n other texts are used (17). This functional view of religion is inculcated into followers of most religions to the point that it is simply accepted without question, indeed, without consideration, by adherents.
Gustafson builds on this to suggest that as certainty of life after death erodes and as agnosticism spreads through society, religion is being advanced as an instrument to further human ends. In this way, religion is used as a way to meet the desire for happiness, for success, to free one from guilt an anxiety, to promote the idea, even the certainty, that there re unchanging realities in the midst of rapid change, and grounds for hope in the middle of a world where one's life seems to be increasingly out of one's control (18). Religious belief, trust and practice are offered as useful instruments for doing well in the business of living, for resolving dilemmas that face individuals and communities, and for promoting moral causes.
Gustafson's overarching theme is that man has become the measure in religion, theology and ethics (83). Religion h
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