The "Christianity and/or Psychology" talk at SUNY Brockport was this evening. I would like to offer participants some resources for further pursuing some of the ideas we discussed. Because of the probable overlap between blog readers interested in Christianity and productivity and those interested Christianity and psychology, I thought it could be helpful to post the resources here. I am also posting selected resources for participants interested in exploring more about the Christian faith and Christianity and science more generally. In both categories, I'm sure there are better and more comprehensive resources lists out there. I offer these because I know them and, in one way or another, they have proved helpful to me personally and professionally.
Christianity and/or Psychology:
Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. An excellent resource for biblical counseling books, conferences, training, and inspiration.
Desiring God Ministries resources about Christianity and Psychology, and Biblical Counseling. Resources here include free down-loadable audio files by some true giants of the faith (such as Erroll Hulse, Greg Livingston, and David Powlison) specifically about Christianity and Psychology from a 2001 conference on the topic hosted by John Piper and Bethlehem Baptist Church. Note that there is also a short Q&A article in which John Piper comments on one of the key questions I addressed tonight and about which I have talked directly with Piper: "Should Christians become secular psychologists?"
Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal by Eric Johnson. A monumental tome and a gift to the field. I don't agree with Johnson on every point, but I do on most. I haven't yet finished this massive book but I've read enough to know that this is the most thoughtful and scriptural attempt at integration I've read.
Instruments in the Redeemer's Hand: People in need of change helping people in need of change by Paul David Tripp. A wise and practical book for anyone with a heart to help others change. This is explicitly not a book for professional counselors (though most of us can learn from it), but for ordinary Christians who do (and should do) most of the counseling in real life.
Psychology and Christianity: Four Views. A much-cited book which should be read with caution. This book needs to be on this list because it provides fertile ground for understanding the range of views on Christianity and Psychology. But the book has problems, including the way it tends to marginalize and caricature the biblical counseling perspective. Thoughtful Christians should be on alert for straw man arguments about biblical approaches.
Seeing With New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture and Speaking Truth In Love both by David Powlison. Seeing with New Eyes uses the book of Ephesians as an exemplary text for how to conceptualize the core problems human beings struggle with. Speaking the Truth gives readers the methods and techniques of using God's word to speak into another's life.
Christian faith/Christianity and Science:
The Reason for God by Tim Keller. I love Tim Keller because of the respect he shows people who doubt or oppose the Christian faith. He respects them enough to both answer skeptics' questions and to challenge them to scrutinize their own assumptions and beliefs. This is precisely the approach with which I was lead to the Lord, so I am so thankful to see it embodied here. The Tim Keller resource page also has a number of outstanding messages that squarely address questions that thoughtful skeptics often ask such as "How an there be just one true religion?", "If God is good, why is there so much evil in the world?", and "Hasn't Christianity been an instrument for oppression?"
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. A classic. Arguments and metaphors presented in the first several chapters, especially, are among the most potent I've read. This book turned me from mocker to seeker almost overnight.
Science and theology: An introduction by John Polkinghorne. Polkinghorne, a renowned particle physicist, was the first Christian scientist I ever heard speak; he gave a talk titled "Why Scientists Should Pray" at the University of Virginia (sponsored by the Center for Christian Study) in 1996. He has written a number of thoughtful books on the nexus of science and religion, including this one which is generally regarded as this best and most accessible summary. I do not align with Polkinghorne on every theological point, but he is brilliant and the most intellectually honest voice I've heard in the world of science and faith.
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