Embodied Integration

Abstract

The assumption is made that God's revelation in the Bible is complementary to His revelation in nature, and that psychology is complementary to theology and all scientific areas of investigation. False integration is described in terms of platonic thinking, which causes scientific psychology to lead to nothingbutism and ratomorphism; humanistic psychology to the illusion of communication and mysticism with nobody there; and both to hopelessness. A levels of inquiry model is then proposed to show how the Bible, nature, psychology and science in general stand in relation to truth and how psychology, through a conduct of inquiry model, conducts its individual inquiry into that truth. Dogmatizers, dichotomizes and synthesizers are discussed, and certain correctives for psychology along an understanding-meaning-experience dimension are suggested. Finally, it is shown that with an uncontaminated conduct of inquiry across the levels of inquiry, psychology and Christianity can become substantially integrated in a way that promotes unity and includes wholeness of truth—and as we begin working out the comprehensiveness of that truth, as logical implications become lived-out experiential details, the integration becomes embodied.