Worldviews and Foundational Issues of Integration

PACO 506 Integration of Psychology and Theology

Textbook

Entwistle: chs. 1–5

· Textbook Readings

· Presentation: Integration of Psychology and Christianity – Why Bother?

· Presentation: Defining Integration – Key Concepts

· Presentation: Worldviews and Christian Counseling

· Presentation: Foundational and Worldview Issues of Integration

Thread: As you engage with the materials for Modules 1 and 2, think through and discuss what factors in your personal religious background have influenced your view on the integration of, or opposition of, scientific knowledge and sacred knowledge. Do your experiences and interactions fit patterns outlined in the Entwistle text (i.e., liberal openness, fundamental opposition, etc.)? How so?

Discuss areas in which your background may have affected your intellectual virtues. Utilize the texts and outside scholarly sources (a minimum of two references) to integrate your reflections.

Adhere to the correct writing style format for in-text citations and references.

Each Discussion in this course will be completed over two Modules. In the first Module that each Discussion is assigned, you must post a minimum 300-word Thread in response to the prompt provided (with at least two references). In the following Module, you must post two Replies of at least 200 words each to your classmates’ threads (with at least one reference). Citations and references must be written in the correct writing style format

This is a students thread can you please create a response to this thread with 200 words and a citation

The best place to begin my discussion about my Christian worldview is to state that I have been “raised” as a deeply “Southern” Baptist. That admission alone is enough to fill volumes of self-implied insanity and complications. Also, I do not think of myself as “religious,” so my discussion will be more focused on the spiritual. As such, my “spiritual” background is filled with connotations of Pentecostalism, Baptist Fundamentalism, and “don’t do as I do, do as I say-isms.” One might say that my background is replete with “fundamental opposition” in that most persons growing up would tell me that we were to be “anti-intellectual, anti-social action, and anti-ecumenical.” [1] The obvious problem with fundamentalism is that this movement largely ignores a great portion of God’s creation. Growing up, I was told that, “Psychology is evil and directly from the devil himself,” and “No one respectable goes to a psychiatrist.” Thankfully, the truth sets humanity free (John 8:32)! Also gratefully, many Christians have discovered (or perhaps, re-discovered) that all truth in this world is God’s truth and wherever this truth is discovered, we find the author is God. [2]

This “re-discovery” that God created all things as blessings to humanity (as described in Genesis 1) in relation to mental awareness is a blessing for counselors and counselees. [3] Entwistle cites the postmodern movement as a reflection towards the admission that all worldviews are invariably shaped by one’s assumptions and previously explored and taught instructions. [4] As God created all of creation for the enjoyment for all of humanity, so did He create our particular desire of intimacy with God. This “satisfaction” that we desire, and that most do not care to apprehend, is inherently part of our psyches (Psalm 17:15). Unlike many of the instructors of my past, the discovery that all humanity thrives when they are in God’s divine will and that He is already active in a counselee’s life, should be a vital element in human psychology. [5]

While a majority of humanity will never consider God as a vital portion of psychology and perhaps a large swath of Christians may never accept the benefits of psychology, the need for the integration of both is overwhelming. I believe that the key for this integration is to understand that every human being is “God’s masterpiece” and that he has made us complete in the salvific sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:10). [6] The psalmist states that every one is “fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).” If we remember and reflect on these key verses, we should more aptly understand that through God and all of His creation we can be healed of all of our infirmities, including that of our flawed spiritual backgrounds and accompanying worldviews.