Bemusedly observing many kinds of religious expression from an erudite, skeptical distance, psychology professor and attorney Edmund D. Cohen thought himself advanced beyond such illusions. But a decade ago, when he found himself among the militant "born-again" Christians, he fell under the influence of powerful factors against which his extensive academic knowledge about religions and all his intellectual arguments were no defense. The "born-again's" religious experience seemed so real and salutary to Cohen that, for several years, he was a dedicated "born-again" believer.

Eventually,...