Page 16 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 7

Christian Psychology as a Challenge

tions are the best and the most scriptural they ons of the institutional church. The apostle Paul
can be; we need, in short, to learn to psycholo- argued that there is only one faith and one bap-
gize as Christian believers. And this is so hard tism, and Jesus of course prayed for the unity of
to do because everything in our training and the church. So it’s important that we not be divi-
culture teaches us to compartmentalize. sive. However, I think that one of the things that
hamstrings Christian psychology is a kind of
I should say in addition that other disciplines superficiality in our understanding of Scripture
and approaches, like history, also play a large and theology. I believe that the quality and, im-
role in a transdisciplinary approach. portantly, the quantity, of Christian psychology
will increase as people become better versed in
In 2000, Robert Roberts articulated his vision their own traditions within the church, when
of Christian psychology in Psychology and Chri- they have a clear sense of how they understand
stianity: Four Views. His idea was that we need the Bible, and when they have mastered the
to do careful and deep biblical exegesis and to theological vocabulary of their own traditions.
“retrieve the Christian psychology of the past,” I have much more to learn about Christian psy-
to ensure that our psychological concepts and chology from a Roman Catholic who knows the
theories are consistent with the Bible and with Catholic tradition and can show me the psycho-
Christian tradition. All this, Roberts argued, logical implications thereof, then perhaps from
was a kind of prophylactic, to ensure that our a brother or sister in my own tradition who is
psychological thinking is intrinsically Christi- less well versed in our tradition. Indeed, it is
an rather than modern. Our attempts at inte- only as people go deep in their own traditions
gration, he argued, will be severely hamstrung that it becomes clear what we have in common
if we’re out of touch with our own indigenous and where we genuinely differ.
psychological thought.
This actually connects to my previous comment
But it’s important to realize that transdiscipli- about hidden theological and philosophical pre-
nary scholarship is not merely theological or suppositions. Often times, Christians who want
philosophical or historical—these are the foun- to portray themselves as “mere” Christians ob-
dation, the roots. An authentically Christian scure the fact that they actually have tradition-
psychology is also going to be deeply conver- specific theological beliefs that profoundly sha-
sant with the best psychological thought avai- pe their psychology. I personally think it’s best
lable. And of course most of that material will to be aware of those beliefs and presuppositions
be written from a non-Christian vantage point. and put them on the table so that we can work
A huge part of Christian psychology is to draw with them, and be open to dialogue with other
upon the vast resources of contemporary and perspectives. If we portray ourselves as “mere
historical psychological thought. Christians” and others disagree with us, well,
that must be their problem, not ours.
Werner May: In one publication, you’ve argued
that it’s important to identify “which Christia- Theological clarity will also help in the crucial
nity?” we’re talking about. Could you elaborate task (identified by PJ Watson) of “operationa-
on that a little bit? lizing the Christian tradition,” i.e., in creating
empirical measures of biblical and theological
Russ Kosits: Absolutely. This actually con- constructs, say, of grace or forgiveness or hope
nects beautifully to this metaphor of the roots or whatever. If you’re fuzzy on what Scripture
of Christian psychology. Christian psychology teaches about a particular construct, you’ll like-
will be deeply rooted in Scripture and theology ly struggle to operationalize that construct.
and Christian faith, supported by the institu- I’m glad to say that Christian Psychology has a
tional church. But it is obviously the case that tradition of engaging various Christian traditi-
there are multiple interpretations of Scripture, ons, and we shall continue to do this as the Lord
differing theologies, and different manifestati- allows!

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