Allison Schmitz
1887
Theological & Psychological Foundations
5 Views Paper`
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These are the five view of Christians in psychology. Over time, there have been many
different positions taken on how to view a Christian counseling practice. As Christians, we are
interested in God’s creation as well as learning more about who He is. Secular science and
psychology have made these lines a little more complicated. These views can overlap but
ultimately contribute five distinct views of Christianity meeting with a psychology practice.
Modern psychology produced a large scientific account of human beings and developed complex
ways of dealing with psychological problems without God. Christianity also has had its own
account of helping people deal with psychology issues through Christ. This has created a crisis
for the Church and just general faith and science communities. The tension has resulted in
different understandings on how to resolve it. Psychology & Christianity: Five Views gives five
takes on how Christian psychologists reconcile these differences.
The Levels-of-Explanation is explained by David G. Myers. It attempts to answer the
question of how we reconcile our commitment to psychological science and our Christian faith.
There is great debate of how these two tenants of life fit together. The Levels-of-Explanation
view attempts to organize these thoughts. The Levels-of-Explanation view attempts to make the
point that psychological science and faith actually fit together well. It says that there is much of
Christian worldview and theology that psychological science supports. The Levels-of-
Explanation view says that humans are best understood in the terms of hierarchy in levels but
that the disciplines within the levels should not be combined. This view says that one’s theology
should not affect the other levels or disciplines. This view takes science and research very
seriously and allows all scientists to contribute to their discipline, regardless of worldview
differences. The Levels-of-Explanation view makes the case that there is much to learn from our
Creator (our faith) and His creation’s work (psychological science). Science and faith have come
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against each other in battle in our modern understanding. There are scientists and Christians that
see them as polar opposites. British physicist-priest John Polkinghorne says that “reality is a
multi-layered unity,” which sums up the Levels-of-Explanation view quite well. Life is not one-
dimensional. In fact, life has many angles that one can view the same thing by. There are many
ways to describe why someone is upset – it could be described with the description of how tears
are made or we could tell a story of how a child kicked the other in the shin. I could tell you the
reason why a cup of tea was made is because I put a tea bag into hot water and the herbs and
spices in the tea leaves infuse into the water. I could also tell you that the tea was made because I
love my husband and wanted to make tea for him. A counselor can take multiple perspectives
when looking at their client, while discerning what direction the client needs. If God is sovereign
over all things, God is sovereign over all ideas. All ideas can fit and work together if used
correctly. Different types of study can be effective. Psychology and faith are not the only ways to
view and understand ourselves. The Levels-of-Explanation view describes a hierarchy of
disciplines from basic to more complex as a perspective to view the same thing. The view is a
broad scope of viewing all perspectives as valid if used in the right context. The Levels-of-
Explanation view paints a picture that theology, philosophy, sociology, psychology, biology,
chemistry, and physics are all valid and important things to draw from in a counseling practice.
The idea is that there are hidden values in all of these ways of explanation. This view is relating
Christian faith and psychological research in a broader sense. Myers spells out that there are
seven different ways to relate faith to psychology. He says that faith motivates science. In
worshiping God, we can cultivate a desire to search God’s world and discern the truth within our
world, while recognizing the world’s limits. He also says that faith mandates skeptical scrutiny.
We have to take the science we learn and put it to the test of our faith. So much of relating faith
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to psychology is our discernment. The third way is that we express faith-rooted values. In our
writing, research, and practice, our Christian worldview infuses into our psychological practice
and science. The fourth way is that we give psychology to the church. We can apply the insights
that we hold from psychology and apply them to our life in the church. The fifth way is to relate
psychological and religious descriptions of human nature. Our faith and psychological science
can align surprisingly well when speaking about our human nature. The two correlate well in
both areas of thought. Our sixth way to relate faith and psychology is to study the determinants
of religious experience. There is a psychology of religion that has influences on the church and
individual worship. The seventh way these two ideas relate is how we study religions effects.
There are several studies on how religion affects people’s lives, emotions, and attitudes.
The second view is called the Integration view, written by Stanton L Jones. This view is
based on integrating Christianity and psychology well. This view’s key phrase is “All Truth is
God’s Truth.” Christians should integrate psychological truth with truth from the Christian faith.
This integration lives out of the lordship of Christ over all of existence and the authority that
scripture has over reality and any academic subject matter. It narrows the scope from the Levels-
of-Explanation view. This view does not require a person to be in tension with all aspects of
secular psychology – so in that sense, a Christian counselor with this view can very much agree
with tenants of secular psychology. This view proclaims that there are many situations that
scripture does not speak to and therefore an understanding of secular psychology is helpful. This
view paints the picture of Christians celebrating the interesting discoveries of secular psychology
and claims that there is not a lot of actual “tension” between the two. A good way to describe this
Integration view is a “faithful understanding.” There is a lot of diversity in this Integration view,
with integrationists all over the spectrum of how they integrate. The Integration view is the
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ability to discern the science and psychology in light of our Christian worldview and beliefs. It is
interesting because the view seems to imply that all secular psychology is true. The Integration
view describes what we should do with the tension of what we are learning in psychology and
what we take from our faith. Jones warns against poor sciences and sloppy reasoning if we do
not handle this tension properly. This view begins with engaging with psychological science
critically and constructively. This view takes science and research seriously as well. It allows
Christian faith to reinterpret psychology. It seeks to engage the culture and impact contemporary
psychology. In the example of human sexuality, scientific investigation has a large potential to
enrich human understanding of it. Unfortunately, the scientific findings of sexuality are often
misunderstood. Integration is discerning the correct perspective on the psychology side and
letting it align with our biblical world view. The view believes that scripture is stable and
enduring as well as trustworthy truths about the human condition. The Integration view is
approaching counseling and psychology with a commitment to having one’s Christian
convictions shape every aspect of their work. It is not just pulling from a faith view, but letting
every part of their practice stem and shape their every idea. What an integrationist may learn
from psychology is how to mold and shape their views based on their already founded Christian
beliefs. I agree with the transformational psychologists in the idea that the Integration view lacks
methodology and that there are not clear boundaries in its presentation.
The Christian Psychology view is written here by Robert C. Roberts and P. J. Watson.
The understanding of the Christian Psychology view is that psychology is already a facet of
Christianity without a full integration. It is seeing psychology wholly and fully through a
Christian lens and through nothing else. Christian Psychology is an ongoing development of
distinctly Christian psychological theory, research programs, and soul care practice. It seeks to
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offer a “Christian alternative” to modern psychology by beginning with the psychology of the
Bible and the Christian traditions. This view simplifies the psychology because it is entirely
based on scripture. It is fully dependent on a Christian world view for it to be successful. We do
not find terms like behavior, personality, dysfunction, emotion, therapy, defense mechanism,
scheme, or selfhood in the Bible, but the Christian Psychology view makes the argument that the
Bible does have influences of these types of words in scripture. Matthew 5 and the Sermon on
the Mount is brought up to describe the Christian Psychology view. The Sermon uses its own
vocabulary, such as blessed, humble, comfort, pure in heart and peacemaker. The Sermon
conceptualizes “personal well-being” as something that is important, which is in line with secular
psychology. The Christian Psychology view says that a well-functioning person is one whose
general policy and demeanor is to follow what and how Christ led in His life. A Christian
psychologist in this view would study scripture and try to find the virtues in scripture and deem
those only as important. A Christian psychologist in this view would not use anything outside of
scripture to form their ideals, but would recognize ideas outside of scripture that lined up
perfectly with scripture. Christian psychologists will do empirical research through their own
Christian tradition. This view aims to develop a Christian science of psychology. It also
challenges the domination of secular psychology. It seeks to be peace-making and brings
together advocates of the different views and different faith communities. This view struggles to
interact with modern psychology because of the small lens it looks through. Their aim is to begin
with the Bible but see how they can branch out afterwards. This view is a bit like the Integration
view, however it takes more of a pre-suppositional approach by noting how Christians must start
from Christian values and operate on that foundation to interpret and explore. In this view, it
seems faith informs science rather than science informing faith. Faith is a lens from where
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researches view their findings. Since we all have a lens from which they look through, all should
acknowledge which perspective they are working from, whether that be secular or religious. This
view one starts with Christian values that have been handed down throughout the tradition of
Christianity and aim towards the values and goals of Christianity while applying science to
achieve the end.
The fourth view on Christian’s take on psychology is the Transformational Psychology
view, written and explained by John H. Coe and Todd W. Hall. This view points to spiritual
formation into the image of Christ as the primary goal of human life. This view sees counseling
as spiritual direction providing care for the soul to others by those further along the path.
Transformational Psychology uses distinctly Christian resources to promote healing and
development. In a way, this view is changing science itself into something completely different.
The Transformational Psychology view is doing psychology but more through a tradition. It
works around tenants and faith and is grounded in Christian reality. Transformational Psychology
is more about the person and the process than about the type of therapy or counseling. This is
less a model of relating psychology to faith and more of a transformation of psychology into
something that is intrinsically a single act of faith and love. The foundations of Transformational
Psychology begin with the person doing psychology within a history or tradition of psychology –
like faith. It also requires the person doing psychology to be with the Holy Spirit. The view
requires the psychologist to be grounded and knowledgeable about their faith. Another
foundation of Transformational Psychology is that the person doing the psychology needs to
have one, single, yet complex, study of reality in faith. The person doing psychology also has to
have a science that is both descriptive and prescriptive in nature. The Transformational
psychology view is more person focused than practice focused. The view revolves around the
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idea that as long as the psychologist is in the right place with their faith, that their counseling
practice will be in the right place. The view is a psychology based on the transformation of the
person being counseled than the line it takes to get there. The Transformational Psychology does
not relegate what is known by faith as being outside “science” but neither does the psychology
relegate a piece of theology as something to be integrated with science. Transformational
Psychology does not assume certain Christian beliefs to be true for the sake of constructing a
coherent integrative system as in a postmodern approach. Rather, the Christian knows these
specifically Christian realities that affect and alter the very essence of our being. This view of
psychology is to also shape the entire process, product, and person doing psychology. Their view
is to reinvent psychology altogether. The spiritual-emotional development of the psychologist is
foundational to this process of Transformational Psychology and the process of arriving at deep
truths about human nature. The Transformational Psychology view would say that if the
psychologist is not in the right place with their walk and knowledge themselves; they will not be
effective in practice. This view is very existential and theoretical. It relies heavily on the person,
process, and product of the psychology in light of faith. This view highlights our relational
nature. That we are created in such a way that our need for love is the reason for our existence.
Therefore this psychology almost makes the case the Transformational Psychology is something
we were made to do. The idea of this view is that the person, in the end, determines the process.
Their agenda is ambitious to recreate the structure of psychology as we know it.
The fifth view is the Biblical Counseling view. The Biblical Counseling view is explained
by David Powlison. This view is arguably the most fundamental. The mantra of this view is
“believe so that you can understand.” This view also explains the idea that the Christian faith is
psychology. Biblical Counseling is fully focused on Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. This
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view describes Christian ministry as being psychotherapy in itself. The Biblical Counseling view
believes first that God is the maker of all that is. Second, it believes that the Lord is judge of the
living and the dead. Thirdly, they believe that Christ came down for us and for our salvation. All
of these facets being true, they center their entire practice of therapy on these facets and these
facets alone. They know that psychology is detailed knowledge of human functioning. They also
believe the Bible speaks to all of functioning. This counseling is based exclusively on the Bible.
There is a general concern here for secularism in modern psychology, so overall the Biblical
Counseling view is skeptical about integration in any form. They see sin as the primary soul-
problem in the Bible, so the gospel and repentance are the primary solutions in this view. This
view shows that the local church is the primary place where Christian soul care should occur. It
is in local churches where this view is most held. They hold tightly to the slogan: “The
Sufficiency of Scripture,” and explain that scripture should be enough for any issue or hurt.
Scripture is authoritative and necessary for Christian counseling because it is God’s word. The
Biblical Counseling view is a psychological view in its own right, not integrating in any way.
The Christian faith makes claims about the identity of humans, what human nature is really like,
how humans behave, and what a fully healthy and complete human is in Jesus Christ. The view
argues that we are to be restored in Christ and so Christ is what we ultimately need to be whole
and complete. With Jesus Christ being only what we need, the Biblical Counseling view will
only use scripture and the gospel to help people in this type of counseling. The Biblical
Counseling view declares that we believe so we can fully understand ourselves. We are to
understand so that our own soul may be cured. The Biblical Counseling view says that when we
understand to this extent, our faith in God will help us contribute to the curing of many souls.
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The view that I believe will particularly serve me better than the other four views is the
Integration view. I believe this view will help me the best in practice. I notice the Integration
view to be similar to the Levels-of-Explanation view, which I did resonate with also. The
Integration view, though, tries to blend psychology and faith better together rather than the two
go on their own separate efforts. Based on this view, psychology is still distinct from faith but
they do inform each other and that each is indispensable for the other. I do believe that “all truth
is God’s truth” and so this infiltrates into psychology as well as faith. The fact that humans are
made in God’s image helps me want to understand what our world has found in how things were
made. I see scientific discovery as valuable, because I believe God made science. I would
approach this Integration view with prayerful discernment in my counseling practice. I believe
that the Integration view shows a good balance in the way that they handle the tension. They
ultimately believe that God’s word is true and sovereign, but they do take into account what
secular psychology is saying in their own discoveries. The Integration view sees all of this
information as valuable, which I definitely align myself with in this process. I do not believe that
personal change can be brought about in a person simply by quoting Bible verses. As much as
God did create us, we do have sin in humanity. Our tendency as humans is to run away from God
and things that are holy. Therefore when someone is having a problem and they go to counseling,
faith may not what they need to bring them back to a full understanding of their identity in
Christ. They may not be able to fully understand if they are drowning in their own pain and
sorrow. I believe facilitating personal change takes more than just one idea shooting in one
direction. I believe personal change is a process that needs different tools. I picture my twenty
year old brother who is diagnosed with severe bipolar. If you brought him into a counseling
office, I do not believe the Christian Psychology view or the Biblical Counseling view would
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help him in any way. I see that if you immediately started talking to him about the gospel and his
own personal sin, you would lose him immediately. The Integration view would allow the client
with bipolar to come into the office and feel more comfortable. The Integration view could
acknowledge that not all problems come from personal sin. I would be able to acknowledge the
clinical issue underneath as well as the emotions the client is feeling in how it relates with
scripture. I believe that the Integration view gives freedom in the hands of the
psychologist/therapist/counselor to speak from and discern whatever they think is best for their
client in the amount of time that they have. Freedom to go outside of some boundaries in order to
restore a person’s mental health is important. The Integration view gives freedom to be diverse
and intelligent within the integration. A therapist that has the Integration view will serve this
bipolar client well with the ability to go back and forth between scriptural truths as well as
psychological truths that have been proven through science. The Integration view gives this
flexibility and freedom for a practice that is not one-size-fits-all.
