Question 5: Explain the doctrine of common grace relating the doctrine to the ability of secular psychologists to understand true information about the human condition “Common grace is the kindness of God that He shows to all people regardless of whether they have experienced the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ alone.” Although all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Rom 3:23, and the wages of sin is death, Rom 6:23, God, in His mercy has extended grace to all of humankind. The most direct scripture pertaining to common grace is 1 Tim 4:10 “ For to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe.” Common grace effects several realms, including morality, physically, and intellectually. In the moral realm, God restrains man is such a way that we are not as evil as we could be, and He provides restraint on wickedness. In 2 Thessalonians 2:7, we read, “ For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.” …show more content…
God has provisionally supplied physical needs for all of
Grace is freely given favor or pardon, unmerited, unconditional god-like love. This grace has been shown in the many instances of unmerited love and forgiveness freely given in the book, The Grace That Keeps This World. In the beginning of the story, Kevin and his Dad, Gary Hazen, were at odds with one another. After the tragic accident where Gary Hazen accidentally shot his son, and Officer Roy’s fiancé, Gary David, Kevin, and his father, Gary Hazen, and Officer Roy, all extended grace toward one another. Then Gary extended grace toward himself. This grace helped to emotionally and physically sustain them, hence the title The Grace That Keeps This World.
The integration of psychology and Christianity is a rarely touched subject that Entwistle opened the door wide open with this complex and informative book. Entwistle uses is own worldview and research to supply the information for this book with a spiritual twist. Entwistle did accomplish to gather concise information and while also remaining objective. I do think that in the information that was provided I took it as him putting psychology and Christianity on the same pedestal. God is the creator and the maker of all and there is no equal or greater than him. I do feel like integrating psychology and Christianity can open the minds of individuals and show them another way to look at individual
This paper will be reviewing the book “Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: an introduction to worldview issues, philosophical foundations and models of integration, by David N. Entwistle. As the title states, this book discusses how to integrate psychology and theology. It also dives into why it is so important to be able to integrate the two. Entwistle explains that just because the two are different does not mean they should be separated, and that we have to use both our worldviews. “Weaving together perspectives from psychology and Christian theology can help us understand and appreciate humanity more fully than we could either perspective alone.”
In Entwistle’s book, Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity (2010), the reasoning for the need of integration of psychology and Christianity is provided. Entwistle explores both psychology and Christianity to illuminate the historical arguments that surround the evolution of both mindsets. Also provided is an explanation of the terminology associated with the philosophical discussion to enable comprehension by the less experienced in the field.
A framework of five models is shared: Enemies, Spies, Colonialists, Neutral Parties, and Allies. The Enemies model either associates no relationship between Christianity and psychology. The Spies model focuses on what works best for them from both Christianity and psychology. Colonialists use psychology only to the degree that it fits theology. Neutral Parties model holds that psychology and theology are independent with possible correlation between findings of the two, however that is about as far as one discipline may encroach on the other. Allies, the model considered by Entwistle, acknowledges that while psychology and theology are separate, they are still dependent, based upon the underlying unity of truth of God’s written word and His Works (Entwistle, 2010). The underpinning of the integrative approach to psychology and Christianity appears to be that of anthropology; this may be seen in the two books, God g...
David Entwistle’s Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity David Entwistle's (2010) Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity is geared more towards Christians with conservative evangelical views and provides the reader with an outline to different worldview disputes and truth-seeking groundwork that surround the connection that underlies psychology and theology. In addition to analyzing the possible connection between psychology and theology, Entwisle discusses the consideration of integrating Christian faith with the practice of psychology. “Christian understandings of person-hood, the purpose of human life, our need for God, and the ethical teachings of Christian faith are integral to psychology, not merely parallel to it” (p. 199). Entwistle’s viewpoint on this matter is clearly stated. He believes that it is necessary for theology and psychology to be integrated in order to fully understand human nature.
May (1988) writes that “grace is the active expression of God’s love” (p. 120), which is the ultimate desire of all humans. Grace is a difficult concept to understand because there is nothing a person can do to receive it; rather, it is freely given as a gift from God. Grace is given to all who believe in Him, regardless of their sins. Guilt is almost always attached to addiction. The Christian counselor can use the concept of spiritual grace and the supporting theology to help the client change his or her feelings of guilt into feelings of hope for personal change and forgiveness through
Thirty-seven weeks. All Saints’ Episcopal Church has been without a priest for thirty-seven weeks and in this diminutive amount of time, worship at all Saints’ has never faltered. In the past thirty-seven weeks, we have listened intently to some of the best supply priests in our region, been exposed to various organists through music and singing, parish events have continued with enthusiastic turnout, our services are filled with planned liturgy and celebration, but most importantly, ALL of these traditions will continue as usual. All Saints’ still persists. We still thrive.
When it comes to psychology and Christianity, there can be opposing beliefs on the topics. Some believe that psychology is the complete answer to the human mind in order to improve one’s life. While on the other hand, some Christian’s see psychology as completely irrelevant and fear psychology can take away from God’s word and His teachings. Christian’s may believe that God can heal one’s psychological issues alone, whereas psychologist may blame the issues on development or biological disruptions and can feel that only by addressing the problems can the issues be resolved. The integration view is based on the belief that God is ultimately the source of all answers. However, with that being said, Scripture does not provide us with all the answers on how a human’s mind works. Therefore science gives us the tools and knowledge that is needed to help and promote the human condition. Proving human functioning knowledge can be gained from both science and scripture. It is possible to gain insight and knowledge from different areas to integrate the best or most knowledgeable perspective into life’s situations. Integration is the process of broadening one’s views to u...
The Amplified Bible defines grace as: God 's unmerited favor. Romans 5:8, …For while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And in addition, we have been given the gift of faith, whereby we trust that the redemptive blood (the sacrifice made in the body of his son) has made us acceptable to The Father. What incredible favor! In our humble state of recognizing our sinful condition, we bow before our mercif...
the theories, and the techniques dealing with Christian and secular counseling will require different tactics and approaches for it to be effective
In this world of Christianity today, church is very important. A topic that can give us insight on Christianity today will be the Protestant reformation. A man named Martin Luther wanted changed in the church and a lot people agreed with him. Martine Luther got the Reformation ball rolling, but many others picked it up and ran with it (Stewart, 2008). This topic can give insight on Christianity today because over the years church went through different changes when it came to different things with the church. Many Catholics and church leaders wanted change in the church and that’s how the Protestant reformation really came about and that’s how it became important to reform. Many other Catholics were just as deeply concerned about the need
What do you define grace and mercy to be? Throughout my journey with Christ, I have noticed that most Christians don’t thoroughly understand what God’s grace and mercy actually mean. At one point in my life I only thought of God’s grace and mercy as the concept towards forgiving my sins which is true, but it has such a profound meaning beyond our sins. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8-10). Grace is God’s gift of salvation and salvation is the purpose of Christ death which displays the ultimate example of love, compassion and mercy. This paper discusses the theological definition, biblical foundation and practical application to identify how grace and mercy connects. Grace and mercy have helped me reach the level of accomplishments that I have reached
At the same time psychological researchers are avoiding the fusion of religion and psychology, so are religious organizations. Religion once feared psychology's tendency to view God as "nothing but" the projection of the idealized father (Ciarrocchi, 2000). Many religions hold that divine acts can override laws of nature, a view that is usually seen as incompatible with scientific belief. Although some researchers find that the relationship between religion and psychology is not receiving enough attention, others believe that combining the two is important. If the explosion of research publications on religion and spirituality by the American Psychological Association (APA) is any indication, psychologists cannot seem to read enough on the topic (e.g., Donahue & Benson, 1996; Pargament & Park, 1996; Graham-Pole, Wass, Eyeberg, & Chu, 1989). Overall, bot...
According to some, religion is the drive of civilization, but to others, it is what holds back an improving society. Socially, religion is counterproductive to a society who is in pursuit of improvement according to psychologist Sigmund Freud. Freud states in his book, The Future of an Illusion, multiple theories as to why religion is a core belief in society. One of his theories explains the differentiation between Nature and Fate, and how society has constructed the two in human terms. If there were no restrictions against acting to appease one’s instinctive needs, and one could kill whoever they wanted to or abduct anyone