I agree that Dr. Worthington addressed the topic of forgiveness using a
psychological and biblical view in his lecture. From a biblical perspective,
Dr. Worthington describes that the bible instructs Christians to forgive.
However, the bible does not explain how to forgive; the gap allows
psychological studies and research to develop the five steps to achieving
forgiveness (The Table | Biola CCT, 2014). Similarly, I agree that the
methods of dealing with injustice are explained differently based on the
biblical and psychological views. The biblical perspective talks about
leaving revenge and judgment to God if a great injustice has been done.
On the contrary, a psychological view approaches the issue using the
measure of injustice to achieve forgiveness. The description of each
discipline in its own light gives it merit from the perspective used to make
the arguments (Johnson, 2010). As a result, all truth is approached as
God’s truth, and each argument is viewed from its field concerning the
topic of forgiveness.
Nevertheless,your pointthat there is a need for Christianity and
psychology to integrate is in place. Dr. McMinn mentions that the need for
various positive Christian attributes such as kindness to be integrated with
psychology to reclaim and improve society is much needed in our world
today. Positive Christian attributes are designed to strengthen psychology
as a tool for understanding human beings. Moreover, with the increase in
Christian-based scientific studies, it can be argued that there is scientific
evidence on the importance of using positive psychology in psychology as
opposed to negative psychology alone (Westmont College, 2019). The
church is demonstrated as an essential component of building the
discipline of psychology by Dr. McMinn. Similarly, the intersection of
positive psychology between the church and psychology is considered
beneficial to both fields, thus, strengthening the resolve to integrate them
into one whole.
References
Johnson, E. (2010).:Psychology and Christianity: Five Views:(2nd ed.).
Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. ISBN: 9780830828487.
The Table | Biola CCT (2014).:Why you should forgive and how to do it
[Everett Worthington, Jr. on Forgiveness]:[Video]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/5Or9OuxuYKw
Westmont College (2019).:Mark McMinn, Jan 22, 2019:[Video]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/I3gFPgcVAEw
