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Psychology Vs Christian Psychology

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“You don’t have to see a psychologist, Jesus will help you solve all your problems.” A dignified lady at my church once criticized my mother for putting my family in counseling to receive much needed help from professionals. She believed asking for help denied the power of Jesus. On the contrary, I believe as a Christian, people should consult the science of psychology while still acknowledging Jesus Christ as the truth and only way of salvation. In the science of psychology, psychologists work from five different perspectives: neuroscience, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, and psychodynamic. The biggest problem with these perspectives is that they try to fix mental problems through human means while Christians believe Jesus heals. However, …show more content…

1 John 3:18 says, “ Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” Here, John explains humans should show their character not just through words, but through their actions as well. Therefore, the Bible agrees that focusing on behaviors can reveal the true character of people. However, the first major American psychologist to champion the behavioral approach, John B. Watson, believed he could elicit any behavior by changing a person’s environment. He thought the genetic makeup did not matter and he could form people into whoever he wanted them to be (Feldman, 2011, p.19). Romans 12:6 states, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;” Everyone has different talents and not everyone has the ability to do anything they want in life; but, everyone can thrive in their own way. However, disregarding Watson’s ideals, the behavioral perspective coincides with the Bible because both believe actions show more truth than …show more content…

At first glance, this perspective coincides with the Bible. The Bible warns that people should guard their thoughts and minds. King Solomon, the wisest man on earth, stated, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23). The “heart” includes the mind and all that proceeds from it. Thus, focusing on thoughts in therapy has great worth. However, in this perspective, replacing an irrational thought with correct thinking leads to self-improvement (McLeod, 2015). It alludes to the fact that people can fix themselves by fixing their thoughts. To truly be free of negative thoughts, people should surround themselves with God’s truth and call upon the Holy Spirit. Nonetheless, the cognitive perspective of psychology has merit when used with the Bible as the mind is what leads people away from

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McMinn 4-MAT Review: Psychology, Theology and Spirituality Toya V Mitchell Liberty University Review The text Psychology, Theology and Spirituality in Christian Counseling written by Dr. Mark McMinn brings psychology, theology and spirituality together within the counseling office. Throughout the book McMinn presents several challenges that counselors face within their profession, spiritual relationship and personal self (McMinn, 2011). These challenges include areas of competence, blurred personal-professional distinctions, training difficulties, dominant views of mental health, lack of scientific foundations and ethical standards.

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The purpose of this 4MAT Review is to discuss Mr. David Entwistle’s book, Integrative Approaches to Psychology & Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical Foundations, and Models of Integration, 3rd Edition, which is a scholarly analysis of the integration of the study of Psychology and the religion of Christianity. The beginning of Entwistle (2015) takes an in depth look at the reasons why throughout history there has been such a strong debate about the relationship between science and faith, specifically whether Christianity can and or should be combined with the practice of Psychology. Traditionally science and faith have been considered incompatible and irreconcilable (Entwistle). One reason is because, it was thought

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Integration: Mixing Psychology and Christianity Latoya Alston Liberty University   Summary In the book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, David N. Entwistle (2010) forces readers to question whether or not psychology and Christianity can be integrated. As the book begins, he argues that integrating the two disciplines is difficult because there are two perspectives in which a person can view the world: from a secular perspective or from a Christian perspective (Entwistle, 2010). Secular thinking contradicts Christianity because it consists of a worldview that is limited to the earthly realm and is based on things that can be tangibly proven (Entwistle, 2010). Christian thinking, however, reaches beyond the physical,

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Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity In the book entitled Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical Foundations, and Models of Integration, Entwistle (2015) gives a comprehensive overview of imperative issues surrounding the integration of psychology and Christianity. Summary

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Johnson explains in his book that psychology and Christianity went hand-in-hand as a coalition. This is seemingly due to the church’s assumed responsibility of soul-care, and the belief that all problems were caused by sin, not necessarily mental illness (2010). However, there are currently several views of conflict between psychology and Christianity, similar to the conflict recurrently found between science and faith. There is importance in the correlation of psychology and Christianity for both scientists and Christians. When not examined and pondered on, the relationship between psychology and Christianity today can cause much confusion in an individual, potentially leading to atheism and evolutionism.

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Summary This review is on the book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity written by David N. Entwistle (2010). In the beginning of this book, one is led to think that psychology and theology do not work well together. The author throws around the idea that it may be impossible for the two to ever be able to be used together since one is completely based on faith and the other completely on truth.

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(Stokley, p. 11). Both psychology and scripture shares the important of wellness, the integration of psychology and theology is looked at as unity of truth. There are some caparisons between both based on concepts but also, they have some difficulty in clashing with information and what is spiritual truth and scientific truth. This can also transition in the ‘Integrates’ model, even though there may be issues between the two due to that what Christians believe is that all truth is God’s truth and that if the scientific truths of psychology are in comparison to Christianity is truth then we should be able to integrate the two. The issue is that the Integrates model shares that psychology can have a part to playing in showing us how our fallenness is expressed in thinking, relationships and behaviors (Stokley, p. 12).

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A writer will write their views on psychology and Christian then other writers responds to the views of the writer. In this book, the author will comment on what they agree or disagree about the views of the author of the psychological relationship with Christian. Now, I will summarize the contents in the book Psychology & Christianity: Five Views. From several view above, the level of explanation approach could be said the most liberal than others .The

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One of our first obstacles is defining exactly what assumptions are constitutive of a uniquely Christian approach to psychology. How do we identify the core convictions of Christianity, and how can we leave room for a divergence of different Christian approaches?” (Entwistle 2015). The main problem that Entwistle is addressing is integration and the boundaries in which they both inhabit together. Where do the bounds of psychology and theology begin and end?

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There is one passage from the bible in particular that would be similar to how a therapist uses CBT and the scripture views negative thinking. “And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that

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Abstract People over the last few years have debated over if the science of psychology is compatible with Christianity. This never-ending debate has brought about many different models that their goals is to prove if these two ideas can be successfully integrated with each other. Out of all the models that are the effect of the debate between psychology and Christianity, the Allies model provides the greatest reasoning as to why integration of psychology and Christianity is a possibility. As well as explaining why the Allies model is successful at integrating the two ideologies, this paper will also explain the different strengths and limitations that this model encompasses.

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(2010) by McMinn, Staley, Webb, and Seegobin the authors decipher the differences between various Christian approaches. Biblical counseling, pastoral counseling, and Christian psychology are a few of the different methods which can be used when clients want a Christian perspective integrated into their therapy. Biblical counseling is mainly used among very conservative Christians who wish to return the role of counseling to the church (McMinn et al., 2010, p. 392). “Biblical counselors consider the bible to be superior and more authoritative than psychological science, theory, or technique” (McMinn et al., 2010, p. 392). Pastoral counseling can have two different meanings.

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966 Words | 4 Pages

The practice of counseling draws primarily upon empirical research from the social sciences. Theological constructions comes from a variety of sources including philosophy, church history, and Scripture. When individuals look for counseling, they normally ask the counselor what they can do to change things and wonder why their life is turning out the way it is. Counseling, in a nut shell, helps clients develop skills to cope with the different situations in their lives while theological reflection can help clients make meaning of these same dilemmas.

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626 Words | 3 Pages

It is often assumed that psychiatrists should be able to relate to their patients in faith; however, this may not be necessary. According to the study done by Sonia Greenridge and Martyn Baker, Christian conservatives find it easier to talk to a fellow Christian therapist, but they would appreciate the ability to have any professional therapist. As long as the secular therapists evolve to the religious requests of the client, secular therapy can be just as effective. Someone suffering from mental illness just wants any professional therapist who knows what they are doing to help them. For some people religion is not the motivating factor for the selection of a therapist.

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‘John Watson was one of the early American psychologists to break the Freudian notions that our unconscious mind was behind most of our behavior’ - Gary Gilles. John Watson was considered the ‘father’ of behaviourism, behaviorism is the scientific study of human behaviour (Schatzie, 2016). Watson was responsible for making Ivan Pavlov’s ideas and principles into part of a psychological norm by applying it to humans. He was impressed with Pavlov’s accurate measurement of observable behaviours and believed that Pavlov’s model could be extended towards diverse forms of learning and personality characteristics. Watson believed that the goal of psychology should be ‘the prediction and control of behavior’, meaning that one should be able to assume an upcoming behavioral action and ultimately learn how

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