The Allies Model : The Integration Of Christianity And Psychology

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.

The Integration perspective is the view that incorporates and offers a theory that integrates and creates a balance between Christian doctrine and modern psychology. Characteristic of this approach is the inclusion of Christian principles and scriptural references, along with observations, research, empirical research, mathematics, and natural science theory and principles. Integrationists understand and value the contributions of modern psychology and science; which has completely revolutionized the understanding of humanity specifically in areas such as, personality, cognition, socialization, human development and etc. Even so, Integrationists also understand that science does not address and answer all questions regarding human nature. For example, science cannot offer explanations as to

Jones begins his book by giving the baseline foundations of the Christian belief system and tying those into the baseline foundations of Christian counseling. He says that the Christian faith used to play a larger role in all of the sciences, counseling included, but is “no longer motivated by a desire to glorify God, but rather a desire to serve the self and others”. Once that shift took place, it pervaded past the physical sciences and into the social sciences. Since

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,

David Entwistle's (2010) Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity appears to be a text with a primary audience which appears to be conservative evangelical Christians. The basic ‘meat’ of the book is the premise that "weaving together perspectives from psychology and Christian theology can help us understand and appreciate humanity more fully than we could with either perspective alone" (p. 3). Entwistle’s view is that in faithful reading of both the book of God's work (nature) and the book of God's word (theology), this textbook seems to be the work of an individual

“This model declines the claim of the Enemies model that psychology and Theology are connected exclusive, although it recognizes that there have been tensions and misunderstandings that have fostered such antagonism. The Allies model agrees with the Spies model that good psychology can be found in religion, but it categorically rejects the claim that religion is only valuable as a vehicle to express psychological truths and to foster psychological benefits.” (Entwistle, 2015).

Enwistle’s book, Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration (2010) is a text that explores integrating psychology and Christianity. We start out by learning about integration related to both psychology and Christianity. Is this a thing? Is integration between these two subjects a subject itself? Enwistle explores through time to reveal how psychology and Christianity have been both closely studied and intertwined throughout time. Enwistle (2010) defines Christian psychology as “ a commitment to a Christian worldview that shapes how psychology is studied and applies, and that recognizes that there are specific Christian resources that uniquely reveal crucial aspects of what it means to be human (p. 14). Those in the psychology or counseling field who are also Christian have unique and different approaches but they draw from both Christianity and psychology to help them succeed.

(Entwistle, 2010, p. 155) “Antagonists” of this theory refer to enemies which could be either secular or Christian, both oppose the view that there can be a co-existence of faith and science in Psychology. Spies are members of the Christian community that have a reasonable background in Psychology but are only interested in the “benefits of their own religious system” (Entwistle, 2010, p. 182). The colonialist view takes the most applicable aspects of Psychology in order to correlate them to their own personal ideals. Neutral parties are indifferent to both the secular and theological arguments for or against integrated psychology while they ensure to maintain a distinct segregation between science and Christianity. (Entwistle, 2010, p. 146) The allies’ model differs from the previous in that it strongly rejects the idea that religion is subservient to Psychology and that faith is only a “vehicle to express psychological truths and to foster psychological benefits” (Entwistle, 2010, p.

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

David Entwistle’s (2010) book, Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: An introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration, opens the reader’s eyes to unexpected possibilities, beginning with the often combative regimes of faith and reason using Tertullian’s symbolism of Athens as the seat of reason and Jerusalem as the seat of faith; which is the basic ongoing battle between science and religion (Entwistle, 2010). What Entwistle addresses is his belief that integration of the disciple of psychology and Christianity is possible, each contributing to the

Integration requires a Christian worldview to set the boundaries for the secular science of psychology. Although views can appear to contradict each other, when examined more carefully some conflicts that appeared to be there are no longer there. Naturalism undermines integration because it dismisses the idea of mind and consciousness which is what psychology focuses on and consists of. Rather than allowing the differences to create an automatic dismissal of worldviews, one should look at the differences and see what there is to gain from

What does psychology have to do with the Christian faith? In Psychology and Christianity: Five Views, by Myers, Jones, Roberts, Watson, Coe, Hall, and Powlison (2010) is an introductory textbook for Christian psychology that provides sound arguments for an array of positions on psychology and faith. Each author contributed an essay and in return the other essayist respond by either agreeing or disagreeing by pointing out faults and explaining why.

I think that you did well is stating the need for both secular psychology, and Christian psychology. This topic of integration is one that is very interesting, especially with the rise in Christian counselors that are entering into the field. The more knowledge that we gain from a secular prospective, and the test that they have taken to advance the counselor profession as a whole could be helpful. However, as a Christian counselor when have to look at these things through the lens of the Bible. Furthermore, the Bible has the final say so in how we assist client's to their healing. The Bible declares, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand" (Matthew

psychologists without Christian training that try to integrate, minimize the magnitude of the doctrine, psychologize the Christian belief system, and ignore the historical sociological framework of psychology. Oppositely, theologists that don’t have psychological education try to incorporate the two and end up misrepresenting the fine distinction of psychology and therefore misunderstand clinical application. Clinical psychologists are recognizing more and more the spiritual component in an individual’s life in order to cope with difficulties (Entwistle, 2010).

The integration of psychology and theology is so intertwined that it has caused ill-well between the two disciplines. The over-arching concern for a counselor is to understand the why of a person disorder. In trying to understand the why, there are issues concerning the mind of the person, the thought process, their body, their soul, their temporal and the supernatural systems that can be manipulated if they are not living with a healthy lifestyle. So what a counselor is trying to discover is the physical function of individuals as well as trying to uncover the spiritual components of their lives, which can be worked through within the intake process, however it does not need to be left out during the counseling process. This is best said in the words of McMinn (1996) who declares “the best interdisciplinary integration work usually comes from those who have formal or informal preparation in both psychology and theology” (p. 9). Scripture states in, II Chronicles 1:10, says “give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours” (New International Version)? This research article will endeavor to search through varies theories to aid counselors in the integration process of psychology and theology. Because the ultimate goal for any counselor especially the Christian counselor is to be used as an instrument for God to bring about healthy living, corrective thoughts, and eradicate persistent sins.