Finding Common Ground: An Integration of Christianity and Psychology

Transformational Psychology: theological and philosophical reflections

Entwistle (2010) in his book titled Integrative approaches to Psychology and Christianity seeks to explain the various attempts at integrating theology and psychology, two philosophies that appear to conflict. Through the investigation of critical historical conflicts between faith and science, Entwistle (2010) observes that the same principles that bring the two philosophies together also seem to pull them apart. Christianity and psychology share the same goals of understanding human nature. However, there exists a significant divergence in their worldviews. Many models have been formulated on the relationship between Christianity and psychology as a way of understanding the two approaches. Thus, according to Entwistle (2010), "theological reflection typically focuses more on God's workings in the world," which means that Christianity is concerned with faith in God to accomplish His work. On the other hand, “psychological reflection typically focuses more on the workings of God’s world,” which can be viewed as concerning the realm of human behaviors. These two philosophies, while related, are often seen by most people as divergent. Christianity drives human behavior while psychology studies it.

To Entwistle (2010), Christianity and psychology are two philosophies that are mutually exclusive. Entwistle describes this relationship as fundamentally opposed to each other. While theology results in the scriptures as the source of describing human experiences, psychology uses reason as its primary source. However, according to the more inclusive model of the theology and psychology relationship, there is an underlying unity and a legitimacy of both philosophies investigation with a significant recognition of the sovereignty of God over all things (Johnson, 2009). This approach sees the Christian worldview as the vehicle to interpret and engage with nature, including the psychological approach. Consequently, the two philosophies or worldviews are considered as allies under the power of one God both in ideas and practices. It means that, ultimately, both express the truth regarding human nature and its functioning.

It can, therefore, be argued that Christian theologians and psychologists are agreed on the intrinsic values associated with human beings. To Christian theologians, such recognitions are supported by the fact that human beings were created in God's image and are His beloved (Jung, 2014). The two approaches further acknowledge the spirituality of human beings and not just a set of neurons. Additionally, human beings are innately relational and, therefore, accept the value of community such as the church. Psychology and theology meet at the level of the appreciation that human beings are rational, and both approaches draw on this capacity to acknowledge that human beings can identify what is right or wrong (Johnson, 2009). Finally, it can be observed that theological reflection helps people discover God’s presence in their experiences. It can ultimately be viewed as a spiritual encounter with the Almighty through reflecting on what God presence in an individual’s life means and the expectation of God as a result.

To sum up, theology focuses on God’s works; this means that the Christian theology is concerned with their faith in God to accomplish His task. Psychology focuses more on people’s behavior. Both philosophical approaches are allied in the sense that they seek to understand people’s response and reaction to the works of God. The attempt to integrate theology and psychology seem to be an arduous one. Nevertheless, the Bible remains the guide for Christians while psychology attempts to explain human behavior.