The Theories Of The Two Directions Psychology And Theology

The book Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity second edition by David Entwistle introduces the text by explaining how psychology can go in a direction, and Christian theology approach can lead in a different direction. He continued by stating the need for understanding and studying human behavior because people come from different walks of life and different expectations. It leads us to form unique perspectives to help give us an understanding of the individuals you encounter. The Entwistle 's book addresses the relationship between Christianity and culture, Christianity and science, and Christianity and psychology.

No doubt that in the book written by David N. Entwistle Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, the author leaves the truths embodied in his book. Truths that for many to this day are still trying to accommodate in their vast knowledge they have concerning the psychological science. Many still fail to understand that both psychology and theology when they go hand in hand they can become allies in treating those who for one reason or another have external and internal conflicts.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

This paper is the development of my personal theory on Christian Counseling. I use many scriptural references to support my beliefs and stress the importance of gaining wisdom and knowledge from the bible. It incorporates all of the presentations, readings, and critiques I did at Liberty University’s Theology and Spirituality in counseling course. I talk about how I integrate Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality into my Christian counseling and believe that they all have a lot to offer the Christian counselor. The role of integration and multitasking is necessary to be an effective Christian counselor under the guidelines of the American Association of Christian

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

In 2011 Mark McMinn updates his book on Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling, which discloses three important perspectives of Christian counseling. This recently evolving frontier for Christian counselors is what McMinn calls interdisciplinary integration. The relationship between psychology and theology is not the vital key component, but it’s how Christian faith is practiced in counseling. Bringing religion into the counseling office will bring challenges but with personal spiritual training and professional development it can be accomplished. McMinn shares a theoretical map on the prospective values and dangers of using religious interventions in counseling. In the first two chapters McMinn establishes a framework on the variety of religious interventions like prayer, the use of Scripture, forgiveness, and so on. Theses chapters would be part 1 of a 2 broad part that lays down a foundation for the rest of the book. The chapters that follow would be part 2 that explains the indispensable components in McMinn’s methodology to the integration of psychology, theology, and spiritualty in counseling. Psychology, theology, and spirituality is highlighted in the sessions of Christian counseling by guiding the person who reads an insightful understanding of integrating stages of: prayer, scripture, sin, confession,

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,

McMinn tells how psychology, theology, and spirituality are used and how they should be used in Christian counseling. A Christian counselor has to look at not necessarily psychology and theology in a counseling session but how religion and spiritually is brought into the session. McMinn (2011) states, “Religious interventions require us to understand spiritual formation, place priority on personal spiritual training as well as professional development, challenge prevailing models of mental health, work toward a stronger scientific base, and sensitively recognize ethical issues” (p. 26). Counselors need to work on their own spiritual foundation so they can are able to help clients. This consists of prayer, scripture, redemption, sin, forgiveness, and confession (McMinn, 2011).

Mark R. McMinn’s (2011) Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality in Christian Counseling establish a way to bring Psychology, Theology, and Spirituality to Christian Counselors. He introduces a replica of how to integrate the three disciplines in the counseling office. The purpose of the book is to instruct counselors how to integrate categories of Psychology, Theology and Spirituality into Christian Counseling. McMinn (2011) contends that many challenges both professional and personal face Christian Counselors on the frontier of intradisciplinary integration. (Intradisciplinary integration is the new emerging frontier for Christian Counselors).