Exploring Psychology and Christian Faith , livre ebook

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177 pages

English

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Introductory psychology courses can raise significant questions about the nature of being human. Christianity, with its emphasis on humans made in the image of God, has a clear perspective. Psychology offers answers too, but they are often subtly implied. This introductory guide, drawn from more than fifty years of classroom experience, provides students with a coherent framework for considering psychology from a Christian perspective. The authors explore biblical themes of human nature in relation to all major areas of psychology, showing how a Christian understanding of humans can inform the study of psychology. Brief, accessible chapters correspond to standard introductory psychology textbooks, making this an excellent supplemental text. End-of-chapter questions are included. A test bank for professors is available through Baker Academic's Textbook eSources.

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Philosophie et théologie

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Publié par	Baker Publishing Group
Date de parution	02 septembre 2014
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781441246448
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0864€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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© 2014 by Paul Moes and Donald J. Tellinghuisen
Published by Baker Academic
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www . bakeracademic . com
Ebook edition created 2014
Ebook corrections 10.07.2019
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—for example, electronic, photocopy, recording—without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-4644-8
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled TNIV are from the Holy Bible, Today’s New International Version®. TNIV®. Copyright © 2001, 2005 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
This book is dedicated to our families, and to all students exploring the reconciliation of faith and psychology.
Contents
Cover i
Title Page iii
Copyright Page iv
Dedication v
Five Themes of a Biblical View of Human Nature ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction: Why Did I Do That? xv
1. Who Am I? Themes of Human Nature 1
2. Test Time! Research Methodology 21
3. “Bodies Revealed”: Brain and Behavior 1 39
4. The Ghost in the Machine: Brain and Behavior 2 49
5. Who Is in Control? Consciousness 63
6. Making Sense of Your Surroundings: Sensation, Perception, and Attention 79
7. Change from the Heart: Learning 95
8. Remember Me? Memory 107
9. Think about It! Thinking—Decision Making and Reasoning 123
10. Moving toward a Goal: Developmental Psychology 139
11. Trust Your Feelings! Emotion 159
12. We’re in This Together! Social Psychology 1 173
13. Faithful Attitude and Action: Social Psychology 2 187
14. The Real You! Personality 201
15. In Search of Normality: Psychological Disorders 219
16. “Meaningful” Healing: Therapy 237
Notes 252
References 253
Index 265
Back Ad 273
Back Cover 274
Five Themes of a Biblical View of Human Nature
The following five themes of how the Bible depicts humans serve as the backbone of this book, and will be referred to throughout as we explore the relationship between Christian faith and psychology’s perspectives on persons. These themes are described more fully in chapter 1. The Bible shows humans to be:
1. Relational persons:
We are made in the image of God, meant for relationship with him and meant to steward his creation.
2. Broken , in need of redemption:
We are sinners in need of salvation through Christ, living in and part of creation that suffers the consequences of all humanity’s sin.
3 . Embodied:
We bear God’s image in real bodies in a real world.
4. Responsible limited agents:
We make choices (within constraints) that result in actions for which we are both individually and corporately responsible.
5. Meaning seekers :
We seek to make sense of our surroundings, our experience, and our purpose through perceiving patterns, creative meaning making, and desire for a deity.
Preface
There are many good books that integrate psychology and Christian faith—so why add one more? Many recent and very valuable books on this topic focus on important specialized topics, but most are not accessible to introductory students. We hope this book will become a useful companion to introductory psychology textbooks for students who are interested in the intersection of Christian faith and psychology.
Scientific psychology and religious faith differ in how they explain the nature of humans and their goals in doing so. However, they both carry assumptions about human nature. These assumptions, which are sometimes implicit and sometimes explicit, serve as the common threads that are woven throughout the chapters of this book. The questions raised about human nature in this book are not unique to Christians, since people from very diverse perspectives have sought to understand our basic nature. And while the principles provided to answer these questions are drawn from Christian theology, people from differing backgrounds will likely find agreement with at least some of these principles.
In chapter 1 of this book, we develop five themes about persons that we believe are evident throughout the pages of Scripture and that should resonate with many diverse Christian groups. While many of these themes appear to be compatible with a variety of approaches in psychology, conflicts also exist. Although there are no simple answers to the real or apparent conflicts between biblical assumptions and psychological theories, we attempt to help students critically analyze various theories from a biblical perspective. Through the remainder of this book we relate these themes to the many subfields in psychology in a structure similar to that of college-level introductory psychology textbooks. We have designed this book so that, after reading the introduction and chapter 1, the remaining chapters could be read in any order, allowing flexibility in studying topics as they come up in an introductory psychology course.
This thematic approach is perhaps another unique feature of this book. By relating many disparate findings within psychological science to common themes, we hope to develop a more cohesive Christian approach to the field. We are certainly not proposing any profound or completely new interpretations to the field of psychology, since many ideas presented in this book have been discussed in other writings. However, our hope is that by distilling many themes and findings into a more cohesive approach, we will provide a fresh way of examining past, present, and future ideas within psychology.
Readers who are familiar with faith and psychology integration issues will quickly notice that we have not included an extended discussion of the various models of integration outlined in other books and articles. While we value these ideas and have gained a great deal from these discussions, our experience as instructors of introductory psychology courses is that it can be difficult to appreciate the distinctions in these approaches when first encountering the discipline in its entirety. So we encourage instructors or individual students to engage the many excellent additional readings on integration models. 1 As for us, we find that we do not easily identify exclusively with one particular model. We can say that we do hold scientific methods in high regard and believe that Christians have an obligation to identify truth regardless of the source. We also hold steadfastly to the Truth of Scripture and the power of the Word to convict us of our need for, and way to, salvation. We also believe that Christians should, as Nicholas Wolterstorff has suggested, “develop theories in psychology which do comport with, or are consistent with, the belief-content of our authentic commitment. Only when the belief-content of the Christian scholar’s authentic Christian commitment enters into his or her devising and weighing of psychological theories in this way can it be said that he or she is fully serious both as scholar and as Christian.” 2
Visit www.bakeracademic.com/professors to access study aids and instructor materials for this textbook.
Acknowledgments
This book would not have been possible without the incredibly helpful comments of our colleagues in the psychology department at Calvin College: John Brink, Laura DeHaan, Marjorie Gunnoe, Emily Helder, Blake Riek, Alan Shoemaker, Scott Stehouwer, Glenn Weaver, and Julie Yonker. Our departmental colleagues joined us in two intensive gatherings (sponsored by the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship) where we all discussed the ideas of our book, reviewed chapter drafts, and discussed the broader topic of how to teach psychology’s relationship to Christian faith. William Struthers and Scott VanderStoep joined one of these two-day discussions and also provided invaluable feedback on chapters. In addition, several other reviewers provided insight in shaping earlier drafts of specific chapters, including Laird Edman, Elizabeth Lewis Hall, Christopher Koch, and Angela Sabates. Thanks also to Cathy Parks for her work in editing footnotes and references.
We also thank the Calvin College Board of Trustees for funding sabbatical leaves for both of us and for the funding from the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship. We also wish to thank our wives, Phyllis Moes and Becca Tellinghuisen, for supporting us through this project and for Becca’s proofreading of earlier drafts.
Introduction
Why Did I Do That?
Chapter Summary: We all have questions about our own actions. This chapter introduces the basic questions that psychologists, persons of faith, and all of us ask about our everyday behavior. It also addresses the fundamental ideas that we have about human nature that influence how we answer questions about our own behavior.
I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do.
Romans 7:18b–19a
Psychology keeps trying to vindicate human nature. History keeps undermining the effort.
Mason Cooley, City Aphorisms
I also would not know how I am supposed to feel about many stories if not for the fact that the TV news personalities make sad faces for sad stories and happy faces for happy stories.
Humorist Dave Barry, Miami Herald
Jasmine had no fear of flying, and she thought people who did were completely irrational. Then two events changed her attitude. The first involved flying through a terrible storm in a twenty-passenger jet. The storm was so violent that, even with her seat belt buckled, Jasmine hit her head on the ceiling several times. The sec