Week 7 Discussion Post 1 Reply 1 | PSYC 710 - Psychological Research and Biblical Worldview

Leandro, thank you for the analysis. You provided very good insight in describing the balance between the art of counseling and science. To demonstrate your point, you effectively utilized examples from philosophical leaders from the past, showing the relationship between religious leaders that were heavily influenced by the works and theories of classical philosophers that were secular in nature (Johnson, 2010). It would be an interesting topic of research to further find relationships amongst non-secular and secular thought leaders, exploring similarities, gaps in knowledge, and opportunity for complementation of knowledge. For my research area, I am also focusing on developmental psychology and would be interested in further exploring the influence of nature and nurture on an individual’s pattern of behavior / behavioral formation (Moffitt et al., 2011). I appreciate how you tied this concept to Scripture, as it better allows for me to visualize and put into context nature and nurture by using free will and the serpent as examples (King James Bible, 1769/2017). Additionally, I would agree with you in that I also think that the integration viewpoint is strong and is able to retain the integrity of balancing Scripture and the adherence to scientific standards. I have learned so much throughout this course and really look forward to integrating the different viewpoints to include integration, levels of explanation, and other viewpoints in order to conduct future research through a Christian worldview. What I will keep in mind going forward is that some of the viewpoints can be combined, and certain elements can be used to complement or supplement one another, so that we can come up with our own guiding viewpoint.

References

Johnson, E. L. (Ed.) (2010). Psychology & Christianity: Five views. IVP Academic. King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online.?https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ ? (Links to an external site.)?(Original work published 1769) Moffitt, T.E., Arseneault, L., Belsky, D., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., Houts, R., Poulton, R., Roberts, B. W., Ross, S., Sears, M. R., Thomson, W. M., & Caspi, A. (2011). A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(7), 2693-2698.