The Allies Model

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. The purpose of the strengths and limitations is to support a potential

To understand the Allies model, first have to understand what beings with. The allies model begins with the assumption that God’s sovereignty reigns over all of life. Entwistle says that, “Theology, psychology, and all other areas of inquiry are subjects of Ones Sovereign” (Entwistle, p. 249, 2015). First, all of the subjects stated above, theology and psychology and all other areas of inquiry, are God’s subjects because God created them, and He maintains all truth. Therefore, every subject that is studied academically is God’s subject. Secondly, God is sovereign and because of this His followers need to be attentive to exposing themselves to His rule. Meaning using theology, psychology and every other discipline for His glory and to exemplify Him and what God has made. God created every subject known to man and because of this every one of these disciplines were created to work together as allies. Psychology and Christianity tend to direct their view of studies in two distinct and opposite places. Psychology focuses on the working of God’s world where as theology focuses on God’s working in the world. Theology focuses more on the story of God’s creation and redemption. Psychology focuses more on the human behavior aspects of why humans do what they do. The Allies model, as well as other models, also begins with biblical assumptions

The Allies model works to exhibit how psychology and Christianity can successfully work together, even when answers are found not in scripture. This is possible because even though scripture is the inerrantly true, because both ideas have the same author answers can be found outside of scripture because it is still God’s domain. Johnson states that, “[t]he integrationist also surmises that Scripture does not provide us all that we need in order to understand human beings fully, and that there is a legitimate and strategic role for psychology as a science and as a profession in giving us intellectual and practical tools for understanding and improving human condition” (Johnson, p. 101-102,