Page 32 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5
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Empirical steps toward a Christian Psychology
C. Eric Jones (USA)
The Roles of Automatic and Conscious Thought in
Worldview Consistency
The opening line of the song More by Mylon Le- eternity. It sees this life as an inconclusive expe-
fevre is “break my heart and change my mind”. rience, preparing us for another; this world as a
These are simply but profound ideas to be sure temporary place of refuge, not our true and final
and hearing the song always makes me think home.”
of the ongoing process of sanctification in my
own life. The Christian life is a continual move Regardless of the centrality of a changed mind
away from what I have been and toward what in the Christian life, understanding a changed
I should become, the likeness of Christ. Grenz mind psychologically is a challenge. The above
defines sanctification as “our cooperation with partial description of the Christian mind clo-
the Spirit in living out in daily life the regene- sely relates to the concept of worldview and
ration, justification, freedom, and power which the two will be considered synonymous in the
is ours through conversion, so that we grow in following discussion. I will also borrow from
Christlikeness and service to God” (1994, pg. Blamires a secular/Christian worldview distinc-
440). A changed mind seems to be central to the tion. The mind’s role in sanctification can now
more complete change or sanctification called be stated as attempting to substitute the newly
for in scripture (Matthew 22:37) and based on practiced and progressively forming Christian
Romans 6:19, Romans 12:1, 2 Timothy 2:21, worldview for the established secular mindset
and Hebrews 12:14 we have a role to play in the of a Christian. Out with the old and in with the
sanctification process. new, as it were. However, this substitution is not
The mind’s roles in the acquisition and proces- an immediate or instantaneous process.
sing of truth and knowledge are paramount in The human mind is composed of two systems
the formation of new perspectives (Moreland, or operates according to a dual processing ap-
1997). These perspectives form the foundation proach (Kahneman, 2011). One system is ty-
for the new patterns of living to which we are pically referred to as nonreflective or intuitive,
called. Therefore, a life of transformation co- characterized by automatic, effortless proces-
mes to those who humbly submit to the work sing. The other system, the reflective, is charac-
of the Spirit and habitually use their minds to terized as slower, deliberate and effortful in its
understand God’s world and live out His ways. processing. Kahneman says, “Highly accessible
Clearly, the development and use of a Christian impressions by system 1 (the intuitive system)
oriented mind is essential to our spiritual de- control judgments and preferences, unless mo-
velopment. It is unsettling then, when Blami- dified or overridden by the deliberate operati-
res (1963) questions whether or not we have a ons of system 2 (the deliberate system)” (2011,
Christian mind any longer. He sees the Christi- pg. 716). In light of our current discussion of
an mind as distinctly different from the secular changed minds, it means that until the new
mind and consequently leading to significant- and deliberately controlled Christian world-
ly different outcomes compared to the secular view thoughts become automatized, we cannot
mind. Note the specific discrepancies from a expect one’s thoughts and behaviors to be con-
secular mindset or worldview mentioned by sistent with stated beliefs due to the overwhel-
Blamires below. ming interference from the automatized cultu-
ral influences that developmentally precede the
“The Christian mind sees human life and human Christian worldview. Understanding sanctifica-
history held in the hands of God. It sees the who- tion via these systems potentially informs us
le universe sustained by his power and his love. concerning the development of a transformed
It sees the natural order as dependent upon the mind at particular points in human develop-
supernatural order, time as constrained within ment. It suggests that a truly changed mind is a
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