Author: Seybold, Kevin S.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 122-129

Abstract:

At the turn of the 20^th century, religious experience was a legitimate subject matter for psychologists to investigate. As the century progressed, however, most psychologists lost interest in studying this common human experience. In the 21^st century, religious experience is once again an important field of research, not only for psychology but for neuroscience as well. This article reviews some of the findings of neuroscience and cognitive science relevant to religious experience, including the importance of emotion in human cognition, the role of the brain in experiencing God, and the question of the innateness of spirituality. Avoiding a reductionist approach, the article concludes by recognizing the importance of bringing a levels of explanation perspective to the study of religious experience.

Authors: Strawn, Brad D.; Brown, Warren S.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 23(2), Sum 2004, pp. 121-129

Abstract:

The present ankle attempts to explore a non-dualist position regarding human nature in relationship to both Wesleyan rheology and modern psychoanalytic theory. We wail first explore the resonance between the current understanding of human thought and behavior taken from cognitive science as it can be related to a Wesleyan model of growth into holiness. Specifically, we will argue that a Wesleyan view of the person resonates with the concepts of procedural knowledge, affect memories, somatic markers, and automaticity as found within cognitive science. In the end, we will suggest how these ideas come together with modern psychoanalytic theory, and particularly with what is known of transference and of the therapeutic process. Taken together, these three areas resonate around (he ideas that human behavior and character are largely unconscious and difficult to change, and that time change must come through gradual and relationally mediated experiences that alter both conscious and unconscious cognitive processes.