Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults - A Review

Joshua R. Canada, Taylor University - Upland

Abstract

Souls in Transition: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of Emerging Adults is a brilliant examination of the spiritual and religious lives of 18 – 23 year olds. Through vigorous quantitative and qualitative research, Christian Smith and Patricia Snell find that emerging adults, while no less religious than twentysomethings of previous generations, tend to have incongruous sets of beliefs and sets of behaviors. In addition, Smith and Snell, reveal that despite initially tepidity, emerging adults desire to have meaningful relationship with adults and that these relationships fortify religious beliefs and galvanize moral maturation. Souls in Transition is an important resource to higher education professionals who seek to understand the moral, religious and spiritual climate of today’s college student.