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FIVE VIEWS: PART 2
PSYC700
Introduction
The main goal of understanding the relationship between Christianity and
Psychology is to gain an understanding of human nature in order to alleviate the emotional
and mental problems of humans. In order to understand psychology, five viewpoints have
been presented by Johnson. The five viewpoints include a levels-of-explanation view, an
integration view, a Christian psychology view, a transformational psychology view, and a
Biblical counselling view Johnson.
A Levels-of-explanation View
A levels-of-explanation view is an approach that seeks to integrate the belief
structure of humans with the science of psychology. This view allows individuals to
visualise how the human dilemma is observed as well as understood from a number of
different levels. The different levels are separate from each other. However, they can still
interact with each other. Even though Christianity and psychology perspectives are known
to be distinct, they complement each other in a number of ways. When psychology is
separated from theology, psychological scientists can pursue empirical knowledge without
any kind of prejudice from a religious point of view.
A contested influence that modern psychology has on Christianity is the fact that
homosexuality isn’t a chosen lifestyle. Instead, it is largely influenced by early childhood
experiences as well as genetics. On the basis of empirical data relating to homosexuality,
Myers was convinced that it isn’t merely a moral issue. Homosexuals are often provided
with the choice of abandoning their nature or being excluded from the Christian community.
The Integration View
One of the similarities between the levels of explanation view and the integration
view is that they explore the intrinsic value of psychology and theology. This view point
was developed by Stanton Jones. The integration view intentionally integrates theology with
psychology. According to Johnson, the integration that is already present between
Christianity and psychology is the application of the true and living words of God (Johnson,
2010). The significant elements present in this approach are Christianity, Biblical truth,
psychological learning, and methodical science. In this view, Jones discusses employing the
psychotherapy theories in a critical and constructive manner.
According to Jones, the Bible does not provide a complete understanding relating to
the nature of humans. On the other hand, the science of psychology can provide some
valuable information relating to human nature. The integration view integrates the Christian
faith with the different psychological findings. This shows that the Christian faith is
important, and the psychological data needs to be viewed through the Scriptural foundation.
Just like Myer, the research of Stanton also indicated that homosexuality is genetic.
However, he rejected the information as it was against the Scriptural principles. It shows
that Christian psychologists can reject or incorporate secular information by examining the
data from a Biblical point of view.
The Christian Psychology View
The Christian Psychology view has been presented by Roberts Roberts and P.J.
Watsons. According to this view point, single psychology can take a number of dimensions
that are often related to different psychologies. As per the two psychologists, the initial step
is historical Christian psychology recovery. The Bible can prove to be a helpful tool for
recovery. The sermon contains an element of psychology as it focuses on improving
character traits, attitudes, and personal wellbeing.
According to the two psychologists, the sermon of Jesus in Chapter 5 of Matthew
consists of a number of virtues of psychological themes. This shows an integration of
psychology and Christianity. Roberts and Watsons find the prospects of Christian
psychology to be very promising (Johnson, 2010). The Christian Psychology view
demonstrates that faith informs or enlightens science. Faith is considered to be the lens
through which researchers view their different findings. As per this view, one usually
begins with the Christian values passed on through the Christianity tradition and searches
for Christian values and goals while employing Science in order to realize the specific end.
The Transformational View
The transformational view was put forward by John Coe and Todd Hall. They
consider that faith and Science are not two separate things. So, they have tried to bring
them together. This view unites Science and faith in order to bring transformation in the
clients as well as practitioners. In this view point, the history of psychology has been
discussed and the way in which one can engage in psychology in spirit. This view makes an
attempt to rediscover as well as redesign the early way of thinking of the individuals
relating to psychology and Christianity issues. The view relates psychology with a moral
change of faith. The view point is considered to be an act of faith and love.
The Bible Counselling View
The Bible Counselling view sheds light on the fact that the Christian faith is, in the
true sense, psychology. The view considers the Christian faith to be a psychological view or
perspective. As per this view, psychology can be divided into six lines, which include raw
life experiences, organized descriptions of the experiences, different interpretive models,
practical applications of the models, institutional and professional arrangements, as well as
the ethos of a culture.
Conclusion
One of the main similarities between the five view points is that all of them focus
on establishing a relationship between psychology and Christianity. Another similarity is
that all the views try to make use of Biblical influences. The major difference between the
view points is that some views consider Christianity and psychology to be the same and
believe that they can be integrated. However, other views consider that they are separate.
The view to which I align the most is the Christian psychology view. It is because I also
believe that Christian psychology recovery is the first step, and Bible is the best tool to
initiate this step.
References
Johnson, E. L. (2010). Psychology and Christianity: Five Views. Downers Grove. IL: IVP
Academic.
