I have long been a follower of Augustine due to my maiden name being
Austin and Austin is a form and derivative of the Latin name Augustine.
The tip of the entire thought process in the making of the Biblical
Worldview begins with Augustine. Sproul (2000) discussed Augustine as
the beginning of the new faith and the religious movement of Christianity
that we see today. Augustine questioned his own faith numerous times
and even followed different paths before exploring this worldview.
Martin and Diedre Bobgan (2018) defined worldview as "the most
fundamental questions and beliefs about the universe, about the origins of
life, about society, about religion, about the family, and about oneself". If
we get into details then we must look at why do we exist and what is the
purpose of existing. Then we must look at the other people in life. How do
they fall into place? What is my place? What is their place?
If a worldview shapes who we are and all of our thoughts and actions to
ourselves and others than our worldview is part of the collective that we
consider to be motivation. We are motivated by our environment and by
our innate senses. Also, the worldview is attributed to how we were raised
and what thoughts and emotions stem from and go into that. A
dysfunctional family will not offer a child the same worldview as one
raised with loving parents, for example. It brings us back to the age old
debate of nature versus nurture. What shapes our worldview the most?
I am still debating my own view from Johnson (2010). I am not sure
where I fall into the Five Views. Again, Levels of Explanation show me little
in connectivity that I so believe exists in my holistic, eclecticworldview.
Integrated offers me the chance to reflect upon the Scriptures and
Christian viewpoints let me see how life is connected to Jesus.
Transformation is a term often used in Psychoanalytical psychology which
is something I value greatly in most of my approaches. Transformation is
taking the person and seeing an issue or fear and helping the person to
overcome the fear with rational thought. Castogunay and Hill (2012)
discussed this greatly by saying it is a cognitive change that helps a
person to heal.
Transformational psychology is guided by a spiritual psychologist.
Kellemen (2011) explored the book Coe and Hall's "Psychology of Spirit"
and said that "transformational psychology is offered to help connect the
Scriptures with humanity and events and help a person connect God and
wisdom to their life events. My entire worldview is that everything is
strung together. We cannot have life without hope and faith. We move
forward through hope and faith. We are guided by love of self, love of
others, and love of a higher purpose and a higher being (God). Not
everyone is open to religion and faith but for those who are then a guided
psychologist can have an impact on a client, student, or patient.
Looking through the worldview idea and using research from last week, I
will choose to approach Diversity and Inclusion. No one should be an
outcast. Using the idea of Transformational Psychology along with a
Levels of Explanation view I will explore this. As a person who believes
that bias exists because hate is in the world and that everything is
connected, I will explore the highly regarded topic of Diversity and
Inclusion. First, Transformational Psychology has words of wisdom that
show that life is connected to the Bible. Second, as a spiritual person who
believes in something higher I would help allievate some of the confusion
by quoting John 8:7.
Image retrieved from Bing.com.
Third, no one is perfect. We all have flaws but like Jesus we accept those
flaws and regard each other in love and kindness. Fourth, everyone is
included with that statement. In a workplace or school setting, the use of
not criticizing people or others would be approachable and acceptable.
Fifth, the psychologist could use the words let those who have no flaws be
the first to criticize someone. For example, Johnny is wearing purple pants
and Bob hates purple pants. Bob is not sin free or without issues but Bob
wants Johnny to be in a different group because of his purple pants. The
psychologist could interact with Bob and point out that Bob is not free of
issues and should treat Johnny with respect and include him in the activity
because everyone has issues and flaws and no one deserves to be
criticized.
If we take this on the Level of Explanations View we can see the
psychologist with a different approach. He cannot mix Theology and
Psychology because they are two separate entitiesof existence in this
view. The psychologist would approach Bob with the theory that he should
be kind in his words and actions and that acceptance is the best measure.
Then he could go on to discover the roots of Bob's anger using techniques
such as therapy to discover why he is disappointed or biased.
Both could incorporate safety in the workplace while addressing
sensitivity issues and trainings.
References
APA. (2022). Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Retrieved
fromhttps://www.apa.org/ed/graduate/specialize/industrial.
Bobgan, M. and Bobgan, D. (July 1, 2018). Psychological Worldview or
Biblical Worldview. Retrieved fromhttps://pamweb.org/psychologys-
influence-on-church-and-culture/psychological-worldview-or-biblical-
worldview/.
Cambridge Core. (2022). Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Retrieved fromhttps://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/industrial-and-
organizational-psychology#.
Castonguay, L. G., & Hill, C. E. (Eds.). (2012).Transformation in
psychotherapy: Corrective experiences across cognitive behavioral,
humanistic, and psychodynamic approaches.American Psychological
Association.https://doi.org/10.1037/13747-000.
Johnson, E.L. (2010). Psychology and Christianity: Five Views. Downers
Grove, IL: IVP.
Kellemen, B. (September 24, 2011). Psychology in the Spirit Review.
Retrieved
fromhttps://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2011/09/14/psychology-
in-the-spirit-review/.
Sproul, R.C. (2000). The Consequences of Ideas. Wheaton, Illinois:
Crossway.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. (2022). Saint Augustine. Retrieved
fromhttps://plato.stanford.edu/entries/augustine/#Work.
