divine im- 

 manence, which denies the mutual exclusiveness 

 of the natural and the supernatural and finds it 

 worthy of supreme intelligence that nature and 

 mind should proceed by orderly sequence. It 

 is certainly to be hoped that both theologians 

 and men of science will take this view of the 

 matter, and thereby avoid such unfortunate 

 squabbles as accompanied the adoption of the 

 new geology and of the evolution hypothesis. 

 On the side of science all that is required is 

 that law be understood in the sense of uniform- 

 ity and not in the sense of a controlling neces- 

 sity. 



There are three reasons for expecting that 

 studies like this will be assimilated by religious 

 thinkers with some degree of readiness. The 

 first is that the contest over geology and evolu- 

 tion has taught its lesson. The second is that 

 Starbuck' s spirit and attitude show no trace of 

 antagonism to religion or religious beliefs. A 

 third reason is that the book furnishes a pre- 

 liminary basis for a sound religious pedagogy 

 and contains tools capable of being used for 

 religious propagandism. The ' dead hand ' of 

 false method has been upon the practical work 

 of the churches as truly, if not as fully, as upon 

 their theology. Analysis of human nature as 

 it presents itself to observation has scarcely 

 been heard of except in the training of Jesuits, 

 and here it is only a device for attaining certain 

 prescribed ends. The Protestant churches, at 

 least, will find their interest in promoting such 

 studies as that before us. Denominational col- 

 leges will find that they have a special call to 

 prosecute them, and in the end we may hope to 

 see shambly Sunday-school methods and hit-or- 

 miss evangelism superseded by a reasonable 

 system of religious training and an evangelism 



