Page 85 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 20
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The research then proceeds within a similar psychology frame. This was a surprisingly diffi-
frame throughout. Compared to the more usu- cult conceptual corner to turn, but when I
al posi�vist or modernist approach to psycholo- rounded that corner, the frame transformed
gical research, it is intui�ve, holis�c, personal my mind such that the dissonance disappea-
and transforma�onal. It is a way of growing in red.
conformity to Christ. Indeed, psychology is now more interes�ng to
me than ever because it is an integral facet of
How did you come to be a Chris�an psycholo- my walk with Christ. My research topics are ge-
gist? nuinely compelling, and my psychological ideas
Like all psychologists, I was trained in modernist are more original and crea�ve because they tap
research methods, and I taught and used these into my central iden�ty as a Chris�an. That
same methods with some success indeed I was iden�ty now has real, explicit, and thorough-
unaware of any other way to do psychology. going expression through my voca�on as an
But although my Chris�an worldview o�en sug- academic psychologist.
gested research ideas or seemed to confirm re-
search findings, I grew increasingly frustrated. I You talked about how you express this iden�ty
some�mes felt that “my hands are �ed behind as a Chris�an psychologist in your research
my back” (e.g., it was “against the rules” to dis- methods; how else is this iden�ty expressed in
cuss the relevance of Crea�on, Fall, Redemp�- your teaching?
on, and Glorifica�on). We were taught, implicit- In everything I begin with a scriptural frame ap-
ly, a methodological naturalism (to conduct proached in a spiritually forma�ve way to gain
psychology without reference to God). Conse- a primary personal understanding, then add to
quently, psychological knowledge became dry that frame ideas from other texts, such as the
and unenchanted. Dull, actually. (I think many texts of modernist psychology. The result is an
Chris�ans in psychology sense this same disso- encounter that God uses to prune me. For ex-
nance, and have a consciousness of two separa- ample, I have reconstructed my Social Psycho-
te psychological worlds and a sense of “what logy course and my whole understanding of so-
the rules are” for each). cial psychology around the concepts of the re-
For me, the dissonance became acute during la�onal person (i.e., we are essen�ally rela�o-
my last sabba�cal in which I had intended to nal because we are made in God’s image), com-
write a book integra�ng Chris�anity and my pri- munity telos (i.e., we were created for commu-
mary research topic (the psychology of rumor). nity), and ordered vs. disordered love (e.g.,
During that sabba�cal, I became disillusioned affec�on is ordered when it is a facet of a love
with the legi�macy of the modernist psycholo- for God).
gical enterprise. I became (and remain) convin- Within this framework (or through this lens), I
ced that falsifica�on is a myth, data are theory- approach each topic and it inevitably shines
laden, and the “facts” are not self-evident. I light in dark places, stretches me, and reveals
was increasingly aware of the social and poli�- God’s beauty and glory. For example, I review
cal aspects of the psychological project and the research findings on group polariza�on within
establishment psychological community. the frame of weak rela�onal community, that
At that point, I did not think that psychology is, communi�es built on sameness (in what
had much unique value to offer people. But in ways do I treat others on the basis of how simi-
that same sabba�cal, by God’s grace, I began to lar they are to me?).
read works especially by Eric L. Johnson, but A second example: I review bystander interven-
also Brent Slife, Nicholas Wolterstorff, Robert C. �on within the frame of what it means to have
Roberts, and C. Stephan Evans (among others), an ordered rela�onship with others (am I the
and later by John H. Coe and Dallas Willard. kind of person who is prepared to see need in
This led to a paradigm shi� in my approach, and others and to take risks in aiding them?).
I began to work consciously within a Chris�an A third example: I review self-esteem research
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