Different Approaches To Psychology And Christianity Theology Religion Essay

Different Approaches To Psychology And Christianity Theology Religion Essay Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity, written by David N. Entwistle, is a thorough examination regarding the integration of psychology and theology, in which both attempt to understand human nature. Integration is described as a thing that we discover when we are uncovering the fundamental unity that God created, as well as something we do as we create ways of thinking about, combining, and applying psychological and theological truths (Entwistle, 2004, p. 19). An individuals worldview is ones life perspective, which filters their reality. Both the psychologist and the theologian bring their worldviews and presuppositions into their separate methodologies and goals. The authors theocentric model unites theology and psychology, as both have similar concepts that derive from Gods created world. In order to attain a holistic perspective of human nature, both are necessary (Entwistle, 2004). Before psychology was classified as a science, it had deep roots in philosophy and religion, though it was not successful in dealing with serious psychological disorders (Entwistle, 2004, p. 44). During this time the church leaders were deemed the spiritual physicians, caring for the souls of men. (Entwistle, 2004, pp. 44-45). The church leaders were involuntarily pushed into the back shadows with the rise of psychology, when curiosity began to embark upon the unconscious of man, moving psychology from examining the sensory systems of man to examining the mental processes of man (Entwistle, 2004, p. 49). Integration needs to recognize and discern the unity of all truth, that is that all truth is Gods truth, wherever it may be found. A comprehensive integration will involve, according to the allies paradigm, a holistic perspective on how human beings live, learn, think, feel, believe, and relate to each other and to god (Etwistle, 2004, p. 239). The book of Gods word (scripture) and the book of Gods works (creation) never conflict, but the interpretations of man may be inconsistent at times (Entwistle, 2004, p. 262). Human nature is complex and multifaceted. Psychology and theology must be integrated because human beings are integrated in themselves. It is erroneous to build truth upon just a few strands of the whole tapestry, lest we lose sight of the entire being. Integration must consist of the faith reading of both books, examining with careful exegesis and hermeneutics, and re-evaluating psychological reasoning, data and theories. We must learn to be comfortable with the fact that there will be some level of uncertainty and ambiguity we will always have to live with (Entwistle, 2004, pp. 273-274). Concrete Response My husband and I were pastoral leaders in a church where anything outside of the church was not considered ministry. We were told that God wanted us to work in full time ministry, which meant working full time with no steady pay. I didnt have any formal training in the bible nor in counseling, yet I preached and counseled. Everything was by faith, with the false belief that all knowledge and healing exclusively comes through the Spirit of the Lord. All of the teaching and counsel given stemmed from the leaders hurts and experiences. This was of no benefit to the parishioners, especially to those who had genuine mental health issues. My husband and I eventually moved away to another state. Whenever I tried to give counsel, I found that religious people either felt they did not need it, or believed I was somehow not spiritual enough. I also found that nonreligious people tended to be disinterested in hearing anything about God. Every time I opened my mouth, I seemed to find my foot in it. Five years after we left that church I enrolled in Liberty University to continue my education in psychology, still deeply struggling with my anti-psychology beliefs. I finally choose to go into professional counseling. I desired to be equipped and effective in counseling. Over the years I have come to know Christians who have had real psychological issues, but they only sought out Christian counsel. Most still have those issues today, still hiding behind religion. Reflection With the integration of theology and psychology, are we attempting to create a separate Christian psychology? If so, would this Christian psychology be less effective for those who are not Christians, or do we require conversion before they are able to partake of Gods wisdom? If so, are we withholding the very grace and graciousness of God, forgetting that fact that His sun rises on the evil as well as the good (Mat. 5:45). I also wonder if integration is realistically possible with all the various perspectives underneath the umbrella of Christian theology. Christianity has numerous opposing theories and conclusions, similar to secular psychology. I dont believe full integration will ever be possible, but I am confident that Spirit filled Christians have the power and ability to discern and act in such a way to work towards the healing and wholeness of each client. Entwistle was very constructive in stating the importance and possibility of integration (in which I disagree). He outlined various historical as well as contemporary viewpoints concerning integration, giving his opinion on which ones promote a holistic perspective. He also suggested several useful methods of integration. Although Entwistle acknowledged the metaphysical work of the Holy Spirit in integration, I was disappointed that he didnt make this a significant theme. I find it is important to integrate, yet believe that full integration may be impossible. I would have also liked to have read more about the pitfalls of being unequipped in ministry when dealing with mental health issues. Action Given that each human being is complex, counseling can be problematic. A holistic approach is the only way one can tap into the inner intricacies of man. I would plead with every Christian counselor to continuously examine their hearts. Due to the nature of our society and culture today, I would suggest they carefully consider every aspect of their client (body, soul and spirit). If not, they may do more harm than good. I am determined to work out my biases, as well as my resistance to change from anti-psychological thinking. I will continue to strive to gather all truth, which is Gods truth, from every relevant discipline. My main goal as a counselor is to be equipped and ready to pull out the most effective treatment from my relentless inner-integration. I believe every effective Christian counselor must be filled with the knowledge of Gods will in all wisdom as well as spiritual understanding (Col 1:9-17), so to bring forth instruction with zeal and fullness from his or her inner storehouse. This will ensure the impartation of both fresh wisdom and ancient wisdom (Mat 13:52 KJV; Wordstrudy). For one without the other stands deficient.

Greek And Inuit Mythology :: essays research papers fc

Parallelism in Greek and Inuit Mythology The very early creation legends are difficult to trace to their original sources, since they were passed along by word of mouth from one generation to the next. There are many different legends about the origin of the earth, some similar to those told in other cultures. It is interesting that most of these legends can be tied together in one or more ways. The Greek and Inuit tribe versions of early existence are related in many ways.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In both interpretations there is one creator. The Greek version explains that Eurynome, the goddess of all things, rises naked from chaos and finds nothing for her feet to stand on. She then separates the sea from the sky and dances upon the waves to the south, where later her hands would turn into a serpent (Switzer 10). Similarly, in the Inuit interpretation, a raven is born out of darkness and chaos. He searches around the dark trying to find his position; he finds water, grass and trees. After contemplating about who he is and what makes the grass grow, he eventually realizes that he is the Raven Father, the creator of all life (Ingpen 67).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Secondly, both interpretations use the bird as the principal creator of all things. It is thought that Eurynome is the author of the universe. She becomes pregnant when her serpent hands coil around her. Next, she assumes the form of a dove and lays a huge egg which the serpent keeps warm until it hatches. The egg brings forth all the things that now exist: the sun, moon, planets, stars, and the earth with its mountains, valleys, stream, lakes, all living creatures, including the first humans (Switzer 11). In like manner, Raven flies through the darkness and finds a new land, for which he calls Earth. One day, he notices a giant pea pod and watches it as it splits open and produces a man. He creates the ox and caribou for the man to eat but tells him not to harm them (Ingpen 68). He continues to create animals, but then creates a woman to be the man’s companion. Soon the man and woman reproduce and there are many children.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although similar in some ways, the two creation myths also contrast in several ways. The Greek version illustrates that Eurynome asexually becomes pregnant and lays an egg. This giant egg holds all things that now exist.

Why Animal Testing Can Save Our Lives

Many years ago, people follow particular traditions that involves animal sacrifice. According to biblical history, animals were often killed to use as sacrifices to God. In Genesis, Abraham sacrificed a ram after he was stopped by an angel to kill his son as a sign of full obedience to God. Clearly, animal sacrifices has been accepted ever since our ancestors had developed various religions where they believed meat offerings were pleasant to the eyes of their God. As one of the most complicated ethical issues of today, animal testing can be viewed in the same way with the historical animal sacrifices. As humans in past were saved spiritually by offering animals, it is reasonable to conclude that animal testing is a kind of sacrifice that humans must do to save lives physically and emotionally. Why Animal Testing Can Save Our Lives One of the primary reasons why animal testing is considered helpful for the advance of man is the fact that it plays a significant role in the progress of medicine. Newly created drugs are safer to use by humans if they are tested on animals first. Some people believes that it is unethical and improper to use a drug if it has not been tested on animals before (Hayhurst, 20). They argue that it is the best possible way to determine if a drug is safe or not. They clearly have a point in this argument. Apparently, they believe that human lives are much important than animal lives. â€Å"Many people who argue for animal testing agree that it's unfortunate that animals must sometimes suffer, but they feel that the pain is a small price to pay if it advances science and produces new cures for deadly diseases such as cancer and AIDS† (Hayhurst, 21). On the other hand, people who are against animal testing argue that animal lives should also be treated with utmost importance and should not be used as sacrifices to attain something. One of the points of these people are the fact that some cosmetic manufacturers also engage in animal testing to try their products. They believe that such products are â€Å"unnecessary† for animals' health to be sacrificed (Hayhurst, 21). There is the blinding of mice to enable cosmetic manufacturers to produce a new kind of mascara and other. They also argue that animal reactions to drugs can be quite different from that of humans. â€Å"Because of the irreconcilable biological differences between animals and human beings, the results of animal tests cannot be applied to human beings with any degree of confidence† (qtd. in Lovegrove, 14). However, it is the issue of morality and ethics that is enveloping the entire argument against animal testing. Many people on this side believes that animals have the right to live and that humans cannot just treat them in any way just because they can. Apparently, both sides of the issue raises important points that should be considered to achieve a fair and justified treatment of the issue. Clearly, there is a lot at stake here whether in the morality or the medical advancement of human beings but both ways still considers what is good for man. Nevertheless, the problem with some animal rights activists is that, â€Å"there is too much emphasis on ethics and too little emphasis on what they perceive as scientific benefits† (qtd. in Connor). In our present situation where diseases are rampant, it is important that people must be receptive and open-minded enough to consider tough decisions such as supporting animal testing. It is also important that people weigh the circumstances of what animal research could do in the existence and survival of mankind in the future. The problem with some activists is that they focus so much on what is happening today that they tend to forget what could happen in the future. Conclusion Our world today is experiencing so many medical challenges such as the spread of A(H1N1) virus, cancer, AIDS and other diseases; therefore, it is important that we consider sacrificing something today to enable us to prepare for the future. In addition, these animals also benefit from the testing as their future generations also benefits from the medical progress to which they contribute. Hence, it is quite reasonable to conclude that some tough decisions and actions should be made to make this place better and safer for all of us. It is for the greater good that a few must suffer to attain something better in the future.

Intersexuality And Scripture Essays - Gender, Sex, Intersex

Intersexuality And Scripture Essays - Gender, Sex, Intersex Intersexuality And Scripture Intersexuality and Scripture Sally Gross As a brute physical phenomenon, the bodiliness of people like us who are born intersexed challenges cherished assumptions about sex and gender made by many people within Western society. A variety of social institutions, including the dominant canons of medical practice and conceptions, much of the domain of the law itself, and some of the religious teachings which have loomed so large in the history of the West, tend strongly to support the notion that sex and gender is a dichotomy, and that any given human being is either deterninately and unequivocally male or determinately and unequivocally female. Congenitally intersexed physicality gives the lie to this dichotomous model of sex and gender. It is scant wonder, therefore, that fundamentalist Christians, who could be expected strongly to support the dichotomy which looms so large in the idealised model of the family, should feel threatened by the phenomenon of intersexuality and should seek to find religious arguments against it. It is not uncommon for Christian fundamentalists, faced with intersexuality as a brute fact, to adduce scriptural grounds for the condemnation of avowed intersexuality, at least, as ''unnatural'' and as something which is at odds with the will of God as expressed in the order of creation. This theological condemnation of lived intersexual identities also finds expression in unconditional support for surgical interventions, as early as possible, aimed at making the unacceptably ambiguous bodies of intersexed infants and children conform to the dichotomous model, in which there is no room whatsoever for ambiguity. This apparently religiously-motivated endorsement of surgery is insensitive to the fact that in most cases surgery is not necessitated by any real threat to the life or health of the infant, so that it is purely cosmetic in character. It is also insensitive to the fact that such aesthetically-driven surgical interventions frequently give rise to medical problems later in lif e, and can therefore be directly detrimental to the health of an otherwise flourishing intersexed person. Two Biblical proof-texts in particular tend to be cited as part of this rejection of intersexual identities and to show that intersexed bodies must be cut into conformity with the male/female dichotomy. The first of these texts is Genesis 1:27: ''So God created man [the Hebrew is ''Adam''] in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.'' This is claimed to show that human beings are, by virtue of the divine ordering of creating itself, either male and not female or female and not male, and that nothing intermediate or ambiguous is sanctioned. The second of these proof-texts is Numbers 5:3 which, in connexion with those who contract particular ritual defilements, commands that ''you shall put out both male and female''. Those who brandish this verse note that ''both male and female'' means everyone, and that this implies that there can be no-one who is not unambiguously male or unambiguously female. Both proof-texts, but particularly Genesis 1:27, are cited in defence of an absolute division between the sexes which will not tolerate anything in between. Let us therefore look at Genesis 1:27. I am not personally a Biblical literalist, and doubt that the two Biblical stories of creation (a priestly account, in Genesis 1:1 - 2:3, and what is called the Yahwist's account, in Genesis 2:4 - 2:24) were even intended to be taken literally. For all that, it is interesting to note that Genesis 1:27, the proof-text for Biblical literalists who wish to argue that hermaphroditism is somehow unnatural or unscriptural, is perhaps more ''herm-friendly'' than many Biblical literalists realise or than translations suggest; and there are early Jewish exegetical traditions which undermine its use as a scriptural rejection of intersex identity. Genesis 1:27 and Numbers 5:3 (which also has a section which the RSV translated as: ''both male and female'', used as synonymous with ''everyone'') have sometimes been thrown at me in order to argue that God created all human beings determinately male or determinately female with nothing in-between. It has been used, in my experience, to argue that a person like me does not satisfy the Biblical criterion of humanity, from which it was inferred that I am

Colombia essays

Colombia essays Colombia es unos de los paà ­ses ms interesantes en Latinoamrica. La historia de Colombia puede ser dividido por tres pocas importantes: inmediatamente despus de la independencia, durante de la crisis mundial, y en la actualidad. Por toda su historia, Colombia ha sido formado y influido por tres aspectos importantes: la economà ­a, la polà ­tica, y la sociedad. La poca de su independencia era una poca muy importante y susceptible para Colombia, como es para cualquier paà ­s. Colombia gan su independencia de Espan en Espan del comercio internacional, la agricultura y la minerà ­a no eran muy prosperas. Tambin, el comercio fue limitado a un grupo peques, la industria de bancos fue insuficiente para cumplir las demandas de la gente. A pesar de la necesidad para cambios, Colombia guard esclavitud, impuestos altos, y el gobierno tenia un monopolio en tabaco y alcohol. Este gobierno despus de la independencia fue dividido entre dos grupos de criollos en oposicin. Uno fue los consejos provinciales que querà ­an un gobierno federal como lo en los EEUU. Ellos, con su là ­der Torres, seguà ­an las ideas de la Ilustracin y eran muy liberales. El otro grupo, los consejos en Bogot con su là ­der Nari una constitucin que dividi la tierra por provinciales y se llamaron Nueva Granada. Co ...

Argument Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

Argument - Essay Example cross these censorship laws face a serious threat of judicial persecutionand could be jailed for their actions by the governments who impose these laws. Thomas David argues that practices such as military censorship should not be present in any democratic country and a public has the right to know the truth regarding the wars they are involved in (Thomas 342). Though his advocating for the truth is admirable, scenarios in war are not always black and white and the multiple grey areas raise questions on whether an inhibited source of information is really practical in times of war. The public plays a large role in the support that is offered to the government and the military during times of war and the maintenance of this support plays a crucial role in the success of the sides that are involved (Lankford 108). The media on the other hand is mainly interested in the passing on of information whether negative or positive and in this manner, are not directly concerned with the overall repercussions that the stories they publish may bring about. As unfair as it may seem, a close look on the issues involved in war and public relations reveals that a certain level of censorship will in fact be required for the sake of national security (Thomas 341) This is an argument that has been used by the government and dismissed by those opposed to the practice as a petty excuse. However, it can be argued that the media is not capable of censoring themselves and as such an external body needs to take over the task (Kekla 81). The uninhibited flow of information could be a dangerous tool in today’s society where public society has a major influence on government matters through public opinion. It should also be noted that the public will not always be privy to all the information available regarding ones and thus could hold a one sided view of matters that rely on the information afforded to them by the media. The government censors the information available to the public in a

Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 59

Assignment - Essay Example Consequently, employees within an organization should be sufficiently equipped with skills relating to these elements of communication, in order to attain competence. The employees input these acquired and inbuilt skills towards company activities, thus showing that organisational communication competence significantly influences other company operations (Williams, 2009). This paper provides insight into the concept of organizational communication competence and its impact on technology usage within a firm. In order to increase organisational communication competence, firms focus on increasing the input variables that match its goals. Boosting employee motivation is one successful way of increasing organisational competence. Respectful strategies, which determine new talents amongst employees’, also boost interactivity and positive communication. In addition, factors such as team work and matching of abilities determine a company’s competence in regard to organisational communication (Sanchez, 2004). This enables the company to seal any information conveyance loopholes that may hinder successful operation. Through improving organisational communication competence, this acts as a guarantee for consistent review on the company’s workforce tendency to account for prevailing conditions in the market and emerging technologies (Sanchez, 2004). By ensuring that there are open communication channels traversing across the organization, an establishment can be adequately informed about relevant technology developments. As a result, it becomes possible to source relevant technologies from the most qualified yet most affordable suppliers. Additionally, such communication proficiency makes it possible for the workforce to operate in unison, in the course of determining the direction to be followed while striving to achieve company goals through advanced technological platforms (Heene, 2004). Flexibility and creativity fostered by