Authors: Looy, Heather; Reimer, Kevin; Seybold, Kevin

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 101-104

Abstract:

Scientific studies of religion often lead to reductive, materialist explanations for religious phenomena. Yet this reduction is not necessary. Religion is a multi-leveled reality, and any particular definition or method of study can capture only some aspects. Science cannot be used to prove God’s existence or reveal God’s nature, but it can illuminate the embodied and embedded character of religion; how it is expressed within and through our bodies, over history, and within our communities. Rather than reduction, science provides various points of entry or perspectives on religion, and ultimately cannot ever fully capture its complex, communal, dynamic, and transcendent character.

Author: Peet, Christopher

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 105-112

Abstract:

Religion to date has eluded adequate definition. This article explores the issue of defining religion in terms of different strategies employed that acknowledge the difficulties of definition. The history of the relations of psychology to religion, and in turn of science to religion, is discussed as one such strategy. A second strategy of rich description in place of a definition is examined, while the practice of operational definition within experimental psychology is evaluated as a third strategy. How these strategies provide insight into religion in lieu of an overarching description is discussed, while the lessons to be learned if these strategies are under- stood reflexively, as pointing back to the scientific inquirer, are summarized.

Author: Looy, Heather

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 113-121

Abstract:

Religion in one form or another is a universal feature of human nature and social interaction. There is also individual variation in the manner in which religion is experienced, expressed, and embraced. Evolutionary psychology addresses whether the universal occurrence of religion directly reflects naturally-selected adaptive mental and behavioral processes, an adaptive application of mechanisms originally selected for other adaptive functions, or an undesirable by-product of such mechanisms. Behavior genetics explores whether variations in traits associated with religion are correlated with variations in religion-relevant genes. Both approaches present data that challenge Christians to consider the roles of our embodied, evolved human nature in the formation of our faith and its practices. The Christian faith also provides an interpretive frame-work through which these data can be understood and applied. The dialogue between the biological sciences and the Christian faith can illuminate our created potentials and the distortions of sin.

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.

Author: Reimer, Kevin

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 130-139

Abstract:

L’Arche is a unique Christian community embracing the developmentally disabled and their caregiver assistants, providing a cognitively diverse context for the study of religious experience. This article considers the religious significance of a simple candle ritual in L’Arche. Based on Hutchins’ (1995) theory of distributed cognition, it is argued that problem-solving and meaning in religion are less dependent upon cognitive capacities of individual agents and more related to how knowledge is attributed to artifacts that serve as external scaffolds. To differentiate this discussion from constructivist philosophy, religious experience and cognition are considered on the basis of public language that exerts downward selection influence upon individual brains. The article concludes with methodological considerations in the study of semantically distributed cognitions relevant to the candle ritual and L’Arche religious experience.

Author: Emmons, Robert A.; Kneezel, Teresa T.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp.140-148

Abstract:

Gratitude is a Christian virtue and an emotional disposition that has recently become the focus of systematic scientific research. We explore first the theological origins of gratitude as a virtue that is emphasized in Judeo-Christian traditions, and we then examine spiritual and religious predictors of dispositional gratitude and grateful emotions measured on a daily basis in a sample of persons with neuromuscular disease (NMDs). In this primarily Christian sample, grateful emotions and tendencies were related to both conventional religious practices (e.g., church attendance and reading the Bible) as well as to spiritual self-transcendence. Sanctification through personal goals (the perceived degree to which strivings enable one to feel closer to God) was also predictive of gratitude. Some implications of the research for psychospiritual assessment, religion and health, and the integration of psychology and theology are discussed.

Author: Brown, Warren S.

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 149-155

Abstract:

The understanding of persons as composed of two separate parts, a body and a soul, tends to lead Christians towards gnosticism (i.e., emphasis on the soul and disregard for the body). This view has considerable impact on one’s understanding of suffering and disability. Dualism, with its emphasis on the central importance of the inner soul or self, implies that one need be less concerned about physical suffering or the relational impoverishment associated with disability. Considering persons to be primarily physical beings in relationship with God and his people elevates the importance of the behavioral, relational, and communal lives of persons, and forces greater attention to the impact of physical suffering and disability. Based on a physicalist view of humankind, this article argues that spiritual transformation and enhancement of flourishing for those who are suffering or disabled must involve creative and imaginative action by the immediate community to intervene in ways that enhance opportunities for personal relatedness.

Authors: Sneep, John; Zinck, Arlette

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 156-164

Abstract:

John Bunyan’s 17 Century autobiography, Grace Abounding, records both his spiritual unrest and his psychological torment but gives no clues to his remarkable recovery. This article will attempt to clarify Bunyan’s diagnosis and the nature of his spiritual and psychic transformation. We will argue that, preceding bouts of severe depression, Bunyan suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, his obsession with the idea of his own reprobation resulting in a compulsive reading of scripture. Curiously, Bunyan’s scripture reading also appears to be a key element in his recovery. We will contend that, in his fictional depiction of Christian’s battle against the giant Despair in Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan most fully explains how the object of his compulsions finally becomes the “key” that releases both Christian and Bunyan himself from the grips of spiritual and psychological illness.

Authors: Bassett, Rodney L.; Kirnan, Ryan; Hill, Matthew; Schultz, Alice

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24 (2), Sum 2005, pp. 165-175

Abstract:

Previous efforts to assess atitudes toward guy and lesbian persons have often confused the evaluation of homosexual persons and the evaluation of homosexual behavior. The Sexual Orientation and Practices (SOAP) scale is a questionnaire designed to differentiate between attitudes toward homosexual persons and homosexual behavior. To further validate the SOAP, a two-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, students at a Christian liberal arts college responded to questionnaire containing several measures in addition to the SOAP. In the second phase, using scores on the SOAP scale, students were divided into three groups (universally rejecting of homosexual persons and behavior, selectively accepting of homosexual persons but not behavior, and universally accepting of homosexual persons and behavior). Students from these three groups were then invited to participate in a decision-making task where they were given money and required to give at least some of it away (to the research project, to a local church that selectively accepted homosexual persons but not homosexual behavior, and/or to a local church that universally accepted homosexual persons and behavior). Results from both phases of the study supported the construct validity of the SOAP scale.