psychology - science and religion

Critical Review and Response of

Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith

Mitchell S. Niswander

Psychology 1010: Introduction to Psychology

Kyle M. Bandermann

Johnson University

CRITICAL REVIEW PAPER Niswander 1

Psychology, or the science of behavior and mental processes, is just that—a science.

So how can we look at psychology and faith together when so many believe that science and

religion conflict with each other? First we must put aside that common misconception and

realize that religion has had a lot to do with science. In fact, modern science was supported by

Christians in the seventeenth-century. It is not wrong to explore what God has made and try to

understand it better. There is a reason He made it and, as humans, we are naturally curious to

find out what that reason may be. It is interesting that many people believe that science threw

God out in favor of natural explanations. Things such as storms, disease, and even human

behavior were all thought to be caused by the supernatural. When science came along, it

offered evidence that these things are not caused by God, but by a series of natural events.

This, however, does not disprove God. Can God not cause the series of natural events that

would result in a hurricane to happen? He absolutely can.

In chapter seven of the book, the authors talk about Jean Piaget, the late developmental

psychologist. Piaget figured out that children perceive the world radically different than adults

do. By performing some simple tests with children to see how much they understand about the

world around them, Piaget concluded that there are different stages where a child grasps

certain concepts, but still fails to understand others. They lack the mental capacity to reason

with in the same way as adults do. In the same way, this is very much like our relationship to

God. We lack His understanding and only see the world as we understand it. We may not

always grasp all of who God is and why He does what He does, but we must learn to trust Him

much like a child trusts an adult.


As humans, we can relate more towards specific illustrations rather than by vague

truths. This is why sermon messages need to be easy to understand, compelling, unforgettable,

and motivating. We need to have all of this in one message in order to have the best chance of

getting listeners to take action. Another good thing to do is have your message be relatable.

People will likely comprehend it more if they have gone through something similar.

Repetition also helps people remember the key points of the message. To get people to act on

the message, however, is is always good to call toward a specific action. The message cannot

leave people wondering what the next step is. Either tell them or have the message encourage

them to create their own next step. These steps will help create a clear, interesting, and

memorable message that will inspire action.

In chapter 13 of Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith, Myers and Jeeves discuss the

question of whether or not human beings have free will, or if everything people do is

predetermined by God. This is a very big question to a lot of theologians. Human behavior

does have some order, but this does not mean that it is absolutely determined. Human nature

is extremely complex, therefore we cannot possibly predict outcomes with one-hundred

percent accuracy one-hundred percent of the time.

If everything we do is predetermined, it does not really matter what we do because we

have no say in it anyway. This brings up quite a few questions to mind. What is the point in

life if we do not have to freedom to choose what we do with it? Does that then mean we

cannot be held accountable for any for our actions? Do we even have any choices at all in

anything we ever do or have done?


I think the real question is “Should humans have the ability to make conscious

choices?” If we consider that we do have free-will, one would note that we do not exactly

have the best track record when it comes to decisions. We all have chosen to do things that

may have given us immediate reward, but eventually we end up regretting in the long run. But

that is just it. We regret choices because we know now that they were wrong. We learned

from them. Could these decisions be God trying to teach us a lesson my making us choose

unwisely?

God has the ability to see our past, present, and future. He is omniscient. No one can

trick God. No one can do anything accept by His will. By these statements, there cannot

possibly be free-will towards humans. Some would argue that God has a set goal and

constantly is changing the plan to achieve the goal depending on what we decide to do with

our free-will. To me, this implies that God is does not know everything and is constantly

saying, “Well, better think of something else.” I would argue that God works through the

choices that we make. He makes us chose things that will strengthen our relationship with

HIm, be it prosperity or difficulties.

Chapter twelve of Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith discusses how by nature

humans are social creatures. We thrive on the community of others. But too much social

stimuli can be a bad thing. Things like competition, privacy loss, and even just too much noise

can become very stressful. Times of solitude, away from others can help relieve some of the

stress of dealing with this overstimulation everyday. In fact, researcher Peter Suedfeld

concluded that a day in which a subject has reduced external stimuli helps them increase their


self-control. This is one of the reasons why meditation is a phenomenon in modern culture.

Spending time alone can help one discover or rediscover God revealing Himself.

Prayer, as talked about in chapter sixteen of the book, is not just a thing of faith, but

also turns out to help medically as well. Praying can help reduce stress and help increase the

effectiveness of your immune system. However, some believe it is the simple effect of the

power of belief. If you strongly believe something will help, chances are it will. The power of

prayer has been tested in a multitude of ways over the course of centuries. Researchers are

always trying to show the power of prayer in a way it can be measured. The problem with this

is that it seems to be comparing prayer to something in the realm of magic. But God does not

only work through prayer. God works through nature and helps create the medicines that heal

people today. Furthermore, humans cannot manipulate God's will. God knows our needs; He

does cannot be persuaded into helping.

Chapter nineteen discusses giftedness. This is the idea that certain people are better at

certain things than other people. Strictly speaking, something is not really considered a gift

until someone makes the decision to name it a gift. Christians believe that everyone is gifted in

something. These things could vary depending on the person, but, essentially, everyone has

something they are gifted at that they can use to help extend the kingdom of God. In

psychology, this is reflected in multiple intelligences. Seem people can have extraordinary

verbal skills whereas others may have been blessed with the gift of numbers. There are

different kinds of intelligence that some have that others do not, but everybody has something.

Chapters twenty-five and twenty-six go very hand in hand together to tackle the topic

of pride. The authors discuss that it might not be self-righteous pride that cause problems to


arise in someone’s life, but in fact could be the result of one’s self-loathing. In chapter twenty-

six, the authors state that “people who are made to feel insecure and who therefore have a need

to impress others are more likely to make scathing assessments on others’ work than are those

who feel secure and comfortable with themselves” (p. 169). Adversely, a person who has high

self-esteem will more likely stand up for the little guy. This explores the concept of positive

thinking.

Recent experiments done by Steven Spencer show that there is a definite correlation

between how someone is treated and how they treat others. If someone is thinking highly of

themselves, they tend to think more highly of others as well. But if that person suffers a blow

to their self-esteem, they will not hesitate to damage others’ self-esteem in order to build

themselves back up. If they cannot feel good about themselves, no one can.

These chapters really stuck out to me because I have seen and even participated in this

type of behavior before. It is sad to think that how humans make themselves feel better about

who they are is to put others down. The way I see it is like if you are hanging off the ledge of

a tall building. Someone comes along and you grab them and knock them off the building

entirely. Just because they are lower than you does not mean that you are any higher up. You

are still hanging off the ledge. No matter how many people you knock off the building, it will

never help you climb back up.

In chapter twenty-seven, the authors take on the question of whether or not Christianity

is beneficial to mental health. Right out of the gate, this was a weird question. I never even

thought about if my religion was making my mental health deteriorate. It was interesting to

read about all of the things that religious beliefs have been associated with in more cases than


not. Things like greater optimism, higher self-esteem, less depression, less drug abuse, and

even higher marital stability are a few things that show up studies about religious practices.

Although these are not strictly cause and effect scenarios, there is a high correlation between

them and religion.

Sometimes, we are called to do something crazy. Jesus’s teachings and actions when

he was alive was so radical that people thought he was insane. We may suffer rejection and

ridicule for acting the way he did, but that is what we are called to do. Being like Jesus is so

against the cultural norm that at times people will think we have gone completely insane.

Giving up worldly possessions, abandoning our entire lives to extend the kingdom, or

sacrificing our time, or even lives, to help others in need. These are a few things we are told to

do that might seem against the status quo, but that is also what makes Jesus worth following.

He always did crazy things.

Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith by Myers and Jeeves really helped show me that

just because psychology isn’t a science, doesn’t mean it contradicts Christianity. I thought it

was fascinating how a lot of topics in psychology are found in the Bible as well. Not only are

they just found in the Bible, but they are also explained in the Bible. This book showed me

that just because something is a science, like psychology, doesn’t mean that it strictly goes

against biblical teachings. Some science and religion can coexist and even compliment each

other.


References

Myers, D. G., & Jeeves, M. A. (2002). Psychology Through the Eyes of Faith. San Francisco:

Harper Publishing.


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