of the conflict between psychology and theology will focus on the historical reasons for the clash (Conyers, 1998; Cortes, 1999) and its relationship to general misconceptions regarding the self and its relationship to God in contemporary Western secular society (Muck, 1998). This will be followed by an assessment of the true place of the sciences, including psychology, in relation to theology (Pailin, 1998) and the potential that psychology has to serve as an adjunct to theological understanding of the person and the person's spirituality (Edwards, 2000). Several articles on the relationship between psychological theories of development and spirituality are then reviewed (Roy, 1996; LaMothe, 1999; Edwards, 2000; Spohn, 2000) with a view to the potential usefulness of psychological constructs in the realm of spiritual counseling. The remainder of the essay concentrates on how psychological concepts might contribute to pastoral care with specific reference to examples from the literature (Burns-Smith, 1999; Gassin, 2000).
The antipathy felt toward psychology by theologists and religious leaders was not the result of a mistaken reading of the agenda of psychologists and others who adhered to strict rationalist positions in many areas. But many theologians have come to understand that it is essential not to accept, any longer, the terms on which rationalist and secular thinkers say the 'game' must be played. There is no aspect of genuine intellectual creativity that is not in accordance with creation itself. If scientists choose to limit themselves to certain types of evidence they are, of course, free to do so. This neither means, however, that they are always correct in doing so or that their extension of these rules to other areas of life has any validity. Some theologians have, accordingly, come to realize that it is unimportant whether Freud or any other scientist disparages religion or relies solely on inductive reasonin...