My worldview is that the truth of the Bible supersedes that of the sciences but on
topics unaddressed by the Bible, scientific statements that are not contradictory to the
Bible are acceptable if they are consistent and can logically supplement the truth of
the Bible. While I was studying mathematics as an undergraduate, my proclivity for
logical thinking with my overconfidence in my ability to reason resulted in my
favoring science over faith. As I continued my studies, I eventually adopted anti-
religious beliefs, which were pervasive among those in mathematics and the sciences.
The abandonment of faith led to my nihilism. After waking up in a hospital from a
suicide attempt, I confessed I was misguided by my pride. I acknowledged my limited
knowledge and errant thinking. With humility and in brokenness, I returned to God.
My experience informs my view of integration of theology and
psychology. Prior to my existential crisis, my preference for the objectivity of
mathematics and the sciences was influenced by my openness to ideas and my
tendency to question conventional wisdom. As I discovered, there are dangers to
applying an object-oriented “objective” version of psychology onto people. Regarding
this version of psychology, Stahlman (2020) points out and warns, “many thought that
the human soul was not suitable for empirical examination, so it was abandoned for
this psychological research. As a result, psychology lost its philosophical/theological
foundation and…has had mostly negative results, neither making humanity more sane
nor more happy, while resulting in a society that increasingly seems consumed by
chaos” (p. 1). After experiencing the consequence of over-reliance on the sciences, I
will not elevate psychology above the truth of the Bible. I believe God is omniscient
and I know humans are limited in their understanding, which is why “[m]ost
theologians… emphasized the priority of faith over reason, since faith comes from
God via revelation, and philosophy from the reasoning of fallen human beings”
(Entwistle, 2015, p. 23). At the same time, I do not deny the sciences altogether. I
accept psychology as subordinate to and filtered through the truth of theology.
References
Entwistle, D. N. (2015). Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: An
introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration
(3rd ed.). Wipf and Stock Publishers.
Stahlman, M. (2020). The inner senses and human engineering. Dianoetikon: A
Practical Journal, 1(2000), 1-26. http://digitallife.center/index.php/journal/vol-1-no-1-
ecology-of-the-inner-senses
