Psychology & Christianity: Five Views (Spectrum Multiview Books)
Overview
How are Christians to understand and undertake the discipline of psychology? This question has been of keen interest (and sometimes concern) to Christians because of the importance we place on a correct understanding of human nature. Psychology can sometimes seem disconnected from, if not antithetical to, Christian perspectives on life. How are we to understand our Christian beliefs about persons in relation to secular psychological beliefs?
This revised edition of a widely appreciated text now presents five models for understanding the relationship between psychology and Christianity. All the essays and responses have been reworked and updated with some new contributors including the addition of a new perspective, the transformative view from John Coe and Todd Hall (Biola University).
Also found here is David Powlison (Westminster Theological Seminary) who offers the biblical counseling model. The levels-of-explanation model is advanced by David G. Myers (Hope College), while Stanton L. Jones (Wheaton College) offers an entirely new chapter presenting the integration model. The Christian psychology model is put forth by Robert C. Roberts (Baylor University) now joined by Paul J. Watson (University of Tennesee, Chattanooga).Each of the contributors responds to the other essayists, noting points of agreement as well as problems they see. Eric L. Johnson provides a revised introduction that describes the history of Christians and psychology, as well as a conclusion that considers what might unite the five views and how a reader might evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of each view.
- Chapter 1: "A Brief History of Christians in Psychology" - Eric L. Johnson"
- Chapter 2: "A Levels-of-Explanation View" - David G. Myers
- Chapter 3: "An Integration View" - Stanton L. Jones
- Chapter 4: "A Christian Psychology View" - Robert C. Roberts and P. J. Watson
- Chapter 5: "A Transformational Psychology View" - John H. Coe and Todd W. Hall
- Chapter 6: "A Biblical Counseling View" - David Powlison
- Chapter 7: "Gaining Understanding Through Five Views" - Eric L. Johnson
Top Highlights
“The glue that brought and has kept secularism and natural science methods together is the philosophy of science and knowledge known as positivism.” (Page 17)
“We begin here, as in all of life, by anchoring ourselves in biblical truth, rigorously and self-critically pursued.” (Page 116)
“Second, we believe that the Lord is judge of the living and the dead.” (Page 247)
“These integrationists believe both disciplines address, in different ways, the nature of human beings, how they develop, what has gone wrong with them and how they can overcome what has gone wrong. However, there is a range of responses to this overlap. Narramore (1973) argued that integration aims ‘to combine the special revelation of God’s Word with the general revelation studied by the psychological sciences and professions’ (p. 17).” (Pages 34–35)
“But how is Scripture authoritative? Or better, how is the Bible relevant and what is the scope of relevance? ‘Practical theology’ is the technical term for asking and answering these questions.” (Page 144)
- Title: Psychology & Christianity: Five Views
- Author: Eric L. Johnson
- Edition: Second Edition
- Series: Spectrum Multiview Books
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2010
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Christianity › Psychology; Psychology and religion
- ISBNs: 9780830876617, 9780830828487, 0830876618, 0830828486
- Resource ID: LLS:PSYCHLGYCHRSDTN
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-30T02:30:20Z
Eric L. Johnson (PhD, Michigan State University) trained as an academic psychologist and is Lawrence and Charlotte Hoover Professor of Pastoral Care at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of Foundations for Soul Care and the coeditor of God Under Fire and Christianity and Psychology: Four Views. An associate editor of the Journal of Psychology and Theology, he is the director of the Society for Christian Psychology and the Institute for Christian Psychology.