Entwistle

4-MAT REVIEW: ENTWISTLE

Kenneth R. Elsey

Liberty University

4-MAT REVIEW: ENTWISTLE

Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical Foundations, and Models of Integration. David N. Entwistle.

Summary

Dr. David N. Entwistle has given an excellent resource for the Christian counseling community. He opens his book by explaining the necessity of integrating psychology and Christianity through the use of Tertullian’s struggle between human reason and faith (Entwistle, 2010, p. 8). Building from this point, Entwistle begins to build a case for the full integration of psychology and Christianity.

A main concern is that of the Soul of Psychology and the Psyche of the Soul. Dr. Entwistle shows that before psychology came along mental illness and behavioral problems were handled by the church (Entwistle, 2010). The segregation of psychology and Christianity began in earnest with the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species. Entwistle states, "Christians largely reacted along one of two lines: to reinterpret Scripture to accommodate Darwin, or to castigate Darwin in defense of Christianity. The former tack was taken primarily by those denominations that might be called "liberal" or "neo-orthodox," while those of "fundamental" persuasion preferred the latter approach." (Entwistle, 2010, p. 27)

Worldviews are interweaved throughout the book to show the segregation and integration of psychology and Christianity. Worldview can be defined by four questions according to Entwistle; "What does it mean to be human? What is the nature of the world? What's wrong with the world, and why do things go wrong? How can what is wrong with the world, and what is wrong with my life, be fixed?" (Entwistle, 2010, p. 56) According to Entwistle there are many worldviews, but in what he calls “A Worldview Sampler” Entwistle lists several of the most common. Syncretism is the assimilation of one belief with...