Human Being: Insights from Psychology and the Christian Faith Bryan

Title: Creating Human Being: Insights from Psychology and the Christian Faith

Author: Jocelyn Bryan

Go back to Books list

Synopsis

The book provides a psychological perspective on key aspects of human nature and behavior drawing on recent research and reflect on the issues this raises for theology and ministry. The aim is to introduce theology students, those studying practical theology and those engaged in ministerial formation or ministry to the significant current research in psychology which will deepen understanding of some of the core aspects of human nature. The interdisciplinary nature of the exercise aims to model the benefits of such an approach for both theology and ministerial practice and as such the book aims to cross traditional boundaries. The objective is to introduce the reader to new fields of academic psychology beyond those of counseling and psychoanalysis, dated personality psychology and the popular psychology which is often referred to in publications in the area of ministerial practice and enable the reader to engage with recent psychological research and developments.

Content

1. Introduction: Human Beings

• When we reflect on our lives and who we are, we are inevitably drawn to events and episodes which we identify as defining moments in our life story. They are markers in a kaleidoscope of countless ex[eriences.
• "Tradegies, chance happenings, significant life choices, in fact all manner of experiences, are events which form us. We understand who we really are through reflecting on the story of our lives.
• "The tension between human diversity and our common human nature is deeply engrained in the way we understand and relate to each other."

My Story and Who am I?

• Who am I "Christians find the answers to these questions in the narrative os scripture, which affirms that the story of every human being life begins with God.
• For Christians, personal identity is intimately bound up with an understanding of the ways in which human beings relate to and understand the divine activity of God as a reality in our human lives"
• Here the concept of vocation is important. God calls every human being who he has created to participate in their own unique way to his loving purpose.
• Psychology answers the question who am I in a different way. It primarily looks to science and a reductionist approach to find the answer.
• Neuropsychology asserts that we are essentially cells, tissue, and neurons. Cognitive psychology takes a more mechanistic view, describing human beings as essentially processors of stimuli and information to which they respond.
• More recently, psychology has been drawn increasingly to investigate life stories to understand human identity, personality and behavior.
• "Christians interpret their narratives and hence themselves, through the narrative of God's salvation. Attachment theorists interpret a personal life story through the lens of the nature of early attachment bonds and their influence on the formation of social relationships later in life. Behaviorists interpret personal narratives in terms of positive and negative reinforcement, and the key shapers and motivation and goals.
• "The emphasis on the interpretation of story as a source of revelation both in psychology and the Christian faith is the premise of the first part of this book."
• "..by constructing a critical conversation between theology and psychology, significant resonances emerge which can inform the way we understand both ourselves and each other.."
• "Scripture speaks to us because it captures the truth about human experience."
• "Chapter 2 begins by examining the storied nature of human experience and how narrative has been used to inform both theological and psychological understandings of being human. It lays the foundation for the psychological and theological approach to the nature of human experience which I have adopted, and sets up the context for the critical conversations which follow by outlining the different approaches to narrative in psychology and theology.

The Significance of Narratives: A Common Theme

• The Bible epitomizes the importance of narrative for conveying theological truth."
• the New Testament includes four narratives of the life of Jesus. Each story offers a different interpretation to suit a different purpose, but each seeks to reveal the truth concerning Jesus' identity as God's son and the Messiah.
• the psychology of life stories is now emerging as an effective means of integrating the science of human behaviour and lived experience.
• In each chapter, a story or human characteristic is analysed through the lenses of psychology and theology, and from this analysis a mutually informed distillation of what is revea led about a particular aspect of the nature of being human and embodying the Christian faith is outlined

Narrative, Human Experience and Meaning-Making

• from chapter 1 " "Chapter 3 develops the use of narrative further, and examines its importance for meaning-making. Human lives are immersed in meaning-making: from understanding the world, which is essential for coping, to searching for meaning or a sense of purpose in life. Both of these are important for human flourishing. Our search for meaning characterizes human beings, and psychologically it is described as a desire or, in more extreme cases, as an addiction
• The science of personality has been dominated by trait theories that describe how someone compares with others on a number of characteristics, such as the Big Five model 12 which includes the traits - extroversion, neuroticism, openness to experience, conscientiousness and agreeableness. But a person is more than their traits or dispositions. To gain a fuller picture of a human being, we need to know something about what motivates them, their values, their concerns, their ways of relating to others, their attitudes and habits.
• Chapter 4 gives an overview of the psychology of personality and then examines different psychological approaches and theories of personality before considering how Christian faith can influence, or even change, personality, as it transforms what we are like, how we behave and respond to our life's experiences

Human Goals and Motivation

• The interaction of faith on personality can be evidenced in the different levels of persona lity as described by McAdams.15 Chapter 5 focuses on level 2 of the model and presents the psychology of goals and motivation, placing this in dialogue with our understanding of the sinful nature of human beings
• Our goals are informed by our needs, desires and concerns. All human beings have a need for competence, autonomy and being in relationships with others.
• When our motivation is intrinsic we experience a sense of autonomy, but when we a re overwhelmed by demands and goals which we perceive as being set by forces outside ourselves, for example other people's expectations of us, society's expectations or even the demands of disciples hip, we can become anxious and distressed and lose our sense of being in control of o ur lives. In this way, our goals and the type of motivation we are experiencing have a significant impact on our well-being and our personal development.
• of autonomy, but when we a re overwhelmed by demands and goals which we perceive as being set by forces outside ourselves, for example other people's expectations of us, society's expectations or even the demands of disciples hip, we can become anxious and distressed and lose our sense o f being in control of o ur lives. In this way, our goals and the type of motivation we a re experiencing have a significant impact on our well-being and our personal development. We live out our faith knowing that we are in need of grace and forgiveness, regularly confessing our sins and examining our motives, desires and actions.

Relationships

• From the beginning of the creation of humankind, God realized that it was not good for man to be alone (Gen. 2. r 8). This echoes profoundly with human lived experience. When we are isolated and alone for long periods of time we become distressed. Chapter 6 is an exploration of how our relationships from the first stages of our lives affect the development of our personalities and personal narrative.
• The relationship between a child and its parents or caregivers is considered to have a lifelong impact on personality. The nature of this relationship, described as an attachment bond, provides the template for the human experience of trust, security and love.
• Even in the first year of life, infants exert influence on their parents or caregivers: both participants being formed by ca.:h other in a mutual, reciprocal relationship.
• As social beings, relationships shape our personalities and constitute a large part of our personal narrative, providing essential information for the construction of our personal identity.

Emotions

• The instinctive emotional responses o f fright and flight revea l the world to be dangerous, before we can understand the source of the danger. Emotions have an evolutionary function and a re important for our survival. The comfort and love experienced by an infant in the presence of her parents elicits the emotion of contentment, and reveals the world to be a place of security and warmth.
• Emotions also offer the possibility of a fruitful dialogue between psychology and theology. Christianity has been characterized by its suspicion of emotions and passion. Emotions have been considered as disruptions, irrational and in need of control.
• Christian character is made up of the disposition to experience Christian emotions, and is described both as a passion and habitual way of seeing and interpreting the world in Christian terms. He chooses joy, gratitude, fear, hope and peace as the spiritual emotions. These a re some of the ' fruit o f the Spirit' (Ga l. 5 .22-2 3) as identified by Paul, and characterize Christian maturity
• However, negative emotions such as guilt, disgust, pride, sadness and shame are excluded in Roberts's selection of spiritual emotions, but they can a ll be demonstrated to have some psychological benefit and have evolutionary purpose.
• Growth in Christian holiness can be informed by a psychological understanding of the impact of reordering our goals and motivations on our emotions and our ability to regulate or manage our behaviour in accordance with these.

Self-Regulation and Self-Esteem

• Baumeister, Hetherton and Tice claim that 'self-regulation failure is the major social pathology of the present time'.25 Regulating our behaviour in response to emotions is a persistent challenge to every human being.
• An impaired ability to self-regulate predisposes us to behave in ways which not only harm others, but also ourselves. It is failures in self-regulation that lead to sin.
• Self-regulation is psychologically necessary for human flourishing and the functioning of society; without it there would be anarchy
• A basic characteristic of human

beings is that they have the capability to control their behaviour within the moral framework they have adopted in their culture to enable them to gain the advantages of living and thriving in social groups.

• Theology and psychology share a common interest in self-regulation
• Managing the self against self-indulgence and gratification is a necessary virtue in the struggle against sin and striving to live a holy and godly life.
• Chapter 8 examines the psychology of self-regulation and reflects on it as the divided self, described in Paul's letter to the Romans (7.24b-2p) and echoed by Augustine in his writings as the division of the will.
• in Chapter 9. The theory of optimal self-esteem suggests that a healthy level of self-esteem is characterized by goals larger than the self and self-worth, which are rooted in inner values
• Goals, motivations, emotions, self-regulation and self-esteem are all influenced by a person's overall meaning of life and sense of unity and purpose and become integrated into their inner story. Our story evolves through our lives and when we enter the later stages of life we reflect upon it to draw wisdom from our experience and give more attention to the meaning-making process to cope with the losses and changes accompanying aging

The Return to Narrative

• The final chapter of this book focuses on memory, narrative and identity in the later stages of life.
• During our later years we read and reread our narrative as part of the process of self-evaluation when we ask such questions as ' have I lived my life well? ', 'is my story a good story?'
• The appreciation of a good future as death approaches sustains a hopeful story. The Christian narrative of salvation offers this hope and sets each persona l narrative within the context of God's narrative, which provides a glorious and meaningful end to every story.
• To be a human being is to have a personality shaped by traits, goals, motivation and values, expressed and experienced in our thoughts, actions and feelings. It is to live a story in a web of stories which mutually influence each other. It is how this psychological story of what it is to be human intersects with the living story of God active in the lives of human beings that is the subject of this book.

Other facts

• Used for: TRS 753E Personality and Religious Development
• Purchased: January 2017

Bibliographic info

Not in LOC database

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd (September 30, 2015)
• Language: English
• ISBN 0334049245
• ISBN 978-0334049241