Page 114 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

The Society for Christian Psychology

approach: there is one main article on a certain emphasis, as we try to answer this question on
topic, followed by six to ten responses by wri- our IGNIS website: can psychology be Chri-
ters from different traditions, and then, again, stian? Does Christianity need psychology? Is
the first author will give his answer to these ans- there only one Christian psychology? And do
wers. As you can see, the journal also promo- we still need a Christian psychology in our mo-
tes the dialogue between Christian theologians, dern, globalized word? I would be curious to
philosophers, and psychologists. hear your answers.

christianpsych.org E. Johnson: First of all: yes, of course, we do
need a Christian psychology. Every well-deve-
Alan Tjeltveit suggested that we should use the loped world-view community will have their
term “transdisciplinary” to express our empha- own approach to understanding and exploring
sis on the dialogue between disciplines, and human beings, whether Marxism, Humanism
therefore our journal is now called: Edification: – or Christianity. And, of course, I have often
The Transdisciplinary Journal of Christian Psy- been asked questions about our understanding
chology. of a Christian psychology, and I would like to
And, talking about publications, I would also summarize my answer by quoting parts of our
like to mention “Foundations for Soul Care”, website.
published in 2007. In this book, I diligently ex-
plain many of the basics that are relevant for Many people today believe that psychology ori-
Christian soul care and psychology. ginated in the 1800′s. However, every develo-
ping culture has some understanding of the na-
http://christianpsych.org/wp_scp/wp-content/ ture of human beings. If we define psychology
uploads/2013/07/scp_publications.png simply as the disciplined study of individual
human beings, then versions of psychology can
A. May: That reminds me of another book, Psy- be found in many cultures, some rather ancient,
chology and Christianity: Four Views, which and in the great writings of human civilization.
you edited with Stanton Jones in 2000, and in a Christian psychology began in the Scriptures of
second revised edition as Psychology and Chri- the Hebrews and early Christians. Later, Chri-
stianity: Five Views in 2010. Both editions are stian thinkers and ministers throughout the
again in the form of a dialogue: First, one author ensuing centuries developed many understan-
explains his concept of relating Christianity to dings of human beings, using the Bible as a ca-
psychology (different levels of explanation – in- non or standard for reflection. As a result, the
tegration - Christian psychology - biblical coun- history of Christian thought contains countless
seling - and, fifth, transformational psychology) works of psychological import that offer the
and then the others answer, telling about their Christian community a rich treasure of in-
agreements and disagreements. It helped me a sights, themes, and foundational assumptions
lot to understand the different standpoints in a upon which to ground the project of a Christian
better way and get an idea of the variety we even psychology.
find within each of these views.
From all what you have said so far, I would At the same time, Christians need not assu-
summarize that the first ten years of the Society me that our tradition currently contains all of
for Christian Psychology were marked by publi- God’s knowledge regarding human beings. On
cations and by conferences, and by networking, the contrary, we have good reasons to believe
bringing scholars together and inviting them to that God intends humans to grow in their cul-
dialogue. ture and knowledge, and develop sciences that
explore God’s creation. Science is a gift of God,
Being a networker, you have certainly come and Christians have been in the forefront of sci-
across one question fairly often: what actually entific investigation since the inception of the
is a Christian psychology? Or, with a different scientific revolution in the West. The problem

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