Integration Of Christianity Research Articles

Book Review: A New Meeting of the Religions: Interreligious Relationships and Theological Questioning, Faiths in Conflict? Christian Integrity in a Multicultural World

Book Review: A New Meeting of the Religions: Interreligious Relationships and Theological Questioning, Faiths in Conflict? Christian Integrity in a Multicultural World

Short Notices

Books reviewed in this article:Seth D. Kunin (ed.), Themes and Issues in JudaismDaniel J. Harrington, S.J., Invitation to the ApocryphaJon Davies, Death, Burial and Rebirth in the Religions of AntiquityJohn Sawyer, Sacred Languages and Sacred TextsDonald H. Juel, The Gospel of MarkPeter Richardson, Herod: King of the Jews and Friend of the RomansCharles Carpenter, Theology as the Road to Holiness in St. BonaventureFriedrich von Hügel, The Mystical Element of Religion As Studied in Saint Catherine of Genoa and her FriendsRichard Cross, Duns ScotusDenis R. Janz (ed.), A Reformation Reader: Primary Texts with IntroductionsCarter Lindberg (ed.), The European Reformations SourcebookFrank J. Coppa (ed.), Controversial Concordats: The Vatican's Relations with Napoleon, Mussolini, and HitlerFrank J. Coppa (ed.), Encyclopedia of the Vatican and PapacyDorothy Day, On PilgrimageMichael Jenkins, The Church Faces Death: Ecclesiology in a Post‐Modern ContextJames L. Fredericks, Faith Among Faiths: Christian Theology and Non‐Christian ReligionsVinoth Ramachandra, Faiths in Conflict?: Christian Integrity in a Multicultural WorldEric James, In Season, Out of SeasonJohn R. Tyson, Invitation to Christian Spirituality: An Ecumenical AnthologyDonald Eadie, Grain in WinterMichael Welker, Creation and Reality

Doctoral Students' Integration of Psychology and Christianity: Perspectives via Attachment Theory and Multidimensional Scaling

Although doctoral programs in clinical psychology seeking to integrate the perspectives of Christian faith have existed for over 30 years, and newer integrative programs continue to proliferate in recent years, no empirical study has examined how such integration actually occurs in these programs, according to the students themselves. Multidimensional scaling of 48 doctoral students' perceptions of 19 full- and part-time faculty members at an APA-approved program in clinical psychology yielded 3 latent dimensions, 2 of which correlated with students' assessment of how exemplary and helpful the faculty were (p <.05). Recent confluence of contemporary psychoanalysis and attachment theory indicates that attachments need not be renounced in the name of maturity, and serve vital developmental needs throughout adulthood. Canonical correlation of the 3 latent dimensions with attachment-related criterion variables suggests that students may use faculty as subsidiary attachment figures or transitional objects, particularly the professor's own ongoing life of faith, to facilitate students' integrative pilgrimage.

Spiritual Disciplines and the Practice of Integration: Possibilities and Challenges for Christian Psychologists

Spiritual practices have received less attention than psychological change techniques in the contemporary integration of psychology and Christianity, yet a Christian understanding of health has implications for the personal and professional use of spiritual disciplines as mechanisms for growth. We consider the practical nature of the spiritual disciplines in promoting change as well as possibilities and challenges introduced by using spiritual disciplines both outside and inside the consulting office. Used outside the consulting office, spiritual disciplines may affect the professional life of the Christian therapist by deepening his or her knowledge of God, promoting a posture of humble self-awareness, and providing a refuge for the stresses of psychological work. Used inside the consulting office, the spiritual disciplines may prove helpful with some clients, but introduce significant challenges and potential problems that warrant careful consideration.

Undergraduates Developing Their Own Systematic Integration of Psychology and Christianity

This article is written from the perspective of both professor and student, detailing the development of a system of psychology as a part of senior seminar. After briefly introducing professor and student, we each tell about the purpose of the project, the preparation for writing the system, the process of developing it, and the product—a system of psychology.

The Church and Catholic Higher Education

AbstractRecurrent debates about the church and higher education in the United States involve differing understandings of the nature and purpose of the church as well as differing understandings of the university. Catholic colleges and universities remain important but underutilized resources for the American church as it pursues its mission. Institutional, communitarian and servant models of the church must be examined more rigorously before they are used to prescribe changes in higher education. None is without problems. In a pluralistic and free society, a public church,” self-consciously mediating the tensions between Christian integrity, Catholic unity, and civic responsibility, provides an altogether appropriate stance for Catholic colleges and universities as well. It points not to a neat resolution of outstanding difficulties but to ongoing dialogue among the publics to which both church and higher education must address themselves.

Varieties of Approaches to Psychotherapy: Options for the Christian Therapist

The multitude of existing approaches to psychotherapy can place Christian therapists in a dilemma as to which approach to use with their clients. It also makes it difficult for the students of psychotherapy to decide which approach best merits the investment of their time and energy in training. The problem is further aggravated by the Christian therapist's concern for the acceptability of the approach to therapy on scriptural grounds. While attempts have been made to create therapeutic approaches based strictly on scriptural principles, or on those aspects of secular systems for which a biblical justification can be found, or on a psychologically and theologically integrated theory of personality, no single approach appears to be adequate for all disorders, all persons, and all situations. Since our knowledge is at best partial and since truth often cannot be contained in unilateral concepts but appears to have a paradoxical quality, a structured eclectic rather than an integrated approach is a better choice for the Christian counselor. The Christian integrity of psychotherapy is ensured by the therapist's identity and by the treatment objectives rather than by a commitment to a specific counseling approach.

The Task Ahead: Six Levels of Integration of Christianity and Psychology

While the integration of Christianity with psychology has made some notable progress in recent years, there has been relatively little growth in psychological research relevant to integration. This article presents a model which attempts to begin correcting this by showing the relevance of psychological research to theories and world views used in psychology. Psychological study is categorized into six levels: World View, General Proposition, Linkage, Specific Proposition, Hypothesis, and Data. Distinct integration tasks are suggested for each level. The importance of the interrelationships among the six levels is also emphasized.

Research in Mental Health and Religious Behavior: An Introduction to Research in the Integration of Christianity and the Behavioral Sciences

Research in Mental Health and Religious Behavior: An Introduction to Research in the Integration of Christianity and the Behavioral Sciences

From a Marburg Sermon by Rudolf Bultmann 1884–1976

Rudolf Bultmann died, July 30, 1976, in Marburg, Germany, where he had served as Professor of New Testament from 1921 to 1951. Recognized everywhere as one of the most influential and controversial New Testament interpreters of our generation, he was the last in the long, distinguished line of “B” names, including Barth, Brunner, Baillie, Buber, Berdyaev, and Bonhoeffer. Identified with his existentialist principle of “demythologizing,” Bultmann sought to retain the basic core of the biblical message while separating it from its mythological wrappings. Some found this an exhilarating option between an irrational fundamentalism and an effete liberalism. While dispute over the implications of his principle continues to divide theologians, everyone acknowledges his academic scholarship, his Christian integrity, and his constructive intention. Not so well known was Bultmann the preacher, though, curiously, most of the abovenamed theologians, in contrast to today's names, were as much at home in the pulpit as in the classroom. We here reprint, in memoriam, a portion of Rudolf Bultmann's sermon based on Luke 5:1–11 (the miraculous draught of fishes), preached in Marburg, July 31, 1941, the same year in which his programmatic essay,“New Testament and Mythology,”was published. This excerpt first appeared in THEOLOGY TODAY, Vol. XVII, No. 1 (April, 1960); the full text is found in Marburger Predigten (1956), translated into English as This World and the Beyond (1960).“This passage,”we noted more than fifteen years ago,“is a lucid illustration of how Bultmann applies his own exegetical method to a passage of Scripture chosen as a text for preaching. One sees how ruthlessly honest he is, and how the criticism of the classroom is not hidden from the congregation.”

A Reply to “An Integration of Statistics and Christianity”

Kotesky's article, “An Integration of Statistics and Christianity,” recommended that the discrepancy between scripturally-informed psychological research and cur-rent practice could be lessened by using currently available statistical procedures to compare sample statistics against theoretical population values. The lack of consensus among Christians regarding what constitutes an ideal demonstration of love, honesty, or courage was used to illustrate the difficulties involved in implementing Kotesky's proposal. Judging from previous attempts, satisfactory operationalizing of the commonly accepted standard of Christian perfection, “Christlikeness” was considered rather unlikely. The alternative solution of devising new statistical procedures which meet our unique needs as Christian psychologists was offered as a more viable solution.

An Integration of Statistics and Christianity

The Christian world-view has implications for statistics at the philosophical level as well as at the theoretical and applied levels. At the philosophical level statistics can be regarded as reflecting reality, as reflecting man's ignorance, or as reflecting both ignorance and reality. At the theoretical level our world-view influences the statistics we emphasize in our teaching. Finally, at the applied level our Christian faith must be reflected in our use of statistics in testing, counseling, and grading.