This feature-length Viewpoint article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 28, number 3 (2005). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org SYNOPSIS What does the word psychology mean? How does psychology interact with the Christian faith? How does Scripture’s view of human nature relate to modern [...]

This article first appeared in the News Watch column of the Christian Research Journal, volume28, number2(2005). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org Mention the concept of “forensic theology,” even among people who like to discuss theology, and you may hear a response of skepticism tinged with humor. [...]

This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume31, number1 (2008). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org SYNOPSIS Sigmund Freud despised religion, theism, and the Bible, and, although his goal was to eradicate the problem of guilt, he is ultimately responsible for confusing it. His primary [...]

This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume31, number2 (20008). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org SYNOPSIS Much “cognitive science of religion” (CSR) research asserts that religious belief can be “biologized” as well as psychoanalyzed. Like secularists in previous centuries, contemporary CSR researchers claim that [...]

We’ve all heard the stories – dramatic tales of people who assumed they had happy childhoods, only to discover they actually grew up victims of horrific abuses. These life-shattering discoveries are linked to graphic “recovered memories,” which are believed to have been repressed into the unconscious from decades or, in some cases (past-life regression therapy), [...]

This article first appeared in the News Watch column of the Christian Research Journal, volume 24, number 4 (2002). For further information or to subscribe to the Christian Research Journal go to: http://www.equip.org In its new incarnation as Breakthrough seminars, Momentus trainings, developed and promoted by founder Daniel Tocchini, are marketed toward Christians as an [...]

Summary An examination of the foundations of psychotherapy raises concerns about whether Christianity can be compatible with a system based on naturalistic, nontheistic, secular humanism. While most psychotherapeutic techniques are rooted in one of three main categories of psychotherapy, most psychotherapists are eclectic, using anything that appears to work — regardless of the techniques’ compatibility [...]

Summary This second of four articles on “Psychology and the Church” focuses on what is called the “Biblical Counseling movement” (BCM). This is a popular evangelical approach to counseling that not only promotes its own program for resolving personal problems within a strict Bible-based foundation, but also asserts that “psychology” — or more specifically, “psychotherapy” [...]

Few topics spawn more debate and confusion among Christians as does psychology. While some accept it wholesale and others reject it entirely, most struggle to determine which aspects of it to accept and which to reject. Is it possible to put this knotty subject into clear biblical perspective? Bob and Gretchen Passantino answer yes, and [...]