Reviewed by Brenton Kalinowski, Department of Sociology
Much work in the social sciences categorizes individuals as either believing in God or not. That belief, or lack thereof, is then examined in relationship with other variables to explain certain outcomes. T.M. Luhrmann’s How God Becomes Real explores belief in God as more than a simple variable by investigating the nature of belief itself. Using an interdisciplinary anthropological and psychological approach Luhrmann investigates how gods become real for individuals and communities.
Luhrmann outlines two key concepts to explain the process of making God real, the faith frame and kindling. First, the faith frame is a way of thinking that exists alongside everyday thinking but involves different expectations and leaves open the possibility of connecting with God. Luhrmann argues that anthropologists have traditionally considered Western societies to have a separate understanding of the natural world and the spiritual world while the non-Western societies, that many anthropologists study, do not distinguish between the two. She argues that this is a false dichotomy as all people have a separate sense of the practical everyday world and the supernatural. One way to understand this is that someone may pray for a good grade on an exam, but they do not expect that God will take the test for them.
The second key concept Luhrmann outlines for explaining how God becomes real is the idea that spiritual experiences or connection with God must be kindled. Most often these experiences are initiated or kindled through prayer or other religious rituals. That is not to say connection with God only occurs through formal religious practices. Luhrmann also argues that talent and training are important as some individuals are better able to see different signs or experiences as evidence of God’s presence or communication. While some are naturally more adept at this, most people obtain that ability to notice such signs through repetition and practice often through prayer or other rituals.
The book effectively makes the argument that all cultural and religious groups hold this process of experiencing God, or gods, as real. Yet, Luhrmann also draws on decades of fieldwork with different religious communities from around the world to show the culturally patterned ways that the realness of God is experienced. In one such instance she compares evangelical Christian groups in the U.S.; Chennai, India; and Accra, Ghana to argue that the way God is experienced varies with those in Ghana being much more likely to recount “hearing” God, for example. She goes on to note the different ways God is understood in these contexts, writing, “…in the United States, God feels emotionally hurt when His humans don’t pay attention to Him. In Chennai, God withdraws; if you are not responsive, you cannot find Him. In Accra, on the other hand, God punishes those who neglect Him.”
While the anthropological case studies in the book were varied and used to great effect in conjunction with psychological insights from Luhrmann’s own research, these insights sometimes felt under explored. For example, Luhrmann draws on the concept of the absorption scale, which is used to better understand individuals’ proclivity to experience connection with the supernatural, but I felt the book could have used further examination of the external validity of the scale, or its applicability to the real world and across cultures.
Despite this minor shortcoming, Making God Real is an insightful and valuable book for scholars in the social science and religious studies interested in the interpretive experience of belief; religious individuals with a desire to reflect on how belief works; or anyone that wants to learn more about the nature of consciousness and the supernatural. By pairing rich anthropological insights with psychological perspectives, Luhrmann has covered new ground in our understanding of religion.