Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #130748 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Customer Reviews

Intellectually addresses psychology and religion
I am currently in a graduate counseling program, and by far this is on my short list of favorite texbooks. Entwistle's arguement validates psychology as a science, the pursuit of truth, and the realization that psychology and Christianity do not have to be at odds with one another. Yes, this book is not an easy read, but Entwistle expertly addresses a debate that all counseling students of a religious background must grapple with.

Entwistle Review - Angela Sullivan
For the most part, psychology and theology have been considered to be enemies as both deal with the basic questions about life and the human experience from different approaches. Psychology places human experience (empirically) at the core of understanding and theology places God (our interpretation of His Word) at the center of understanding human experiences. Theology is faith based and includes a strong acceptance of the Bible as the basis of all truth. Psychology is empirically based and leaves little room for faith or acceptance of the supernatural. It is easy to see how the two disciplines can be viewed as enemies. However, Entwistle provides an in depth look at both and paves a way to model the two in such a way that they complement and complete one another.
According to Entrwistle, "Everyone has a worldview - a window through which he or she views the world, assumptions, and beliefs that color what he or she sees." (Entwistle, 2004, p. 67) The book begins by discussing in depth how our worldview affects our way of thinking about everything, including psychology and theology. As the author points out, our worldviews are not so much chosen as much as they are learned from our experiences, education, and culture. Most are not even aware that their views on everything are filtered through these windows, which both distort and clarify our interpretation of what we see.
In addition to the ways that particular worldviews shape our attitude about psychology and theology, we also approach the subject according to the models we have constructed regarding the two disciplines. Entwistle described 5 distinct paradigms of relational approaches to understanding the various models. Enemies, which include both secular combatants and Christian combatants, do not see any reconciliation between psychology and theology. Spies, both domestic and foreign, will hold allegiance to one discipline but selectively taking components from the other. Colonialists are described as those who claim territory they did not win, discover, or work for. Neutral parties tend to mind their own business and keep the two camps separate. Lastly, there are those who are like allies. Allies view both psychology and Christianity as belonging to God and seek to understand how the two are based on the same truth.
Based on Francis Bacon's description of two sources for learning, God's book of Words (the Bible) and God's book of deeds (written in creation through nature), Entwistle concludes the book with a discussion on finding balance in our responsibility to properly utilize the two books. He reminds us that when science disagrees with the Bible, the conflict always resides in our interpretation. Coming full circle, Entwistle returns to the issue of how our worldview, biases, presumptions, and experiences alter and skew the way we interpret data. He ended the book with a sentence worth remembering in our search for truth: "We will sometimes have to live with ambiguity and uncertainty, be we affirm that God is the author of all truth..." (p. 275).

A Brief Abstract
In Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity David Entwistle (2004) discusses the integration of theology and psychology. One purpose of this book is to ground the discussion about this relationship in the context of worldview and philosophical issues that are prerequisite to integration, but which are rarely discussed in books of integration (Entwistle, 2004, 7). As one is able to see this book dives deeply into the principles of both theology and psychology. When one hears the word psychology more than likely they think of a secular science. This book illustrates that when psychology first began it was not founded on secular principles; it was later psychologist who created such secular theories. Wundt merely looked at how God had put the machinery of the mind together (Entwistle, 2004, 48). 'Freud's belief that psychopathology was caused by anxiety-motivated repression was popularly misconstrued as a tacit recommendation to rid ourselves of our inhibitions and unleash our darker impulses. Yet a fair reading observed in the free associations of his patients, rather than to sanction the contents as something to celebrate' (Entwistle, 2004, 49). The foundation of the book is to truly understand these two disciplines (theology and psychology) and to properly understand the integration.

Another aspect about this book is worldviews. Everyone has a worldview-a window through which he or she views the world, assumptions and beliefs that color what he or she sees (Entiwistle, 2004, 67). As one is able to see a worldview can alter one's perspective. The worldview helps the person to understand their perspective on how they choose to believe something. If one has a distorted worldview, then this will distort their thinking.

The book concludes by stating the chapter titled 'Truth and Two Books'. This title sounds almost unorthodoxy. Since our understanding will reflect theology and psychology rather than directly and perfectly reflecting scripture or creation, we must then look at the relationship between theology and psychology as interpretive disciplines (Entiwistle, 2004, 260). As one is able to see there is an extreme importance of the integrative of both psychology and theology. 'Finally, those who see integration as faithful reading believe that the origin of truth is in God's action in word and deed. Since our ultimate allegiance is to God, and since He is the author of both books, it is assumed that truth can be found through the study of the book of God's word and God's work' (Etiwistle, 2004, 275). This is basically stating that it is not enough for one to understand the word of God; it must be put to action. This book basically covers the integration of theology and psychology to be a mixture of two distinct disciplines which can be used to glorify God. In conclusion, one's worldview can also aid or distort one's perception of these two disciplines. Therefore it is imperative to have a sound worldview which has a firm foundation upon God's word in order to have the proper integration of theology in psychology.

(Written by Joy Mays)

Note: Another interesting development in psychology has been the provision of Online Counseling and Telephone Counseling. I have found this clinical guide to be very helpful: The Therapist's Clinical Guide to Online Counseling and Telephone Counseling: The Definitive Training Guide for Clinical Practice