Specifically, how does one integrate faith and the field of psychology?
What a fun question we get to answer this week. I believe the key to unlocking this dilemma rests in the glasses through which we view psychology, or what we call our worldview. There are many differing views on faith and psychology. Often we find extreme views on both sides of the equation. There are some people of faith who claim psychology cannot be trusted for determining truth. On the other end of the spectrum are those who blindly accept science as truth in spite of the Biblical contradictions some scientific ideas can contain. We will also find people all along a continuum between both extremes.
In the study of psychology I have come face to face with many psychological truth claims that are antithetical to what the Bible teaches. My goal has been to resolve those conflicts when possible to work toward a more integrated approach between faith and psychology. We all have options when we walk this path. We can jettison our Christian beliefs and accept the philosophical presuppositions we encounter as we study psychology, we can even (what I believe often happens) ignore the contradictions, or we can discard the tenets of psychology all together. None of these seem to be a good way of handling the situation.
My solution has been to handle the issue with an integration based approach. As a Christian I will accept those teachings of psychology that are in agreement with Biblical principles. On the opposite end, I will carefully and systematically psychological teaching that is antithetical to Biblical truth. Normally, the use of synthesis to soften faith/science differences is a slippery slope to an errant result. However, faith and psychology both contain philosophical elements which are not provable via the scientific method. Since philosophical assumptions are seemingly preference based, this seems to be the core of the faith/psychology conflict. Therefore, I base my way of handling this situation on a few basic principles I will briefly go over in this short response. First, psychology is rooted in part on sound scientific study, and a Christian cannot ignore this fact. Second, Biblical truth claims can also be tested if one takes an honest approach because they correspond to reality (ex. the Anthropic Principle). Finally, the hard decisions can be made using the law of non-contradiction, which states that two contradictory statements cannot both be true. If the Bible makes a truth claim that is contradicted by a claim of psychology, they cannot both be right. They could theoretically both be false, but they cannot both be true.
Faith must never take a back seat to psychology. We are not called as Christians to place our faith on a shelf when we study or practice psychology. There should always be a way to reconcile different claims, and our job is to do the hard work of discovering the truth.
Do you ever place your faith on a shelf to engage in any activity such as work, sports, socializing…?
Which situations?
