DB Replies 525 & 575

profileMasterQ37

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From a Biblical perspective, why should a person consider studying developmental psychology?

According to our course text, developmental psychology looks at things such as the basic nature of humans, how and what they develop over time, and if that development is qualitative or quantitative, as well as how nature and nurture influence that development. If you think about it, the Bible also looks at and talks about similar things. Jesus himself often spoke on the nature of man, and how our faith starts in infancy and grows as a human does, going through the stages of child to adult. If we want to know and understand the mechanisms of what make a person act or think the way they do, we have the Bible as a reference, but we also have the counterpart to the Bible, God’s creation. Francis Bacon, widely considered the father of the scientific method, first introduced the concept of the duality of the two books that are laid before us to study: those being the book of God’s Word, which is scripture, and the book of God’s Works, which is creation. He also thought that no one should rely solely on one or the other but utilize both in order to truly learn. If we follow that logic, we can use the Bible to learn what God has said about a human’s development, but we can also study developmental psychology as a branch of science. The two can work together, as allies, and strengthen each other. Just as scripture is reinforced by creation, what the Bible says about psychology is reinforced by the scientific study of it and vice versa. After all, all truth is God’s truth. If something is true, it is because God made it so.

Biblically speaking, there are a variety of verses that support seeking wisdom and understanding. For example, Proverbs 16:16 (New International Version [NIV], 2011) says that having wisdom and understanding is better than having silver or gold and Proverbs 18:15 (NIV, 2011) says that an intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. Similarly, 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV, 2011) says that we should study and show God that we understand truth. If a person is wanting to understand how we as humans develop psychologically, the Bible itself advocates for endeavoring to gain that wisdom and understanding. The benefits of gaining that knowledge can also be utilized to help other people in turn understand human development. This could be useful for someone to understand themselves, their children or family, or even in their jobs. It helps to expand their worldview and deepen their understanding of how God created each of us. It can also help us to improve lives by utilizing what we learn through our studying. When we understand the components of developmental psychology, we can help others by providing them with an understanding of what it means to be human, as well as ways to optimize the function of developmental psychology in their lives. We can do this by hopefully providing healing and hope to people who are in need of both. Thus, when we couple the study of developmental psychology with that of theology, or the studying of God’s Word and His nature, we can form a more holistic approach to our knowledge and understanding.

References

New International Version. (2011). Bible Gateway. https://www.biblegateway.com/