Abstract: In today’s society the field of psychology and the study of religion have hardly ever set will with one another. New information is being composed about the two fields working together, this paper is a brief description of those ideas and thoughts. The psychological study of religion in the United States illustrates tensions and opportunities that exist between psychology and religion. It also demonstrates the multifaceted views taken by psychologists as they address areas of living that have personal implications. Following the early period, American psychology’s push toward behaviorism resulted in the neglect of spiritual matters. The reductionism methods of behaviorism left little room for matters of faith, or for any other theoretical constructs that were not measured directly. Consequently, psychology left religion for other topic that were considered to be more scientific and several decades of neglect ensued. Psychologist’ interest in religion resumed in the 1950’s. Gordon Allport’s (1950) attempt to describe the role of religion in people’s experience began his indelible mark on the field, and to this day his Intrinsic-Extrinsic distinction in religious motivation remains the most influential approach in psychological studies of religion in the United States. In the years since then, several developments have combined to suggest, according to the traditional view of psychology of religion, that the fields is experiencing a resurgence of interest. These include the establishment of professional journals giving an outlet to psychological study of religion, and the apparently increasing availability of college classes focusing on psychology of religion. Psychologists who study religion, however, address “ an object whose reality can be received only in the state of faith” (p.32). the act of belief is critical to religious knowledge and experience. In psychology, skepticism is an enduring value, but in religion it is an intermediate step on the pathway to belief. This sets up a tension between psychology and religion, which results in psychologists having low rates of religious activity, when compared to other scientific and academic groups (Richards & Bergin, 1997). The methods and assumptions favored by psychology have appeared to be incompatible wi... ... middle of paper ... ...terest to psychologists. It also challenges the psychologist’s ingenuity to conduct research on constructs that cannot easily be studied experimentally. At a more abstract level, the link between psychology and religion helps psychology maintain its historical connection with philosophy. As psychologist seek to employ the techniques of the natural sciences, the psychology of religion reminds us that our roots are in philosophy, and that the assumption we make regarding our subject matter have important implication for our science. Bibliography Baston, C.D. (1996) You take the high road. The International Journal for the Pyschology of Religion, 6, 159-164. Bergin, A.E. (1980). Psychotherapy and religious values. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 48, 75-105. Hood, R. W. Jr. (1999, November). American Psychology of Religion and the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Wulff, D. W. (1998) Rethinking the rise and fall of the psychology of religion. In A.L. Molendijk and P. Pel (Eds.), Religion in the making: The emergence of the sciences of religion, (pp.181-202). .
This is David Entwistle 2nd edition book published in 2010 by Wipf and Stock in Oregon. Entwistle is a Christian and a licensed psychologist; he has affiliations with Molone University in Canton, Ohio serving as chair of the Psychology Department and has taught courses related to his licensed field. This book clearly is not written for any newcomers to religion. However, it was written for those interested in the integration of science and religion. The authors’ purpose for writing this book was to define the relationship between psychology and theology. There are three specific areas this book touched upon to help readers’ better approach psychology and Christianity in a personal and more professional manner: The context of philosophical issues and worldview, to help the readers become aware of assumptions or beliefs- making the reader a more critical evaluators, and to introduce and familiarize the reader with five paradigms for integrating psychology and theology.
This paper will be reviewing the book “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: an introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations and models of integration, by David N. Entwistle. As the title states, this book discusses how to integrate psychology and theology. It also dives into why it is so important to be able to integrate the two. Entwistle explains that just because the two are different does not mean they should be separated, and that we have to use both our worldviews. “Weaving together perspectives from psychology and Christian theology can help us understand and appreciate humanity more fully than we could either perspective alone.”
Evans, C. Stephen and Manis R. Zachary. Philosophy of Religion, 2nd Ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2009. Print.
“Entwistle uses fives models to explain the relation between the study of psychology and the unclearly defined term of Christianity in Psychology. Entwisle use the monikers enemies, spies, colonialists, neutral parties, and allies as subjects. The enemies’ perspective is Christianity and psychology are enemies and they should be should be kept completely apart. They cannot work together in any way. The spies’ perspective is to, send someone into the other camp and steal their ideas for them; in essence they are parasite. For example, psychologist would cross the threshold into the world of Faith and take useful information and mold it to work with the secular views of psychology. Not reinventing the wheel, just reinventing the path. The colonialist has one field of study colonizing or taking control and distinction over the other. Meaning the field of Faith will work with psychology as long as is superior to it. In other words, psychology becomes a silent partner. The neutral parties’ has both studies work hand and hand and accepting each other as long as their mutually respect involved.
Woody, W. D. (2009). Use of cult in the teaching of psychology of religion and spirituality. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 1(4), 218-232. doi:10.1037/a0016730
First of all, when it comes to defining religion, the Australian High Court gives a legal definition of religion as, “a complex of belief and practices which point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning of existence” (Henry, 2010). However, notwithstanding this, religion is a very personal part of humanity and has different meanings amongst different people, and as such the provided legal definition only goes so far in defining it. Due to this intimate and elaborate nature of religion (Beck et al., 2000, pp.4-6), religion and religious systems have been the focus of scholars for some time, and many methods of studying them have emerged. These methods can include psychological (observing religion as a product of the individual or collective consciousness); sociological (observing the place of religion in civilisation); Darwinian (observing religion as similar to a living organism in its evolution) (ed. Blagden, 2007); and finally phenomenologica...
Entwistle (2010) basically deals with an idea of integration of psychology and Christianity. At the beginning of this volume, the author outlines a purpose of this book, which is to help readers to understand the issues that establish integrative scholarship. The author depicts both sides of an argument about integration, describing Tertullian’s thought that human reason and biblical truth are irreconcilable and Blamires’ view that Christian thinking should be done in dialogue with secular thinking.
Entwistle's book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity (2010) is a book that addresses the subject of worldviews. Some of the core concepts are truth, hostility and equality. Theology is the study of biblical application and psychology is the study of earthly applications. They are in the ology field of study and are in line with finding and searching for truth. Entwistle (2010) conducted a study into the relationship between theology and psychology. While conducting his research Entwistle (2010) came forth with the term “All truth is God’s truth” (p.13).
Kingdom Psychology, which is wisdom of God, calls the Christian Psychologists to a greater walk and relationship with the creator. It calls for the psychologist to be in total obedience and submission to God. It also calls the Christian psychologist to “resist unbelief and to examine every thought and bring it into total submission to God” (2 Cor. 10:5). In a field that has been alienated from God, the Christian Psychologist is called to re-create his/her method of setting free the sin severed souls of this world.
Eastman, Roger. The Ways of Religion: An Introduction to the Major Traditions. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. N.Y. 1999
In counseling integration of Christianity into the therapeutic process has long been researched and developed. In order to get a good grasp as to what things or ideas would be a part of that process the individual must look into themselves as a therapist and decide how or what that integration process would look like for them. The difficulty in meshing Christianity and Psychology is that there will always be a degree of fealty to one side or another. According to Emmons, many studies have demonstrated that spirituality and religion are closely associated with psychological well-being but, there are also levels of spiritual maturity and an individual 's ability to forgive others to contend with. Throughout the course of this paper I will be discussing the integration process as I understand it and how it would relate to my own relationship to faith.
The first part of my paper will show how religious beliefs, a set of ideas or ideological commitments, form opinion, play an important role in an individual's mental health. Religious beliefs having a positive effect on mental health has been recognized by the scientific community. Studies have shown that religious beliefs can provide support through way of enhancing acceptance, endurance and resilience and may allow a person to reframe or reinterpret events that are seen as uncontrollable.
Presentations spanned many diverse areas of psychology, including presentations on religion from the association’s Division 36: Psychology of Religion and Spirituality (DIV36). While most of the religion-focused presentations and posters concerned the use of religion in therapy sessions, the convention offered some fascinating research presentations on issues of nonreligion and secularity that would
For example, the use of a sample selection and a questionnaire was both used in order to find the results of this experiment. A total of 1,895 individuals were participants within this sample survey (Galek, Krause, Ellison, Kudler, & Flannelly, 2007). The questionnaire consisted of 135 items that helped correlate a range of data, that includes mental health, demographic traits and a range of religions. The results of this experiment lead to similar data that was found previously, associating religious doubt and a decrease in mental health problems over a series of ages. The experiment that is discussed within this article is different from previous findings because of the variety of mental health areas that were targeted within the group of participants. Within this sample of people, all from different regions and areas of the nation, everyone was religiously sound and spiritually experienced. The areas of mental health that was examined within this experiment includes depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety and interpersonal sensitivity. Galek et al. (2007) stated that as age increases both religious doubt and its deleterious net effects on psychopathology
Barbour, Ian G. Religion in an Age of Science. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990. Print. (BL 240.2 .B368 1990)