Page 43 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 18
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An interview with Eric L. Johnson
about his research program on the
heart as a psychological construct
Eric, You started a research project about the
subject of the heart. Please tell us why this to-
pic became so important to you and for a
Chris�an Psychology?
To begin with, the Bible uses a variety of psy-
chological terms (like “soul” and “spirit”), but
the most common one is “heart.” It’s used over
800 �mes in the Old Testament (leb and lebab
in Hebrew) and over 200 �mes in the New (kar-
dia in Greek). We’re encouraged, for example,
to “pour out our hearts like water before the
Lord” (Lam 2:19). God says that in the new co- Eric L. Johnson (USA)
venant he will give he people a “new heart” (Ez PhD, is Professor of Chris�an
36:26), and he will write his law on their hearts Psychology and Asst Director of
(Jer 31:33). And now in the new covenant, we Public Outreach & Scholarship at
learn that “God’s love has poured into our the Gideon Ins�tute of Chris�an
hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Ro 5:8) and Psychology & Counseling at Hous-
“God has shone in our hearts the light of the ton Bap�st University.
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Je- h�ps://hbu.edu/gideon
sus Christ” (2Co 4:4). Such teachings are inva- In addi�on to more than 50 ar�cles
luable for a Chris�an psychology! in peer-reviewed journals, he edi-
ted “Psychology and Chris�anity:
In addi�on, the “heart” was recognized as a Five Views”, and was a co-editor of
highly significant psychological concept by “Evidence-Based Prac�ces for
some of the great Chris�an psychologists in the Chris�an Counseling & Psychothe-
history of the church. We’re all familiar with Au- rapy” and “Marriage: Its Founda�-
gus�ne’s observa�on, early in his Confessions, on, Theology, and Mission in a
that “the heart is restless un�l it finds is rest in Changing World” and has wri�en
you, oh Lord;” and Pascal’s great insight that “Founda�ons for Soul Care: A
“the heart has reasons that reasons does not Chris�an Psychology Proposal”
know.” Or Pascal again, “It is the heart which ex- and “God and Soul Care: The The-
periences God, and not the reason. This, then, rapeu�c Resources of the Chris�an
is faith: God felt by the heart, not by the rea- Faith”, basic textbooks in Chris�an
son.” Max Scheler wrote, “Where [one’s] 'heart' psychology. He was the founding
is a�ached, there, for him, is the 'core' of the director of the Society for Chris�an
so-called essence of things.ˮ Finally, the Chris�- Psychology and has been doing
an philosophical psychologist, Robert Roberts, pastoral counseling weekly for over
defined the heart as “your inward self, your 20 years. He’s married to
personality, your ‘actual you;’ and what you tre- Rebekah, and they have two child-
asure—what is important to you, what is im- ren, Laura and Iain, and three
portant to you, what you are centrally a�ached grandchildren: Cash, Jedi, and Se-
to—determines what that self is like.” These raphina.
few statements, I think, indicate just how valua-
ble a concept the 'heart' is for psychology.
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