Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity - Book Report/Review Example

4Mat Review Entwistle D. N. (2004). Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: an introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers. Abstract David Entwistle, in this book, provides a situation where Christian faith can be integrated with the discipline of psychology. Entwistle adopts symbolism that was initially posited by Tertullian, in representing Jerusalem as the virtue of faith and Athens as the voice of reason (Entwistle, 2004). The first question the author asks is whether Christianity and psychology can be integrated or not. Psychology is different from Christianity on the basis that it employs specific techniques for describing the behavioral and physical observations of human beings. Entwistle develops the theme of “All truth is God’s truth” (Entwistle, 2004), at the beginning of the story, and refers to it throughout the book. Therefore, during conflict, it does not matter which opinion is closest to the truth, in relation to this theme. Entwistle argues that both psychological perspective and Christian view come from God. He provides historical background on the reason of debate verses faith to support his arguments. Over the past centuries, religious leaders and scientists have been both enemies and allies. For instance, during times of Galileo and Copernicus, the church interrogated scientist to find the truth about their claims. On the other hand, scientists like J. W. Draper argue that believers are less intellectual. In the subsequent chapters, Entwistle introduces another key concept of the worldview and interpretation (Entwistle, 2004). He says that an individual in search for the truth will, to some extent, be biased by how they perceive the physical world. It is, therefore, necessary to analyze people based on their presuppositions because it influences how they understand the world and the bible. Integrating psychology and Christianity requires people to view science as descriptive of the world other than prescriptive of the world. For example, Christians should perceive a miracle as something that scientific experiments cannot explain. By doing so, they are creating a worldview that science is the answer to most phenomena happening in their physical world (Entwistle, 2004). In this book, Entwistle explains five models for integration, which include Colonists, Enemies, Neutral Parties, Spies, and Allies (Entwistle, 2004). According to Tertullian, disagreeing parties believe that reason and faith cannot be integrated. For instance, proponents of science believe that science is the truth for explaining the world’s phenomena while Christians believe that the Holy Bible is the truth. Entwistle present Spies as people who have psychological background but are camouflaging in the religious community. Such people do not believe in most Christian teachings, but recognize that forgiveness and prayer are significant to the secular world (Entwistle, 2004). Colonists are Christian believers who are determined to convert nonbelievers to their way of life. Allies perceive psychology and Christianity as two separate entities for discovering the world’s truths, and when they disagree, it means that some of the interpretations are flawed. Neutral parties, on the other hand, believe that Christianity and psychology has little or no relationship. The author concludes his book by arguing that ally paradigm is the most effective integration model. He credits Francis Bacon’s notion that Christianity discovers the truth through the Bible while psychology discovers the truth the world, God’s work. It is necessary to note that the central theme of this book is “All truth is God’s truth” (Entwistle, 2004). Concrete Response In 2010, my class and I suffered the loss of my three classmates to a careless driver. They were run over by a speeding car while crossing the road after evening classes. As a class, we used to pray together, after our evening remedial, before going to our respective homes. However, on this day, three of my classmates perished in a road accident even after asking God for protection on our way back home. This incident made me question my faith in God, and the relevance of prayers with regard to what we ask from God. Most of the times I asked myself why God had to be so cruel on us, and why our class deserved this incidence. I even asked God why it had to be these students since they were among the best students, in our class, and they always made us proud while holding exams contests with other classrooms and schools. This made me feel hurt, and for several months, I questioned myself about the true existence of God and His actions. I, therefore, decided to rebel against God, and as an emerging young adult, all my faith was lost. In the following months, I admit that my life took a totally different direction as everything I did moved me farther away from God. In spite of this feeling, I had part of me that still needed God to send me an answer about what happened earlier. I was also eager to find the truth about the existence of God and his actions. Over the next few months, I received no valid feedback, in my dreams, and this clearly indicated that my feeling of disbelief seemed to be justified. However, on one night while I was a sleep, the image of my three classmates appeared to me, in the classroom. They told me that they were sorry about what happened as it was the will of God, but they were currently in a much better place. They further told me that we should continue holding our evening prayers as God was always watching over us, and He will never let us walk alone. They gave me a hug and then disappeared into the thin air. It was during this time that I came back into my senses. I began shivering, and this is the moment I knelt down, glorified my God, and asked Him for forgiveness and protection. Since that day, I believe in God and He has become the first priority in my life. Reflection One lesson that I learnt is that the way people perceive the world significantly affect their judgments. An individual’s worldview entails everything that a person has experienced in his or her life. The things, which we experience, are also influenced by some external factors such as culture and the external environment. Therefore, I usually ask myself how people can become creative in order to overcome some of the experiences and beliefs that are as a result of cultural or environmental influence. I think that an individual’s world view should entail both personal experiences and relationships with other people from different cultural background. I also understood that worldview helps people answer four questions about themselves. These questions help people to identify themselves, what they do, where they are, problems they experience, and how they can fix the problems. Understanding the nature and actions of God help us understand the question of our relationships with God, and the occurrence of world’s physical features. It is necessary to acknowledge that God is our creator, protector, and provider. We should, therefore, have faith in Him and pray for forgiveness, guidance, and protection. Action The knowledge I have gathered from this book will enable me improve my faith, in God, and apply my counseling techniques to help improve the lives of other people. With respect to the community that I work with, I will use both theological and psychological knowledge to help them understand their lives and positions in this world. People usually learn by example; therefore, I am going to live in accordance to God’s will, and reflect all the good things He has done for me. Through this, it will be easier explaining the power and love of God to other people. I work as an activist for the special needs students. It is, therefore, necessary to understand the worldviews of these students. I will ask these students to change their worldviews if they are specifically influenced by their own culture and environment. Their worldviews should entail both their personal experiences and social relations with people from other cultural backgrounds. My aim is to help these students improve their faith, and realize that God is their creator, and he has a purpose for creating them, in those physical conditions. In the bible, it is written “So God created mankind in his own image” (Genesis 1:27). References Entwistle D. N. (2004). Integrative approaches to psychology and Christianity: an introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations, and models of integration. Eugene: Wipf and Stock Publishers. New International Version Bible Read More