Title

Excellence in Pedagogy : Some Obstacles to Integration for the Christian Psychology Professor

School/Department

Rosemead School of Psychology

Publication Date

12-1-1995

Abstract

Since its inception over 115 years ago the field of psychology has been enthusiastically embraced by Americans, and today its popularity appears unabated in both religious and non-religious circles. Its emergence and ultimate influence on American society was both swift and pervasive. Facilitating this growth was the zeitgeist of naturalism and scientism that characterized the intellectual landscape at the turn of the century. This resulted in founding fathers who cared little about theological, let alone integrative, issues. The ramifications of these historical developments are explored in this article, especially in light of the post-modernists’ vigorous challenges of psychology's tenacious reliance on the scientific methodology. For the undergraduate psychology professor who desires to teach the integration of psychology and theology, the question of “how” to teach integration, difficult as that is to answer, is now accompanied by the question of should one continue to espouse psychology as a science, if indeed it is only a matter of time before modernism, with which psychology has aligned itself, collapses. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the current state of the field of scientific psychology, especially given this postmodern era, and to describe the healthy and unhealthy responses that psychology as a field has made to these challenges. Finally, the hindrances plaguing a coherent response from Christian academic psychologists will be explored and possible solutions will be offered.

Publication Title

Journal of Psychology and Theology

Volume

23

Issue

4

First Page

237

Last Page

243

DOI of Published Version

10.1177/009164719502300402

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