thank you for the interesting analysis. I thought it was very
important how you noted that Dr. brought up not only the moral
and spiritual benefits of forgiveness, but also the physiological evidence
demonstrating improvements in health and a decrease in mental disorders
(Worthington, 2014). Additionally, you spelled out the levels of reality
very concisely, including theological, biological, social levels and much
more. Evaluating some of these levels, I wonder what other potential levels
of reality could be incorporated as well-perhaps there could be levels
related to various types of theological foundations or cultures. All of
these levels would be interesting ways to explore a similar concept, such as
forgiveness, to see if we could derive similar conclusions, and further to
see if the conclusions could complement each other if for any reason they do
not provide the entire answer (Johnson, 2010). In regards to your analysis
of the integration approach, I liked how you emphasized the point brought up
by Dr. McMinn in that the different types of lenses, such as religion and
science, should not be in conflict with each other (McMinn, 2019). Instead,
they can be layered, and one could supplement the other. The idea of a
positive psychology is a very beneficial outlook because it takes a very
optimistic approach to addressing an issue-it is as if the ideology in
itself presents the solution to the problem in that a negative framework of
reference and mindset needs to be gradually equipped with the resources to
develop a more positive outlook. Thank you for sharing.
References
Johnson, E. L. (Ed.) (2010). Psychology & Christianity: Five views. IVP
Academic.
The Table | Biola CCT (2014, June 24). Why you should forgive and how to do
it [Everett Worthington, Jr. on Forgiveness] [Video]. YouTube.
https://youtu.be/5Or9OuxuYKw (Links to an external site.)
Westmont College (2019, March 4). Mark McMinn, Jan 22, 2019 [Video].
YouTube. https://youtu.be/I3gFPgcVAEw (Links to an external site.)
