Editor: Eric Johnson

Subtitle:

Five Views

With contributions by David Myers, Stanton Jones, Robert Roberts & P. J. Watson, John Coe & Todd Hall, and David Powlison.

How are Christians to understand and undertake the discipline of psychology? This question has been of keen interest (and sometimes concern) to Christians because of the importance we place on a correct understanding of human nature. Psychology can sometimes seem disconnected from, if not antithetical to, Christian perspectives on life. How are we to understand our Christian beliefs about persons in relation to secular psychological beliefs?

This revised edition of a widely appreciated text now presents five models for understanding the relationship between psychology and Christianity. All the essays and responses have been reworked and updated with some new contributors including the addition of a new perspective, the transformative view from John Coe and Todd Hall (Biola University).

Also found here is David Powlison (Westminster Theological Seminary) who offers the biblical counseling model.

The levels-of-explanation model is advanced by David G. Myers (Hope College), while Stanton L. Jones (Wheaton College) offers an entirely new chapter presenting the integration model. The Christian psychology model is put forth by Robert C. Roberts (Baylor University) now joined by Paul J. Watson (University of Tennesee, Chattanooga).

Each of the contributors responds to the other essayists, noting points of agreement as well as problems they see.

Eric L. Johnson provides a revised introduction that describes the history of Christians and psychology, as well as a conclusion that considers what might unite the five views and how a reader might evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of each view.

About the editor:

Eric L. Johnson (Ph.D., Michigan State University) is trained as an academic  psychologist and is Lawrence and Charlotte Hoover Professor of Pastoral Care at  The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is  coeditor of God Under Fire and the author of Foundations for Soul  Care. He is an associate editor of the Journal of Psychology and  Theology, the Journal of Psychology and Christianity, and the  Journal of Spiritual Formation and Soul Care, and he is the director of  the Society for Christian Psychology.