series of conclusions about the connectedness of psychological and biblical perspectives formulated on the basis of the reviewed literature.
Applying The Bible To The Study and Practice of Psychology
Perspectives Involving the Secular Nature of Psychology
Precisely how relevant and/or related is the bible to the study and practice of psychology? In an effort to answer this question, some authors have noted that almost all of psychology consists of theory, models and research conducted by those holding essentially secular views; as such, it might be claimed that psychology cannot really be at all related to the bible purposes, intents, goals and meanings.
Clouse (1997) has argued against the foregoing view, stating that the problematic aspects of the biblical and psychological perspectives have basically been resolved via the development of Christian psychology. In short, Christian psychologists are said to consist of believers who use Scripture as the criterion for acceptance or rejection of basic psychology theories, ideas and methods.
In other words, Christian psychologists assert that the bible can be used to evaluate diverse areas of psychology (e.g. psychoanalysis, learning theory, cognitive psychology, humanistic psychology, etc.), keeping what is in accord with bible principles and rejecting what is not in accord. Still another approach used by some Christian psychologists is to refine and/or modify that which is in partial accord with bible principles so as to make it useful to Christian psychologists (Clouse, 1997).
One example of the kind of work being done by Christian psychologists in terms of identifying psychological constructs, notions, principles and methods that are in accord with the biblical perspective can be seen in the writings of Tisdale (1994) who compares concepts of transpersonal psychology with New Testament records of Jesus's teachings on the Kingdom of God.
Tisdale (1994)...