Correlation Between Psychology And Christianity

Psychological studies are mainly based on the direct observation of human behavior, rather than reasoning or speculation. Psychology is like any other subject- the majority of people have a very shallow and basic understanding of what the study involves, and yet they lack a crucial knowledge of the major struggles and disagreements among those who study it. It does not surprise me that psychology is one of the more popular majors available. By nature, it sparks human curiosity, especially as to what contributes to the system of our thoughts and the pattern in our behaviors. For the first eighteen

The Christian Psychology view by Roberts and Watson, have a more historical and philosophical approach. They do not deny modern psychology, but argue that psychology has been around for the past 2500 years. For example, he brings up issues relevant today with the Sermon on the Mount instead of the science offered by todays establish psychologist. Roberts and Watson also claim that Christian psychologist should approach psychology with the bases of the Christian tradition. “Christians must approach the subject matter of humanity embracing what God has told us about what it mean to be fully human first; that then is our framework for engaging psychology as a social science” (p. 183). Roberts and Watson purpose a two-stage method: “to first appropriate the resources of the rich, Christian psychological tradition, and then to employ it in the advance of empirical science and applied science” (p.184). This is how a Christian understanding of the person can come to hypotheses that can be tested, therefore advancing our comprehension on humans.

David Entwistle’s (2010) book, Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical Foundations, and Models of Integration, is an in-depth examination of the integration of psychology and Christian theology. Entwistle (2010) provides insightful information as he explores the history, worldview issues, and philosophical foundations behind the integration of these two disciplines. The fundamental substance of the text is the presupposition that “both psychology and Christian theology provide useful perspectives through which we can study and understand human behavior, and together they can give us a more complete and accurate picture of human nature and functioning” (p. 3). Composing

Today, the integration of Christianity and psychology is becoming more increasingly recognized. The integration begins with understanding the sinful state of the human condition as viewed from a biblical perspective. It continues with being faithful to Christian stewardship and not only embracing theology but also the psychology of human behavior (Entwistle, 2015). A more accurate and complete understanding of human nature and function is provided through the integration of Christianity and psychology. The Allies model confirms that Christian theology and psychology are both subject to God’s authority, and exemplifies the best integrative relationship between Christianity and psychology (Entwistle, 2015). This paper will discuss the integration of Christianity and psychology through the Allies model. It will define integration, review reasons and explanations of why Christianity and psychology should be integrated. As well as look at different methods of knowing, the Allies model concept, and the two books idea along with strengths and weaknesses of this model.

Within the psychology field and in society, there is a common belief that theological principles, scripture, Christianity, and psychological principles are not compatible. Instead they believe that modern psychology is secular, scientific, and sacrilegious. However, many Christian psychologists and counselors, organizations and associations such as the Society for Christian Psychology, are striving to unite, integrate and incorporate Christian values, principles and knowledge into modern psychological counseling, research, and practice. Two of the main perspectives that tries to merge the two principles and theories is the Integration perspective and the Christian Psychology perspective.

The Transformational Psychology view, by Coe and Hall, believes how we live out our Christianity is more important than our understanding of how to think “Christianly.” Its an approach that states psychology is an act of doing love. It emphasizes learning, practicing, and living psychological science through the Spirit. The goal is not to relate aspects of science to faith, rather to transform science into an actual act of faith. The transformational view offers and values the idea of soul care for individuals. This view still respects the traditions and historical aspects of psychology. It emphasizes the importance of openness towards experience, observation, and simply humanness. This approach encourages individuals to explore all the wisdom and opportunity that is out there, and come back from those experiences a deeper Christian and closer to God. It suggests that the more open we are to different experiences, the more we grow, the more we help others, and the more we can serve God. This view really makes it a point that we are our own limitation. We are the ones holding humanity back from wandering through all the amazing things this world has to offer. The transformational view has Scriptural truths as the foundation and wants those who practice science to strive to live more like Christ. It does not take presuppositions, experience, observation as the foundation, only biblical truth. A few criticisms towards the transformational psychology view point out that this

In his book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, David N. Entwistle explores the necessity of integrating psychology and Christianity, the worldview issues, philosophical foundations, models of integration and discusses the difficulty in doing so. It is often thought that there are secular jobs, such as a psychologist or counselor, and there are ministry jobs. Entwistle points out that God has gifted each with abilities and those abilities are best used to serve God and others.

“Psychology and theology confront a complex task in attempting to understand human nature” (Entwistle, 2010, p. 112). There are many different prospectives on how this is viewed because both are trying to comprehend human behavior. One prospective that is assumed by many are we can learn about nature, human beings and their behavior through Scripture and science. Even though with see different views from psychology and theology this is what helps them integrate and help each other find the truth. Even though there has been great progress made in the integration of

I personally enjoyed reading Entwistles’ book “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical foundations and models of integration. I did have a difficult decipher his “language” and found myself having to read a sentence more than once. I really enjoyed seeing Entwistles’ points about integrating psychology and Christian theology. I realize as a future Christian counselor is will be very important for me to effectively integrate the two and without knowledge on how to achieve that I will not be doing my clients any good. Although I did enjoy reading this book I did feel that there was not enough emphasis on faith and the Holy Spirit. I definitely agree that our worldview influences our perspectives but I also feel that the Holy Spirit is changing those perspectives as well. Because we are humans we have a sinful nature and because of this nature we can only help someone to a certain point. The Holy Spirit is there guiding us and giving us the discernment that we need in difficult situations. I feel that the Holy Spirit should be a key player in any counseling situation and should have been discussed more in this book. I understand that integration was the main topic but our worldview is not the only thing that sways our perspectives. As stated early I really did enjoy reading Entwistles book. I completely agree that we have to be faithful to his

In this paper, I discussed my personal theory regarding the integration of Christianity and psychology, as it relates to my beliefs, and how the summation of these two components will be reflected in my future counseling practice. I considered several factors that were critical to my personal counseling theory. First, I considered the human personality, such as, individual differences, motivations, and human development. Each person is unique; however, both Christianity and psychology have discovered common threads that are woven throughout the human race, and I believe that information is imperative to the counseling process. Next,

Entwistle uses philosophical anthropology foundation to explain the relationship between psychology and theology. Both psychology and theology are concerned with philosophical anthropology in understanding the human nature albeit; their viewpoints are a little different from one another (Entwistle, 2010). The psychology view it looks at the biological, genetics and the neurological structure to give an understanding of humans as a social and cultural beings that can show problems and brokenness from our environments (Entwistle, 2010). Theology view is saying human are made in the image of God, but then fall occurred when Adam and Eve sinned against God, which causes all to be sinners and be separated from God, but God sent his Son Jesus to

In his book, “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity,” David Entwistle (2010) provides a persuasive discourse for the assimilation of psychology and theology; secular and religious disciplines that present a “multifaceted dialogue shaped by historical interactions and tensions.” (p. 51) Of the two systems, psychology is by much of the Church thought to advocate reason over revelation whereas theology is, by more secular-leaning scholars, thought to be wanting of intellect. With Tertullian 's libretti, “what indeed has Athens to do with Jerusalem?” (p. 8) in addition to modernism’s philosophy of self-consciousness and the skepticism of postmodernism continuing to fan the flames of segregation, the flawed logic that an integration of psychology and theology is not possible ensues.

Mark McMinn is a trained psychologist who is known for his book that was written in 1996 called Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling. McMinn had advocated for the Christians who are counselors for many years. McMinn is very experienced in the work and in his field of study. One of the biggest things that McMinn stresses is the importance of establishing and maintaining a good trustworthy relationship with the client and showing ways of how to confront the client as a therapeutic approach.. The major purpose for this is to create and achieve a lasting change to the client so that the counseling process can be effective (McMinn, 1996).

Summary Opinion counts, different psychologists have the different scope on viewing certain scenarios in life. In the book Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling, Mark McMinn (1996) draws a different conclusion in the field of counseling for the help of religion. It is obvious that religion plays a significant role in a human being's life and including it in different therapy sessions. Religion ties an individual to believe, principals and also commitment, and through it there is a chance of healing for various individuals. The combination of the science study of therapy and religion is a remarkable cure for various psychological problems. It also helps in the treatment of both the counselor and the patient. The primary ideology

Jennifer, thank you for your post. I must say that I agree with the opening of you discussion board post that there is nothing that the counselor can do to transform an individual’s mind or heart. Furthermore how you show that this is the main reason for the divide between Christian and Secular Psychology. I find it fascinating that you used the “World” as a way to describe what we think is the correct or socially acceptable way to live. Contrary to that the bible tells us to not live of this world but merely just be residents of it. I would also agree that we only truly gain a beneficial change with both our mind and our heart when we point all of our focus and attention on Christ. Who then will change and lead us down the path of redemption.