tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17365671295193993472024-03-21T11:43:41.784-07:00Compass Psychotheology: Where Psychology and Theology Really MeetToday we need psychology that is spiritually anchored in the Bible and Orthodox doctrine, and theology that is enriched by psychological insight. Enter Compass Psychotheology!Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-4620152216316541032015-12-29T19:44:00.001-08:002016-01-03T10:39:01.508-08:00When Terror Inhabits Our Souls<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As a civilization, we have allowed the scientific revolution to make us invincible: science has offered solutions to every problem in physics, technology, medicine, global communications, even the psychology of self-understanding.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkIxH6JR3KDnhnnygyQI6kq2fNi6crGnKG0__Q9rgIyrokLZodaMKUT6U_Z2fqEhqP-E_5DLPWlGLE1eFihj75kWDINj2jMYA4iydfZxdPsT7yVc424GC8TsB4qoAgKbJ8-1D2fuzJg/s1600/scientific-method-14.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzkIxH6JR3KDnhnnygyQI6kq2fNi6crGnKG0__Q9rgIyrokLZodaMKUT6U_Z2fqEhqP-E_5DLPWlGLE1eFihj75kWDINj2jMYA4iydfZxdPsT7yVc424GC8TsB4qoAgKbJ8-1D2fuzJg/s400/scientific-method-14.jpg" width="400" /></a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Until recently.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">When logic seems to be failing us. And in its place? A void. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Although there are many gains from science, we are seeing its limits: science is not answering questions about why we are here, the purpose of our life, or what happens to us when we die.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Indeed, regardless of measured attempts to control wealth and regulate financial security, the global economy is precarious. Drug addiction is increasing, despite new psycho-social treatments. We are experiencing the impact of climate travail on a planet abused too long and too expansively. We read of horrific killings and torture by Muslim extremists such as ISIS, Boko Haram, and Al Qaeda around the world and in the USA, bewildered by their illogical barbarity. We are living on a planet without solutions to terrorist threats and attacks reported daily as the new reality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisC426mldg-UtjcVqHcF5VQm89i0OG1GdfQZpnDiuY1_tlUJ0JL2CNL-xh6YhSb3NciSDqBRGVLE9isYefeERUev1Y-12twsFWWan0dVWO9TWbZhNg4_OeBhswgRcIEJYQvxh96Fq3_w/s1600/SC-expresses-concern-at-terrorist-threat_NGArticleFull.gif" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisC426mldg-UtjcVqHcF5VQm89i0OG1GdfQZpnDiuY1_tlUJ0JL2CNL-xh6YhSb3NciSDqBRGVLE9isYefeERUev1Y-12twsFWWan0dVWO9TWbZhNg4_OeBhswgRcIEJYQvxh96Fq3_w/s320/SC-expresses-concern-at-terrorist-threat_NGArticleFull.gif" width="320" /></a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As a consequence, I believe one overarching phenomenon dominates our experience every day. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Terror.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Terror is more than a feeling. It is a cognition, a sensation, and a perception. That's why it can get under our skin and negatively impact our pulse rate, our sleep, our breathing—and our view of the world.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>When terror inhabits our souls</b></span>, it brings its cousins: fear, apprehension, dread, anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia, and even loss of faith and hope and love. The mind and heart, body and spirit: our human nature itself, terrorized. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Where do we seek a solution?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass Psychotheology</b></span> suggests that the Bible offers a larger truth. The Bible views all human beings as
sharing a common human nature: our mind and heart; body and spirit, made in God's image. As such, we
are universally called to know God and walk in his light. Or, if we
refuse God's call and persist in choosing evil, we will walk in darkness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaoiTvVUOvq-YCPVyzSPgFxvIemJMEjhFgzjY5f89jPBXf4ZA__dUQpH3ymhj1J0QecjXvLTqEgX0poNaTnypXsdZHldrfYLzIGuvbDBWHRUFT2DltrENHUbKAjoAu6ee6xPc2F5_bA/s1600/Light-of-the-world-1024x512.png" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwaoiTvVUOvq-YCPVyzSPgFxvIemJMEjhFgzjY5f89jPBXf4ZA__dUQpH3ymhj1J0QecjXvLTqEgX0poNaTnypXsdZHldrfYLzIGuvbDBWHRUFT2DltrENHUbKAjoAu6ee6xPc2F5_bA/s400/Light-of-the-world-1024x512.png" width="400" /></a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As the Son of God, Light of the World, and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Prince of Peace</b></span>, Jesus Christ offers the antidote to our experience of terror in two ways.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1) The Peace of Christ.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Jesus Christ, the God-man, knew the terror of death on the cross for crimes he did
not commit, so that he could rise again to offer interpersonal
fellowship with you and me. Jesus offered his blood to build a living
connection between each of us and God, a rock of salvation who
overcomes earthly terrors through the inner presence of the Holy Spirit,
Christ's most precious gift to every believer at the moment of their
conversion.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Jesus' peace that passes logical understanding provides the antidote gifted to John the Baptist, Mary, Peter, James,
and John, each tested almost beyond endurance. It's the same antidote that early Christians experienced, even though hunted down by Roman legions
in the catacombs or fed to hungry lions in the Colosseum. Even a Caesar could not stop them from singing hymns.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>"I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and
heart," Jesus said.</b></span> "And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be
troubled or afraid" (John 14:27). </span><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZ0H3aenIA01EhV3S8pdRmn0aFYrOjaIjj4rMtVuf5s80OwzIl3NtPppfJoMiCZ2elvMyLcfOfFCEFa8kwoPocyuxv4YZYelsPuBDdgpjxMwZrDg2bAicAQIqg-hgiNJ4TwfU33r6jw/s1600/the-body-of-christ-41-728.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="308" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKZ0H3aenIA01EhV3S8pdRmn0aFYrOjaIjj4rMtVuf5s80OwzIl3NtPppfJoMiCZ2elvMyLcfOfFCEFa8kwoPocyuxv4YZYelsPuBDdgpjxMwZrDg2bAicAQIqg-hgiNJ4TwfU33r6jw/s400/the-body-of-christ-41-728.jpg" width="400" /></a> </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2) Christ's Return.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Many of us in the 21st Century perceive a great darkness
enveloping humankind, a darkness so great that Billy Graham, among
others, sees us truly qualifying as the generation alive at Christ's
Second Coming, an event that Jesus himself foretold:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Jesus said:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">"<span class="text Luke-21-26" id="en-NLT-25820"><span class="woj"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>People will be terrified at what they see coming upon the earth</b></span>, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken.</span></span> <span class="text Luke-21-27" id="en-NLT-25821"><span class="woj">Then everyone will see the Son of Man<sup> </sup>coming on a cloud with power and great glory.</span></span> <span class="text Luke-21-28" id="en-NLT-25822"><span class="woj">So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look up, for your salvation is near</span></span>" (Luke 21:26-28). </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Christ returns to judge the living and the dead. The Son of God will
transfigure the Earth into a new creation: A pristine and sinless
Heaven-Earth in which <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the redeemed in Christ will flourish and thrive</b></span>. "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared" (Revelation 21:1).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgmoSEqa6b5keNTp1VrDSCxyU_tGA7PZDBpjL-Kz9Eb6vzGL5lKzq695Om455ya7kch7OCznvXfC4Ytem0JyHqQuledBYCKe89eqArsV5MoJlr51UWzHo7Ggd3Lh2xqwlAT8d8g-xMA/s1600/lamblion-waterfall-500.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgmoSEqa6b5keNTp1VrDSCxyU_tGA7PZDBpjL-Kz9Eb6vzGL5lKzq695Om455ya7kch7OCznvXfC4Ytem0JyHqQuledBYCKe89eqArsV5MoJlr51UWzHo7Ggd3Lh2xqwlAT8d8g-xMA/s400/lamblion-waterfall-500.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Now is the hour to read the Bible as never before, not to join the skeptics who mock the promise of Christ's glorious return. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Now is the hour to dig into the living Word of God</b></span>, personally guided in your reading by the Holy Spirit, taking hold of the inner resources of faith, hope, and love—as a daily, sometimes hourly, antidote to terror.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">"But what about the newscasts? What about the disaster movies? What about the worry that consumes the people around me?" Joshua chose to challenge fear-based thoughts, even when enemies surrounded him, by declaring, "As for me and my household, we will follow the Lord!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="text John-16-33" id="en-NLT-26725"><span class="woj">"Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows," Jesus said. "But take heart, because I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). </span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-89213454122807540982013-06-26T10:35:00.001-07:002013-06-26T10:35:34.897-07:00Liberal Christianity: Its Psychological and Theological Limitations
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In
<i>Theological Crossfire: An Evangelical and Liberal Dialogue</i>, Clark Pinnock
writes:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="BodyTextQuoteIndent" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; tab-stops: 6.0in; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">All theologians find themselves constantly struggling with two poles
or horizons that define their work. They strive to correlate the Christian
message with human existence. Theology needs to wrestle with both to be worth
much. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Evangelicals are relatively more preoccupied with the message pole and
liberals relatively more with the pole of human existence</b></span>.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>From
the perspective of compass theory, progressive Christians rightly affirm that
God is immanently present in creation, and that God enables people to actualize
their human potential</b></span>. However, the here and now quest for relevancy to
contemporary culture can <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>disconnect</b></span> persons from <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>essential orthodox doctrines</b></span>
derived from the authority of Scripture, definitive creeds, and valuable church
traditions.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> This is one of the consequences of holding an "Aristotelian mind-set," noted in my book, <i>Compass Psychotheology: Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet.</i></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Loath
to being judged as naive in the modern world where faith without reason is
perceived as foolish, liberals are discomfited by fundamentalist/evangelical fervor
that regards the Bible as God’s Word and Christ as humanity’s Savior from sin.
The progressive wants to make Christianity <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>respectable</b></span> by bringing it under the
auspices of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>reason</b></span>. To be seen as intelligent and perhaps even avant-garde, one
rejects doctrines or scriptural assertions that seem <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>irrational</b></span> or implausible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-s8RQoR6iCtHsj15Pob1AdMjejpmxVUlWO7nAftyw_t9WyXIKq-TDpUxnxXXR_5qV08lG8Ez8lEQRWCUDlNg_bvdWMJn_Obknn-BJouuTb9tZPdKy_50cmJBh5NHsqQksXgk5SMucVg/s1600/creed.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-s8RQoR6iCtHsj15Pob1AdMjejpmxVUlWO7nAftyw_t9WyXIKq-TDpUxnxXXR_5qV08lG8Ez8lEQRWCUDlNg_bvdWMJn_Obknn-BJouuTb9tZPdKy_50cmJBh5NHsqQksXgk5SMucVg/s320/creed.gif" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Christian Doctrine</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Up-to-date
knowledge from the sciences, the humanities, and cultural analysis can give
liberals the sense of being Christianity’s intelligentsia who move beyond
simple biblical faith. This philosophical sophistication and outward focus on
improving society makes it <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>difficult for the progressive Christian to admit
personal foibles like rigid personality patterns</b></span> or blind spots in one’s human
nature. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Even
though one perceives one’s self as open-minded, a reaction formation often
develops against historically orthodox tenets of faith.</b></span> A certain skittishness
prevails regarding supernatural intervention and particular answers to prayer,
coupled with an aversion to seeking personal redemption through the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The
Holy Spirit is marginalized as a vague and irrational aspect of Trinitarian
theology who is functionally irrelevant to the improvement of society. The idea
of a deepening personal encounter with the Holy Spirit is judged as lacking
empirical evidence and too mystical for modern life. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>One bypasses pressing into
spiritual transformation in favor of pressing for social action through the
church and one’s own resolve. </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDo3t2RFjE6-nxdqI431B47WLxc6DiNVNTgvsoGSgIMshyphenhyphenwQbv08Aq5OW0vFpj4fAheMNqNc1DHg3yg88rgjndOHZy0f0sJICc8nZlhww_3Cr5Ni7eubwUjl6CadFXQtjyLEIuAd2wmg/s1600/Social+Action.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDo3t2RFjE6-nxdqI431B47WLxc6DiNVNTgvsoGSgIMshyphenhyphenwQbv08Aq5OW0vFpj4fAheMNqNc1DHg3yg88rgjndOHZy0f0sJICc8nZlhww_3Cr5Ni7eubwUjl6CadFXQtjyLEIuAd2wmg/s320/Social+Action.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Social Action<b><br /></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">There
is an unconscious fear of surrendering to an emotional encounter with God, or
being guided in directions that smack of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>loss of control</b></span>. God’s guidance is
sought in terms of what seems the most <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>rational </b></span>way to proceed, whether in daily
life or in choosing one’s calling. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The
call from liberal and progressive pulpits is not for evangelization but for
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>active involvement in solving society’s problems</b></span>. The progressive Christian is
often left with two options in response: one can mobilize one’s will to
unselfishly serve others or one can quietly withdraw into apathy, feeling <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>overwhelmed</b></span>
by the prospect of transforming the world through heroic human <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>willpower</b></span>. A
person who becomes inwardly apathetic is outwardly present in church
attendance, but before long may even withdraw from that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Moreover,
there is a price to pay for dissociation from orthodox Christian roots and
estrangement from the biblical worldview: the loss of absolute points of
reference. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>An indiscriminate pluralism results</b></span>. By losing sight of doctrinal
clarity, apostolic teaching, and the inspired continuity of Scripture, an individual
can, in effect, lose one’s <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christian identity</b></span>. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>A person’s life can drift in a
sea of relativity</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The
overall result is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>identity diffusion</b></span>: a lack of commitment to absolutes that
would firm up a self-identity in intimacy with God and others. </span></div>
<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As a consequence, the very community and communion so ardently sought in this world can elude the liberal Christian, since the Aristotelian mind-set unconsciously excludes the transcendent Trinity who makes such community possible.</span></i></div>
</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhug4TAVPOy8f_WYLPiaXu0qmb_HSVs8YnUmswXtlKxMsOfEuiPCvEBKxYdYTZaOg18fM3O4wmuFSkWBZyn3KkahBcwzVRJte_4TMCx_g9AOK4X7E4ZNdTV_lZQ-xfTy_xM61yz-sKGwg/s1600/durer_albrecht_trinity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhug4TAVPOy8f_WYLPiaXu0qmb_HSVs8YnUmswXtlKxMsOfEuiPCvEBKxYdYTZaOg18fM3O4wmuFSkWBZyn3KkahBcwzVRJte_4TMCx_g9AOK4X7E4ZNdTV_lZQ-xfTy_xM61yz-sKGwg/s400/durer_albrecht_trinity.jpg" width="331" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Transcendent Trinity<i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">For more, read:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY:</span></b></i></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet</span></b></i></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-76739616068030850232013-05-24T14:00:00.003-07:002013-05-24T14:00:26.953-07:00Psychology and Theology: The New Integration<style>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">To some, it is a scandalous
position; for others, even worse…it is unreasonable. To propose, as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>compass psychotheology</b></span>
does, that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>psychology</b></span> finds its purpose when grounded in the Trinitarian God.
And that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>theology</b></span> is distorted unless examined under the lens of psychology.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; letter-spacing: .15pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Further, compass psychotheology
proposes that it is possible to summarize the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God-human relationship</b></span> with a
two-word equation. An equation developed from the Biblical salvation narrative,
asserting that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>human beings derive their essence as persons within the loving
interpersonal field of the triune God</b></span>. An equation which assumes that human
beings, distinct from all other creatures, are created in the image of God and
called to become persons in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>communication and communion</b></span> with the Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Existential Intimacy Equation</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Compass psychotheology proposes that the following paradigm
illustrates both<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> the meaning of existence of persons and the existential
intimacy possible between God and every human being.</b></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsd2SIPPuXk8OZogIr669-0747qzNsxnYIAG-WOF9CWTFcFQInx6CPN_Exo2b4uUAawKyTXUPOBRKAg9dSWYsZ-uPmlKkTDTs26EoXhtMpErJgUOFuqtxmsweWmopjVOOUYflxsoxKEw/s1600/FAST+I-AM-COLOR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsd2SIPPuXk8OZogIr669-0747qzNsxnYIAG-WOF9CWTFcFQInx6CPN_Exo2b4uUAawKyTXUPOBRKAg9dSWYsZ-uPmlKkTDTs26EoXhtMpErJgUOFuqtxmsweWmopjVOOUYflxsoxKEw/s400/FAST+I-AM-COLOR.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Existential Intimacy</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
<div class="BOOKSSTYLE" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="BOOKSSTYLE" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What does it mean, that God
desires existential intimacy with each person? We would suggest that God’s most
identifying trait is his existence as infinite Subject (represented by the
upper case “I AM”)—a divine center of uncreated personal awareness designated
by the ontological title, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“I AM”</b></span> (Ex 3:14, Jn 8:58). </span></span></div>
<div class="BOOKSSTYLE" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="BOOKSSTYLE" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And that it is through
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God’s eagerness to share his essential Being</b></span> that he urges each person (represented
by the lower case “i am”) into a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>relationship of love and reciprocity</b></span>. Such
loving participation in God is not pantheism, for God is the ever-transcendent
Creator, while humans are finite, non-divine creatures and never cease being
so. People depend upon God’s Being as the ontological foundation of life and
truth, while God depends upon no one. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“God lives in creation in a God-like way,
and the world lives in God in a world-like way,” </b></span>as Jurgen Moltman says.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">God desires people to participate in communion with
the Trinity and others. People are fulfilled to the extent that they do. This
notion of God’s <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>one-on-one participation in intimate dialogue with individuals</b></span>
presupposes that God is not only an immutable essence, but also a living
person whose nature defines the meaning of personhood (cf. Nah 1:4-5 NICOT). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God i</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>nitiates relationships with individuals
that grow over time, modulated to the person’s level of maturity and God’s own
desire for affiliation.</b></span> One can see this in Yahweh and his bond with Abraham.
Hagar. Hannah. Samuel. David. Solomon. With the prophets. Each relationship is
different; each has its own rhythm of communication and communion. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">But above all, God demonstrates his personal fidelity
to individuals. When Jeremiah receives his call from the Lord, he is told:
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“Before I formed you from the womb, I knew you intimately”</b></span> (Jer 1:5). The
Hebrew word <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yada</i>, “know,” expresses
God’s longing for relational closeness, for it means to know intimately, as a
man and woman know each other in marriage (Gen 4:1). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 328.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 328.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Fellowship of Mutual
Indwelling</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; tab-stops: 328.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">On
the right side of the equation, the “I AM” nestled within the “i am” represents
God’s infinite love that dwells in the core of each person as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>potentiality</b></span>, but
requires voluntary <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>cooperation</b></span> for actualizing. This means that individuals are
infinitely significant to the triune God, who has extended a personal
invitation to share the eternal blessedness of his inner life. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God is in
persons in a divine way and they are called to live in God in a human way, a
way of intimate fellowship and indwelling.</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Jesus</b></span>
expresses this reality in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>his prayer for existential intimacy between the
Father and those who will believe in him:</b></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">“As
you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the
world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I
have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in
me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you
have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (Jn 17: 21-23).</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On
the left side of the equation,<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> “i am” is invited to abide in loving
reciprocity with “I AM,”</b></span> a communion that echoes the intimacy of the divine
triune community, for “your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Col 3:3). This
relationship encompasses the whole of one’s personality and human nature. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial;">"i am" in Relationship with "I AM"<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc138758707;"></span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Because
God is their common Origin, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>all people possess the potential for responding to
God and for carrying the fruit of that relationship into their daily lives</b></span> (cf.
Acts 10:34). But accepting God’s invitation to intimacy requires action. It
means embracing responsibility for one’s part in a growing and dynamic bond in
which one initiates and pursues, expressing authentic feelings and heart’s
desires. In this endeavor <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>it is “i am” who risks emotional vulnerability
when building a relationship with “I AM.” </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdv1cHDYgV0Jm_hYEY6iPVwlX4Dv2K3PI1mxeNUF_w8CY0N9WBi4D9soSSRCFTLHnzXytvEOXl0w2zyc3xIZpr8mmKvOAB5vjNeWKT9gb3uRDubUyCDxYiWYZDyTCsaxrRWWTppkL9Iw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdv1cHDYgV0Jm_hYEY6iPVwlX4Dv2K3PI1mxeNUF_w8CY0N9WBi4D9soSSRCFTLHnzXytvEOXl0w2zyc3xIZpr8mmKvOAB5vjNeWKT9gb3uRDubUyCDxYiWYZDyTCsaxrRWWTppkL9Iw/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Habakkuk</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Habakkuk
was such a person. Confused and troubled over what he viewed as oppression of
the Israelites, he risked expressing these concerns to Yahweh. Readying himself
for rebuke, Habakkuk found instead that his “dialogue of protest” resulted in
God’s gentle disclosure of a larger picture (Hab 1:12-2:1; 2:20). <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Habakkuk’s
risk of emotional honesty yielded greater existential intimacy with his
Creator, forming in turn a deeper bond of trust from the human side.</b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For more, read: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Compass Psychotheology: Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet </span></b></i></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-76139221869614874112013-05-09T11:08:00.002-07:002013-05-09T11:08:35.309-07:00How Compass Psychotheology Bridges the Diviseness within Christianity
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Have you ever wondered about the many
paradoxes embedded within Christianity? The greatest <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>paradox</b></span> is this: <i>God's
absolute, eternal, and transcendent</i> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Being</b></span> <i>stands apart from this present world,
while at the same time God's historical, temporal, and immanent </i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Becoming</b></span>
<i>infuses the world and calls all human beings to know and love him</i>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass psychotheology</b></span> offers a bridge-building
theory that brings together therapeutic psychology with Trinitarian biblical
theology. Seeing Christianity through the Compass lens provides insight into
contemporary trends within the Christian faith. This insight may facilitate
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>healing</b></span> where there is presently <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>disturbance and divisiveness</b></span>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDt8XpqbNIoFNB8HQvECT0YEKLYEJUMwTgqAwxCGsYtFL-YIvh5lhOqP-iB0w8x1eBwO9qtfU2qH24Alwd_DS0R9XZ50hmp7DMPzngJ4m3mGqrMhWhckQbdi9MQl4fGK1HPGujOvsbA/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDt8XpqbNIoFNB8HQvECT0YEKLYEJUMwTgqAwxCGsYtFL-YIvh5lhOqP-iB0w8x1eBwO9qtfU2qH24Alwd_DS0R9XZ50hmp7DMPzngJ4m3mGqrMhWhckQbdi9MQl4fGK1HPGujOvsbA/s320/images-1.jpg" width="254" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">God's Being & Becoming</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On the one hand, there is the paradoxical tension we
can characterize as the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Fundamentalist/Progressive</b></span> polarity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Fundamentalist</b></span> view, the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>absolute truths</b></span> of the Bible reveal <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God's Being</b></span> as
holy, humanity as fallen, and conversion to Christ as the purpose of the
Church. The application of Scriptural propositions forms the basis for personal
living that resists the eroding forces within culture. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Progressive</b></span> view,
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God's Becoming</b></span> is manifest in the unfolding process of history, the gradual
enlightenment of humankind from superstition, and the accomplishments of
science, education, and God's urgent call to <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>social justice</b></span> in every
generation. One follows Christ by accepting the universal love of God for
people, and seeking to live a compassionate life of service.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">On the other hand, there is the paradoxical tension
we can characterize as the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Evangelical/Pentecostal</b></span> polarity. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">From the
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Evangelical</b></span> perspective, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God's Being</b></span> stands over against a sinful world and
requires the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>evangelization </b></span>of the nations, and the application of well-formed
theologies that articulate doctrine and guide ethical choices. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In the
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Pentecostal</b></span> view, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God's Becoming</b></span> takes center stage, with a prime emphasis on
the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>power of the Holy Spirit</b></span> as the action component of God. The Holy Spirit is
experienced in the joy of conversion and baptism, the glory of worship, and the
awe of healing, prophecy, and personal guidance in daily life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Compass psychotheology places these <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>polarized
traditions</b></span> within the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>compass paradigm</b></span> and offers the following interpretation.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswGwSpDjkmiNqlRh2Re9dUnDRMKYlOd1bVV8gjKS7IbUvv2eSgcl79d2pfJbdQuzAV1n6moUKtySk6abEom1uEk4m4je5c01nAB7UwgquW-OFLcaHl1CQXiSzNzWOx31S5GwpTDawIw/s1600/Christianity+Being+&+Becoming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswGwSpDjkmiNqlRh2Re9dUnDRMKYlOd1bVV8gjKS7IbUvv2eSgcl79d2pfJbdQuzAV1n6moUKtySk6abEom1uEk4m4je5c01nAB7UwgquW-OFLcaHl1CQXiSzNzWOx31S5GwpTDawIw/s400/Christianity+Being+&+Becoming.jpg" width="388" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Christianity Being & Becoming</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Placing these two sets of polarities within the
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass Model</b></span> allows each to form a rhythmic continuity with the other,
yielding a dynamic synthesis that encompasses a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>continuum of truth</b></span>, integrating
Being with Becoming. These are complementary polarities in holistic
integration, a process that Donald Bloesch says, "is not to be confused
with taking the middle road for it <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>embraces the truth in both camps and negates
the untruth in these positions as well</b></span>."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Thus, there lies within this compass paradigm a
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>challenge for each of the four traditions</b></span>: a challenge that each tradition both
value its foremost contributions, while at the same time valuing the key contributions
of the others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Fundamentalist and Progressive traditions, for
example, are challenged to value both the need for conversion to Christ and
living by biblical truths, as well as fostering an openness to science,
culture, and dialogue with non-Christians in respectful ways. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Evangelical
and Pentecostal traditions are challenged to value both sound theological
doctrine, and the Holy Spirit's power to impart gifts of service and joyful
worship in the Lord.</span></div>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">In such a way, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the paradox of God's Being and
Becoming is honored within the Body of Christ</b></span>, a goal affirmed by Gordon Fee
when he writes in his commentary on 1 Corinthians 3:23: "Our slogans take
the form of 'I am of the Pentecostals'...'I am of the liberals,' or 'of the
evangelicals,' or<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>'of the
fundamentalists,’ but to be 'of Christ' is also to be free from the tyrannies
of one's own narrowness, free to learn even from those with whom one may
disagree."</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For more, read: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY: Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet </span></b></i></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-78378263127475235302013-04-28T13:18:00.003-07:002013-04-28T13:18:42.921-07:00How The Aristotelian Mind-set Impacts Christian Liberal Theology
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">During the Renaissance and
Enlightenment, theologians, scientists, and philosophers rebel against
classical theology by championing an <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Aristotelian this-worldly mind-set</b></span>. They
openly challenge the <span style="color: #351c75;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Platonist perception of God as a spiritually perfect being</span>
</b></span>who reigns over-and-above an inferior material world.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Renaissance thinkers like <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Francis
Bacon</b></span>, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>John Locke</b></span>, and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Isaac Newton</b></span> undertake to shift theology from God’s
immutable being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per se</i> to the
exploration and development of God’s creation. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Immanuel Kant</b></span> summarizes the
principle of Aristotelian worldliness and its role in the Enlightenment when he
asserts:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“Have courage to use your
reason.” </b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjmOh2c4ze0VWYbGZIdIGcZ0KyV78WHYDyvi0oVo9pMwpQ9n3at5wJxGVLXvr2eAeBfJCeB-3rRyJco5Ss4G_mVhvcki3gBhdfTi20hrSkZp2Nincv50XKHM6glimzTRKPQZvqFoVYA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTjmOh2c4ze0VWYbGZIdIGcZ0KyV78WHYDyvi0oVo9pMwpQ9n3at5wJxGVLXvr2eAeBfJCeB-3rRyJco5Ss4G_mVhvcki3gBhdfTi20hrSkZp2Nincv50XKHM6glimzTRKPQZvqFoVYA/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><i>Have courage to use your reason</i></b></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the nineteenth century, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Sören
Kierkegaard </b></span>(1813-1855) emphasizes the God/human relationship with his
perspective that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the Christian God desires people to subjectively apprehend and
experience him</b></span>. Kierkegaard faults the Church’s otherworldliness for
constraining believers with bonds of passivity and joylessness. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Other theologians of the nineteenth
century deepen the Aristotelian “hands on” ethos by rallying people toward
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>social action</b></span> for the improvement of humanity. They encourage people to face,
feel, and solve the practical problems of this world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Friedrich Schleiermacher</b></span> (1768-1834),
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Albrecht Ritschl</b></span> (1822-1889), and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Walter Rauschenbusch</b></span> (1861-1918) lay the
foundations for <i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>liberal theology</b></span></i>, so-called for its human-centered concerns and
doctrinal pragmatism. In their view, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Jesus came</b></span> not to challenge the world, to
pronounce judgment upon sin, or even to be a savior, but <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>to embrace culture and
improve the human condition</b></span>. For these theologians, the kingdom of God concerns
the realization that God calls each person to accept and love one another in
the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>here and now</b></span> of this earthly life.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">As classical theism is rejected, so,
too, is the authority of Scripture. Liberal theologians lay aside orthodox
doctrines considered unreasonable, such as the virgin birth, the miracles Jesus
performed, or the prophecies of the Old and New Testaments. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ is more
morally inspiring than divine</b></span>. He becomes the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>ultimate model of love and
justice</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the next generation, theologians
like <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Paul Tillich</b></span> (1886-1965) continue to find value in the Aristotelian
mind-set. Tillich seeks to correlate the Biblical message with the needs of
contemporary society by <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>redefining God as the ground of Being</b></span>. He argues that
God is found in the form of ultimate concern embedded in the depth of people’s
personalities and life-situations.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">God as Ground of Being</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In addition to the liberal protest,
there are other challenges to the Platonist mind-set of classical theism.
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Alfred North Whitehead</b></span> (1861-1947), <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Henri Bergson</b></span> (1859-1941), and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Pierre
Teilhard de Chardin</b></span> (1881-1955) develop a characteristically Aristotelian
fascination with God’s <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>this-worldly immanence</b></span> as the actualizing force, or
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><i>entelechy</i></b></span>, that pushes all creation toward the fulfillment of its
purposes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In their view, God is not static and
fixed, but always in flux, moving forward, co-creating history with humanity.
Christ is not so much a historical person as an evolutionary cosmic process.
This intuitive and pragmatic approach to Christian thought is known as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>process
theology</b></span>. <span style="font-size: large;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="font-size: large;">The inherent difficulty, of course, is that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God is so completely
identified with the immanent Becoming of this world that the transcendent Being
of the Trinity dissolves into the fabric of creation</b></span>.</span></span></i></div>
</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Late twentieth-century formulations
with an Aristotelian thrust are found in the black theology of African-American
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>James Cone</b></span>, the liberation theology of Peruvian priest <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Gustavo Gutierrez</b></span>, and
the feminist theology of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza</b></span>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Each of these individuals share
frustration, even resentment, toward what they consider the rigid mind-set of a
traditional theology that is caught up in abstractions to the point that it is
oblivious to racial, social, and gender injustices. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Theology is</b></span> not simply the
rational study of the Being of God, Cone asserts, but <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the study of God’s
liberating transformation of the world</b></span>. In the view of Cone and other
liberation theologians, the oppressed will “risk all for earthly freedom, a
freedom made possible in the resurrection of Christ.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Liberal progressive theologians have vigorously
critiqued what they consider the centuries old white <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>male patristic dominance
of Christianity</b></span>. They consider it an influence that too often sides with the
status quo of the ruling class and thereby crucifies Christ anew by persecuting
minorities, the poor, and women. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christ is seen as struggling for justice
alongside the victimized and marginalized against all forms of social
oppression, which can even include the Church herself. In a decisive break with
a centuries-old conservative praxis, the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Second Vatican Council </b></span>(1962-1965)
opened the doors to the influence of the Aristotelian mind-set, including the
involvement by Catholic laity and clergy in radical social politics.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">From more, read: </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">CHRISTIAN PSYCHOTHEOLOGY:</span></i></b></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial;">Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet </span></i></b></a></span></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-59438436165795096482013-04-18T09:39:00.000-07:002013-05-02T10:35:54.338-07:00How Plato Influences Christianity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">One can recognize the influence of
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Plato’s absolute idealism</b></span> in the fourth and fifth centuries of the early
church, when Greek metaphysical concepts are employed to shore up and defend
orthodoxy against heretical trends, particularly Arianism, which denies the
co-equal identity of Christ with the Father. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Indeed, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Augustine of Hippo</b></span> (354-430), a
prime contributor to early church doctrine, had been well schooled in
Neo-Platonism before his conversion. While Augustine quotes the Bible
extensively, he tends to interpret it within the neo-Platonic framework. In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Teaching Christianity</i>, for example,
Augustine writes, “If those philosophers happen to have said anything that is
true and agreeable to our faith, the Platonists above all…we should even <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>claim
back for our own use</b></span> what they have said.” </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Augustine of Hippo</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The influence of such a perspective is
revealed in the same work when Augustine writes, “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God does not enjoy us</b></span>, but
makes use of us…For he is the one who supremely and primordially is, being
absolutely unchanging.” And in discussing Jesus’ commandment to love God and
others as one’s self, Augustine writes, “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>There is no need of a commandment that
we should love ourselves</b></span>…The end of the commandment is love of God and
neighbor.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>depersonalization</b></span>, both of God's nature and his relationship to human beings. This philosophy reflects more mechanistic than personalistic and covenantal categories. And this trend continues today when the Christian view of God takes on a distinctly Platonist tone by insisting that God is impassible, indifferent to feeling, invulnerable to suffering, and apart from humanity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Much of the
metaphysical speculation concerning God throughout the Middle Ages, including
the writings of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Anselm</b></span> (1033-1109) and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Thomas Aquinas</b></span> (1224-1274), demonstrates
a similar preoccupation with the study<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i>of
God’s Being <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">per se</i>, rather than
reflecting the biblical narrative in which humanity is redeemed for communion
with the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anselm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXCS7p3xMjD1iBmWKqk8_rFE8Fo_GhU7rS5qC-N2qnPssjw_PhSKLV1ibzrA8FrmWwnljtxIiTkQVDHQA313pFPdYpG_z6CLzFS6C6of5C9t_aI5ZXKiyOqVesgaFfrDn3yoAPSFGTw/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyXCS7p3xMjD1iBmWKqk8_rFE8Fo_GhU7rS5qC-N2qnPssjw_PhSKLV1ibzrA8FrmWwnljtxIiTkQVDHQA313pFPdYpG_z6CLzFS6C6of5C9t_aI5ZXKiyOqVesgaFfrDn3yoAPSFGTw/s200/images-1.jpg" width="149" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thomas Aquinas<u><br /></u></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ’s
divinity is clearly affirmed</b></span>, but <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>his humanity is neglected</b></span>. His existence as the
representative human being who by his death and resurrection transposes
ordinary people into sons and daughters of the living God is passed over. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
Platonist mind-set gives rise to a theology from above, absolutely concerned
with God but revealing little interest in persons, apart from pointing out how
far short they fall from God’s ideal Being. This, then, is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>classical theology</b></span>:
a perspective that values <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God’s eternal intradivine life</b></span> (termed the “immanent
Trinity”), yet is permeated by a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>remoteness that separates God from his
creation</b></span>. This perspective shares the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>dualism</b></span> inherent in Plato’s philosophy
and is found in both Western and Eastern Orthodox traditions.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Compass theory suggests that whenever
the Platonist mind-set consciously or unconsciously dominates Christian
precepts, God is viewed as mechanistic, impersonal, and fatalistic. As a
consequence, <span style="color: #741b47;"><i>permanence of belief and thought overshadows the process of growth
and change</i></span>. </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For more, read:</span></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY: </span></b></i></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><b>Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet </b></i></a></span></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-89503943757934541562013-04-07T10:59:00.000-07:002013-04-07T10:59:15.396-07:00Plato, Aristotle, and Compass Psychotheology
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is commonly accepted that the Greek
philosophers, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Plato</b></span> and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Aristotle</b></span>, made essential contributions to the foundations
of Western civilization. Less recognized is how the diametrically opposed
ideologies of Platonism and Aristotelianism influenced the formative centuries
of Christian thought, creating <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>theological fault-lines</b></span> whose tensions reverberate
to the present day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For the purposes of compass theory, the
original philosophical positions held by Plato and Aristotle assume importance
for psychotheological reasons. Their philosophies, we propose, are foundational
to the development of two opposing mind-sets that profoundly impact
Christianity and the Western world.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Here is a summary of each
position. </span>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Plato’s Transcendent Realm of “Eternal
Being” </span></b></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC52-xQYn00FseQxrfbZJW_IxOGhT18gfMXQvHIuwPjTTb24K2NQRfR7DM0gtes9lSzI5AvbUA0vNbh1bNG2zU8x2WAWyasm4TxSY-KZ45miXB2p7r6ae013VpNvaT9L173jMRynh-Zg/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC52-xQYn00FseQxrfbZJW_IxOGhT18gfMXQvHIuwPjTTb24K2NQRfR7DM0gtes9lSzI5AvbUA0vNbh1bNG2zU8x2WAWyasm4TxSY-KZ45miXB2p7r6ae013VpNvaT9L173jMRynh-Zg/s320/images.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i><b>Plato</b></i></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Both a brilliant philosopher and
mathematician, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Plato</b></span> (428-348 BC) favors the use of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>abstract reason</b></span> in
theorizing about <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the nature of God and humanity</b></span>. It is interesting to note that
Plato draws many of his examples to support such propositions from the field of
mathematics, an area of study that reflects upon perfect but lifeless entities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Beyond this spatiotemporal world, Plato
hypothesizes, there exists a noncorporeal and perfect world, one of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>eternal
being</b></span>, that is nonphysical, nonspatial, and nontemporal. This is Plato’s world
of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Ideal Forms</b></span>. A world that is in stark contrast to the imperfect shadow of
this physical world in which human beings live. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here is Plato on the subject:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This, then, which gives to the objects of knowledge their
truth and to him who knows them his power of knowing, is the Form or essential
nature of Goodness...And so with the objects of knowledge: these derive from
the Good not only their power of being known, but their very being and reality.
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">At a practical level, Plato implies
that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the world</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>ordinary people experience</b></span> as being real—the world of changing,
growing, living things—is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>not real</b></span> at all. It is but an illusory and inferior
representation of the eternal and changeless realm of Ideal Forms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The highest and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>most noble</b></span> aspect of
the self is the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>mind</b></span>, with its ability to contemplate abstract ideals and apply
them to the disciplined life of human reason. The lowest and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>most ignoble</b></span>
aspects of the self are the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>emotions</b></span> and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>bodily senses</b></span>, because of their
inherent “irrational” qualities.<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since reason possesses greater
stability and most accurately corresponds to the noncorporeal world of ideal
being, it therefore follows that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>abstract thinking is superior to emotion,
sensation, and intuition</b></span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Such reliance upon reason is applied to
natural theology as well. Plato attributes intelligence to God and a reasoned
order to the universe. Like the Christian God, Plato’s deity is good. Indeed,
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God is termed the Form of the Good</b></span>, positioned at the summit of the pyramid of
knowledge, the perfect expression of eternal being. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the Form of the Good is an <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>impersonal
creator</b></span>, and while the created universe is ordered and ordained for a purposive
human destiny, this is a mechanistic rather than personalistic universe. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The emphasis (is) most decidedly
placed by Plato on the sphere of perfect Being, of true Reality,” notes
philosopher of history Frederick Copleston: “On Being, rather than on Becoming.”
</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Such mental preoccupation with absolute
ideals, based on the otherworldly perfection of God’s eternal being, defines
the essence of Plato’s mind-set.</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The sense world of human experience is
entirely separate from the world of Ideal Forms. This separation results in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>dualism</b></span>:
an unbridgeable chasm between eternal Being and spatiotemporal Becoming—in
theological terms, between the transcendence and immanence of God.</span></div>
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Aristotle’s Immanent World of Change
and “Becoming”</span></b></i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpJ6zksogPA9tpvP-QCNxpFHZYMl_W2tYRy5wvXYWlUK_A57cU39QrBeVH6aO3mPS9SBkSkm0gpImvp4lRx74vahXducNEUlEcLh-COHcbbQUHcS6EYB3pWFgUK-PjtwJun3glCTTzg/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTpJ6zksogPA9tpvP-QCNxpFHZYMl_W2tYRy5wvXYWlUK_A57cU39QrBeVH6aO3mPS9SBkSkm0gpImvp4lRx74vahXducNEUlEcLh-COHcbbQUHcS6EYB3pWFgUK-PjtwJun3glCTTzg/s1600/images-1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Aristotle</b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Aristotle</b></span> (384-322 BC) investigates
this present world for the purpose of organizing data and discovering the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>principles
of change</b></span> that govern the world of sense perception.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> In his fascination for earthly
creation, Aristotle shows considerable gifts for practical, empirical, and
intuitive investigation. He favors <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>biology</b></span> as the model science, developing a
curriculum for the study of imperfect but living organisms.</span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For Aristotle there is no dualistic
separation of eternal Being from spatiotemporal Becoming, as Plato would have
it. There is only <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>one world</b></span>, the world of actual things that are moving
dynamically toward fulfillment. Although he accepts the concept of Plato’s
eternal forms, Aristotle sees such forms as embedded in the concrete
particulars of this world, as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>inner forces of growth and change</b></span>. These forms
are self-actualizing trends of the spatiotemporal world, a concept that he
terms “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>entelechy</b></span>.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">God is seen as pure and complete
actuality. There is no sense of god as a person who cares about or provides for
humanity. Instead, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God is a metaphysical necessity, the force behind entelechy
that drives all things toward fulfillment in the here and now</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>world of
becoming</b></span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In clear contrast to his mentor, Plato,
“Aristotle was possessed by the concept of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Becoming</b></span>,” Copleston notes. Aristotle’s
interest in this-worldly concreteness characterizes the subsequent <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>mind-set of
Aristotelianism</b></span>, derived from Aristotle’s search to describe and understand the
sensible world, a passion absent in the philosophy of Plato.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For more, read: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY: </span></b></i></a></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><i><b>Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet</b></i></span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><i><b> </b></i></span></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-74282189452411352282013-03-28T15:37:00.002-07:002013-03-28T15:37:10.211-07:00Wittgenstein, Foucalt, Derrida, Rorty, and Compass Psychotheology<style>
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Analytic philosopher <b style="color: #741b47;">Ludwig Wittgenstein</b> (1889-1951),
in his influential book, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Philosophical
Investigations,</i> portrays philosophy solely in terms of linguistic analysis.
It is no longer the task of the philosopher to investigate the nature of
reality or explore the meaning of human experience, but rather to clarify the
meaning of language. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ixcUDXPRbPO9EnlyMB5GxPoMeP_-1NLCmUqHTCuESd9-8_XHqTYVq7CH23-1i6rBsS0gShWlDT966daQTzoAAT5_58amsxRZlvcL9e48xeXqmEzmPN85EQS6zuYeKRtwi6KF_3GGcw/s1600/Wittgenstein2ges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0ixcUDXPRbPO9EnlyMB5GxPoMeP_-1NLCmUqHTCuESd9-8_XHqTYVq7CH23-1i6rBsS0gShWlDT966daQTzoAAT5_58amsxRZlvcL9e48xeXqmEzmPN85EQS6zuYeKRtwi6KF_3GGcw/s320/Wittgenstein2ges.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wittgenstein</td></tr>
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<b style="color: #741b47;">This narrow focus lops off the exploration of metaphysics,
ethics, and religion</b>, because such things as human feelings and human values,
or spiritual experiences, are considered indefinable and therefore nonsensical.</div>
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<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
In <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">A History of
Western Philosophy,</i> <b style="color: #741b47;">W. T. Jones</b> <b style="color: #741b47;">reveals the spiritual bankruptcy of the
analytic position</b> when he summarizes their conclusions: “We must learn to live
in a world in which God is dead; we must learn to get along without Truth, or
rather, we must learn to live with the one truth that there is no Truth.” </div>
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<b>With
Wittgenstein and the analytic philosophers, the human soul is eclipsed by
secular thinking devoid of spiritual realities.</b></div>
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Postmodernism persists in this approach by arguing that
there is no way to get outside language and thought to some deeper reality.
<b><span style="color: #741b47;">Michel Foucault</span> </b>(1926-1984) sees language as offering no fundamental role in
knowledge, that language can be nothing more than a higher-order instrument of
thought, a physical representation of ideas, with no meaning except in relation
to these ideas. </div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgXYjKmE6_lAd3HQHrKrOWL6FIiRB0NYdBtyhyAUBsvlFIdADd2BxxrlV8sod9tapa3lexepMBBIYK9Do2JlFRYXgNsAmlMl9M2NZjY10sOuOebJqYbu9AX_L5RY37bkZW2r-0vOEMQ/s1600/Foucault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWgXYjKmE6_lAd3HQHrKrOWL6FIiRB0NYdBtyhyAUBsvlFIdADd2BxxrlV8sod9tapa3lexepMBBIYK9Do2JlFRYXgNsAmlMl9M2NZjY10sOuOebJqYbu9AX_L5RY37bkZW2r-0vOEMQ/s320/Foucault.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Foucault</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: #741b47;">Jacques Derrida</b> (1930-2004), the founder of deconstruction,
uses this term to indicate how the “accidental” features of a text betray, even
subvert, its supposedly “essential” message, thereby rendering philosophy,
concepts, words themselves, suspect at every level. The theory of deconstruction
attempts to show that all pairs of opposite concepts in philosophical systems
are in fact self-refuting. </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje621IGuwQRIhgW3zBP04MBS5xavDoKAIIYvIxONmIib1tS3GKAGgoaRIEDye6Aiu996qmvI_c87qxmZB96g8zfjgrOk0QlhKbD-0OgVJNCMZLCbnJVzP6qm-0EOx9ck4pFkmeudRLfA/s1600/derrida2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="222" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje621IGuwQRIhgW3zBP04MBS5xavDoKAIIYvIxONmIib1tS3GKAGgoaRIEDye6Aiu996qmvI_c87qxmZB96g8zfjgrOk0QlhKbD-0OgVJNCMZLCbnJVzP6qm-0EOx9ck4pFkmeudRLfA/s320/derrida2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Derrida</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: #741b47;">This post-structuralism position common to both
Derrida and Foucault</b> therefore contends that forms of expression such as novels
and philosophical texts are completely closed systems and only possess meaning
from whatever the reader brings to the material. Postmodernist concerns move
beyond the world of philosophy to examine such fields as literature, art,
music, theater, and architecture. </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: #741b47;">Pragmatist philosopher Richard Rorty</b> (1931-2007)
looks forward to a pragmatic utopia where people can divest themselves of the
worship of anything. He rejects the notion that there are “essences” to things,
such as a “true nature of the self” or a universal moral law discoverable by
human reason. Persons are only confronted with “contingency,” with the
ever-presence of “chance” that is surmountable through constant
self-transformation or self-creation, thereby, among other consequences,
rendering the autonomous self as myth. </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrwb5EP1TX274tUdswdW5K_kjU3_hWUsOHdhNQzy3cwyJ2ww13bdXjVfV5OB7QWvCGXNEacosk4xhjGiMYENmE9JLvcILe-65SvXUCjCGtg3vkm3LnBv8oG4VGAwxaHHq1LFyBqWjuw/s1600/Rorty.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIrwb5EP1TX274tUdswdW5K_kjU3_hWUsOHdhNQzy3cwyJ2ww13bdXjVfV5OB7QWvCGXNEacosk4xhjGiMYENmE9JLvcILe-65SvXUCjCGtg3vkm3LnBv8oG4VGAwxaHHq1LFyBqWjuw/s320/Rorty.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rorty</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="color: #741b47;">Postmodern philosophy is immersed exclusively in the
fragmentary and chaotic currents of change</b>, seeing the constraints of culture everywhere,
because the whole history of searching for a unified meaning of things is
utterly flawed. </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
How to respond to these developments? </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="color: #741b47; text-align: justify;">
<b>Dan and Kate Montgomery's Compass Psychotheology
affirms the existential search for meaning at every level of thought</b><span style="color: black;">—the
postmodernists’ interest in breaking down barriers between philosophy and the
arts, psychology, and science; and their interest in taking language seriously,
breaking down linguistic interpretation, and exploring the effects of words on
cultural application. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="color: #741b47;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqkMync2yGcDK73LXJmN5nLxfUd7uejL6J96rQyldEbe78JkedHbRcSMvK9UuqUe-PG3qU62sQcAZE5djPrKlA843SyLFOzxmBd4Zqn1L86sp6CzkV15KhyphenhyphentcSDZgndT1G2PABPbN1g/s1600/Dan+and+Kate+Montgomery.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWqkMync2yGcDK73LXJmN5nLxfUd7uejL6J96rQyldEbe78JkedHbRcSMvK9UuqUe-PG3qU62sQcAZE5djPrKlA843SyLFOzxmBd4Zqn1L86sp6CzkV15KhyphenhyphentcSDZgndT1G2PABPbN1g/s320/Dan+and+Kate+Montgomery.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dan & Kate Montgomery</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="color: #741b47; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
The problem is that once begun on a process of
breaking down, <b style="color: #741b47;">without the transcendent or even immanent presence of the
Trinity to encompass such exploration, the search only spirals into further
dissolution</b> and lack of ability to draw any conclusions because no words suffice,
since no word has meaning, no unity exists, no overarching, explanatory theory,
all is fragmented, nothing is sure. No center that holds. </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
All is undone. All
leads to a single human being left with one’s own thoughts, if they are
thoughts, one’s own body, if there is a body, no way to communicate clearly
with another human being, for no language is trustworthy, and certainly nothing
as extravagantly unnecessary and nonsensical as a Creator, let alone one who is
three Persons, <b style="color: #741b47;">a Triune God who made this human being in God’s image, for
loving friendship and ongoing dialogue</b>. No, nothing like that. </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE">
<br /></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-32916725700375650792013-03-24T09:43:00.004-07:002013-03-26T08:45:47.296-07:00How The Scriptural Self Compass Challenges Churches<style>
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<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Why do you suppose Jesus Christ encountered his churches with so specifically in Revelation 2? The Bible tells us why: So that “all the churches will know that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>I am he who searches hearts and
minds</b></span>," Jesus says, "and I will repay each of you according to your deeds” (Rev 2:23).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In the final analysis local churches don’t belong
to a denominational headquarters, but are living components of the Body of
Christ, and as such do well to <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>develop the balance found in Christ’s
personality</b></span>. Paul concurs, “so that they may have the full riches of complete
understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Col 2:2-3).</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">To
that end, compass personality theory suggests that churches, as temporal
expressions of God’s community on earth, can with good benefit discern and
correct any tendencies to exaggerate one or more <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Self Compass</b></span> points to the
exclusion of others. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdsdjsOiuq-EEYsNnsCpYOvy1x66zwUF-imwVAnBtY8yrSF580ExCOemlVxPOmUVgFJEnFnTqbMWUCyPmGkTmd9hAtiBETUy5huvtNyX6b-da7_t1DtzQPWru5BAf8FSW18DRYUYsAw/s1600/Scriptural+Self+Compass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="313" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBdsdjsOiuq-EEYsNnsCpYOvy1x66zwUF-imwVAnBtY8yrSF580ExCOemlVxPOmUVgFJEnFnTqbMWUCyPmGkTmd9hAtiBETUy5huvtNyX6b-da7_t1DtzQPWru5BAf8FSW18DRYUYsAw/s320/Scriptural+Self+Compass.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scriptural Self Compass</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">By
purposefully initiating congregational stretches into lesser used compass
points, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ’s personality wholeness</b></span> becomes more fully manifested “to equip
his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God
and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>become mature</b></span>, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the </b><b>cunning and
craftiness</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>of people in their deceitful scheming” </b></span>(Eph 4:12-14).</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">To
the church in Pergamum, Christ offers this salute: “I know where you live—where
Satan has his throne. Yet <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>you remain true to my name</b></span>. You did not renounce your
faith in me, not even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put
to death in your city—where Satan lives. Nevertheless, I have a few things
against you: There are some among you who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who
taught Balak to entice the Israelites to sin so that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>they ate food sacrificed
to idols and committed sexual immorality</b></span>” (Rev 2:12-14). </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The
Pergamum congregation has manifested the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Love and Weakness</b></span> compass points,
being faithful witnesses to Christ and enduring the vulnerability of severe
persecution. Now Jesus wants them to round out their compass virtues by
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>confronting</b></span> false teachers (Assertion) and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>standing firm</b></span> in the Gospel
(Strength).</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7m2f1xQ8QMxmhjFEDhuIFm-LewBDCUaGaBOmyA4crQPBjGl_QemT5bmV3xGswy1Ba_CzCkAPPjfOv-E1cKodIS9MLhsgyK1ZdOjjQaUCWwetg7hM1zoA3q88hANbxid-CsDjaiAz_A/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir7m2f1xQ8QMxmhjFEDhuIFm-LewBDCUaGaBOmyA4crQPBjGl_QemT5bmV3xGswy1Ba_CzCkAPPjfOv-E1cKodIS9MLhsgyK1ZdOjjQaUCWwetg7hM1zoA3q88hANbxid-CsDjaiAz_A/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-size: small;">Standing Firm</span><i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A
church that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>exaggerates</b></span> the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Love</b></span> compass point takes on <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>people-pleasing</b></span> and
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>theatrical-histrionic</b></span> traits. There will be much friendliness, tolerance, and
even service to the community through caring projects. The services will be
warm, compassionate, and enthusiastic. So what’s wrong with this? </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Assertion is
missing</b></span>, which can cause <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>interpersonal naivety</b></span> about sin, people not knowing
how to handle negative emotions and darker realities of human nature like
egotism, aggression, and swindling. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Christ in his earthly life knew the essence
of human nature and didn’t trust people’s perceptions carte blanche. He cared
for the disciples but sometimes reproved them. He didn’t court people’s favor
or placate them, but spoke the truth in love. Following in his footsteps, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the
Love-stuck church learns to teach and live the whole Word of God</b></span>, including
learning how to diplomatically confront unrighteousness, stand fast against
eroding cultural influences, and balance Love with Assertion in order to deepen
often superficial relationships.</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">For more, read: </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Christian Personality Theory: </span></b></i></span></a></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">A Self Compass for Humanity </span></b></i></span></a></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbiFDgfqBLQ-1RwRPidTBh3z5N1CaF_ymMS-f4inF_pL5cY112qB5P5TW95znVL38Rk6i1ulQ7Vt_oyqiGL1PD4ghXWdwsELG8O1_cMO-xF8Eo-bNk4T2r7c4s6lHhjOLy4r4QPk3wQ/s1600/PERSONALITY-SILVER-300X200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbiFDgfqBLQ-1RwRPidTBh3z5N1CaF_ymMS-f4inF_pL5cY112qB5P5TW95znVL38Rk6i1ulQ7Vt_oyqiGL1PD4ghXWdwsELG8O1_cMO-xF8Eo-bNk4T2r7c4s6lHhjOLy4r4QPk3wQ/s320/PERSONALITY-SILVER-300X200.jpg" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Christian Personality Theory<i><b><br /></b></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKNOW" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-73829218350433674022013-03-17T19:51:00.000-07:002013-03-17T19:51:00.219-07:00Auguste Comte, Humanism, and the Christian Faith<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">It's a bit odd for me to single out one person in the history of western philosophy, and say, "Look at this and you foresee America's future." Especially when this man lived from 1798-1857. That's around the time Beethoven was dazzling Europe with his nine symphonies.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #741b47;">Auguste Comte</span></b>, a Frenchman, lived in that transitional time when Christianity was being uprooted and replaced by science and the scientific method. He coined the term "altruism," and came to be called the <b><span style="color: #741b47;">father of sociology and the father of the philosophy of science</span></b> -- no small accomplishment.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dWYeNDLdL69_gZPsJStAMEhbYH1T54TXUAmmNPuz-2EGs0GON1PRtmTw5i64QknY1q0BN-FrumGFjYS8J4hfhu1TYlqI0NtiKeMe7b7HC1oekThHcme5eMOozC_OLYXr0ZuqqNmkyQ/s1600/Comte.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6dWYeNDLdL69_gZPsJStAMEhbYH1T54TXUAmmNPuz-2EGs0GON1PRtmTw5i64QknY1q0BN-FrumGFjYS8J4hfhu1TYlqI0NtiKeMe7b7HC1oekThHcme5eMOozC_OLYXr0ZuqqNmkyQ/s320/Comte.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Why is his thought so important in 21 century America? I'll tell you in capsule summary what beliefs he championed, and then perhaps you can judge for yourself if this view has purchase in America today.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Comte believed that Christianity was finished, done, kaput.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Humanity no longer needed fairy tales and superstitions to grant meaning to life. Yet he knew people had an instinctual need, a passion even, to worship what he called <i>Grand-Etre</i>, the Supreme Being. So <b style="color: #741b47;">in God's place he substituted Humanity itself</b>. He instituted a calendar of saints to celebrate the new humanism, mostly renowned scientists and intellectuals. He also created a catechism, near the end of which he says, "Humanity definitely occupies the place of God."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>The sacraments of humanism</b></span> included <i>Initiation</i> at the age of 14, then <i>Admission</i> at the age of 21 when a person becomes able to serve humanity. <i>Destination</i> or career choices takes place at 28, and <i>Retirement</i> at age 63.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2Eq4XsmR9G0sd68CVwGFlL7kmMMHakOKgdKK8EMxMeu0Zsm81j-xZKvBz_rSFXWneteZvujBcbccdllOiDGB7DqC4qwrP4Nyay5K8Jdt57i4XY1MptYhbTBnvmXKr89S9Nf47QQRRQ/s1600/Lifespan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEje2Eq4XsmR9G0sd68CVwGFlL7kmMMHakOKgdKK8EMxMeu0Zsm81j-xZKvBz_rSFXWneteZvujBcbccdllOiDGB7DqC4qwrP4Nyay5K8Jdt57i4XY1MptYhbTBnvmXKr89S9Nf47QQRRQ/s400/Lifespan.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Since Comte realized that Reason itself could not carry the day on such a proposed new direction, he added <i>Feeling</i> and <i>Activity</i> as an afterthought. <b style="color: #741b47;">Altruistic service to humanity would be fostered through an education process that hero worshiped all who brought prosperity, scientific advances, and social progress to society.</b> Even a flag was designed to inspire love and loyalty to Humanity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Who would create human values and resolves ethical issues? Why, experts, of course.</b></span> Certainly not the people themselves, who could never represent the most disciplined and highly trained minds. Certainly not God, who never existed in the first place. And certainly not the Bible, which needed replacement by thousands of scientific studies, journal articles, and books showing people how to conduct every aspect of existence, helping all of life become "a continuous and intense act of worship," focused from birth to the grave on the truly human moral standard of "living for others."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In place of the theological notion of Providence—or divine guidance to nations and individuals—Comte stressed <b><span style="color: #741b47;">human effort and good intentions</span></b>. He states that "we must look to our own unremitting activity for the only providence by which the rigor of our destiny can be alleviated."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHusxMX0mqaqVs95UqTHtjrz7KVOKAfyZuTARMaBoCJJTCUEuQzi36znjTpdUYDP9tT45NVISo9qZZz_9l58PpB4_Lf6DN_bZV6ZLVt7Es376I4Gr8UE1NSOiKeZyyd4jvmy79taUIA/s1600/Humanism.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrHusxMX0mqaqVs95UqTHtjrz7KVOKAfyZuTARMaBoCJJTCUEuQzi36znjTpdUYDP9tT45NVISo9qZZz_9l58PpB4_Lf6DN_bZV6ZLVt7Es376I4Gr8UE1NSOiKeZyyd4jvmy79taUIA/s1600/Humanism.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b style="color: #741b47;">Above all, there must be the supremacy of the intellectual elite</b>, because only experts can understand the technical problems of administering a complex mass society. Though he had unmitigated <b style="color: #741b47;">positive optimism for the worship of Humanity</b>, he died too soon to see his theories made real. But made real they were, and many in America and Europe draw their perceptions of life's meaning from experts in science and technology, the humanities, and the sociopolitical governance of Western nations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But Comte was wrong about his primary assumption. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>He was wrong that Christianity had died and needed replacing with sociology and humanism</b></span>. In fact, during the next century and a half there came an outpouring of the Holy Spirit greater than the world has ever known, affecting a billion people, according to Harvey Cox at Harvard Divinity School. Thus Christianity is still a major force in the world today, now about 1/4 of the world's population, and a recent Gallup poll reporting that 78% of Americans declare themselves Christian. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass psychotheology suggests that God's plan for humanity always includes a remnant of believers who are not assimilated into the humanistic social matrix of their day, but who derive their identity from Christ and their values from Scripture.</b></span> These individuals respect experts in modern fields of human endeavor, but retain the right to define the purpose of their lives through worshipping the Holy Trinity and look beyond contemporary society to the coming transcendent-eternal Kingdom of God.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Indeed, a major distinction between Auguste Comte, the father of sociology and the founder of the philosophy of science, and Jesus Christ, the Son of God the Father and the founder of Christianity, is that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Comte is dead and Jesus is alive</b></span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacv8NQaAPnMq4eeM_0hPey7j99nFiC_WciAC_j58e39wLMTu2-P73dWpSLVEZtotZb5gm0t-XFxeeI1DZb_HWcTJW-4e0Os5Xa2oNVT3mbyPQG3EwEy081-k8f9tvqN9pt9t05_JV8Q/s1600/Risen+Christ+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjacv8NQaAPnMq4eeM_0hPey7j99nFiC_WciAC_j58e39wLMTu2-P73dWpSLVEZtotZb5gm0t-XFxeeI1DZb_HWcTJW-4e0Os5Xa2oNVT3mbyPQG3EwEy081-k8f9tvqN9pt9t05_JV8Q/s320/Risen+Christ+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<br />Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-65481720549664354362013-03-11T11:12:00.001-07:002013-03-28T09:57:00.846-07:00How To Choose Christ's Will for Your Life<style>
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<div class="COMPASSBOOK" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">With full
access to the Self Compass, comes more <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>freedom to choose </b><b>Christ's will for your life</b></span>. </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b> </b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Instead of a single compass point rigidly
exaggerated, there are four that rhythmically embrace the entire personality,
yielding <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>360 degrees of creative choice</b></span> in intrapsychic and interpersonal
behavior.<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> You find a freedom to choose which compass point is needed
in a given situation</b></span>. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">You recognize manipulative behavior and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>grow a
“pure heart” in Christ</b></span>, relatively free of ulterior motives (1 Pet 1:22). </span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Self Compass Living</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Take, for
example, a person choosing to outgrow the Narcissistic Boaster<b> </b>personality pattern </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">by m</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">ovement into the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Weakness</b></span>
compass point:</span></span> </div>
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<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Maybe I am not quite
the prize I like others to think I am.” </span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“Perhaps others are
as entitled as I am to a seat on the subway.”</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“I could tell my
co-worker what a good job he did on his presentation.”</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This mobilization of
love and humility allows them to feel a gentler pride in their accomplishments, now
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>freed from the craving to be admired</b></span>. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Out
of this process surfaces the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>virtue of autonomy</b></span>: a sense of independent
self-governance without the edge of narcissism. With it evolves a more
democratic leadership style that encourages others by offering constructive
input. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Redeemed Boasters use the self-confidence so evident in their own behavior to
show esteem for others: building them up, rather than disdaining them. </span></span></li>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
value of interdependence grows clear as they receive appreciation for group contributions,
and in turn affirms and compliments others.</span></span>
</li>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">
</span>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Self-regard
and poise grow more out of surrender to God than to our former conceit.</span></span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For every redeemed<b> </b>personality pattern, then, Self Compass living
offers a rich behavioral repertoire grounded by the LAWS of personality as
evidenced in Christ’s earthly life. </span></span></div>
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>The growing person functions within the</b></span>
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>certainty</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>of these LAWS and grows more Christlike in the process. Yet each
individual is</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>free</b></span> t<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>o uncover the unique stamp of his or her ineffable style. </b></span></span></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">How comforting to know
there is a compass of righteousness that clearly defines growth and wholeness
in the Lord</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Jesus says,
“Those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen
that their deeds have been done in God” (Jn 3:21). </b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This is done i<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>mperfectly</b></span>.
Indeed, the self-correcting polarities of Love/Assertion and Weakness/Strength
account for such fallibility. But when combined with a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>core reliance on the
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit</b></span>, these rhythmic polarities yield <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>a Self Compass
for living</b></span>, the Trinity way.</span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For more, read: </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY:</span></i></b></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet </span></i></b></a></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span>
<br />
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<br /></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-72325775348843000952013-03-04T08:58:00.002-08:002013-03-04T08:58:41.410-08:00How Compass Virtues Replace Personality Patterns<style>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">There is a curious paradox
rooted in our personality patterns (personality disorders). Every one of these patterns possesses a
particular <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>virtue</b></span> unique to that pattern. Yet it is only accessible by
embracing your whole Self Compass. If you have been stuck on the Assertion
compass point in the Rule-breaker pattern, for example, it is only by embracing
the caring of the Love compass point that you reap the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>virtue of creativity</b></span>
inherent in the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Antisocial Rule-breaker</b></span> pattern. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVxEzj8iVOLda1wq_xnB3zqpgAqEelU69dk7J8iANF_7yvx4G1ek8uekcMzs-BxueH2EuHcSU2YNG9ucz2_VUmcojwEfUYI1E4CDcT2hsfyaZiSbQfRkS6jUDJM5tzxPwJX-VMihhIA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzVxEzj8iVOLda1wq_xnB3zqpgAqEelU69dk7J8iANF_7yvx4G1ek8uekcMzs-BxueH2EuHcSU2YNG9ucz2_VUmcojwEfUYI1E4CDcT2hsfyaZiSbQfRkS6jUDJM5tzxPwJX-VMihhIA/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Virtue of Creativity</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Why? Because true creativity
requires caring for others. Without it, creativity deteriorates into
manipulative ploys to deceive. But once Rule-breakers reach for the Love
compass point, energy used for deception shifts to <b><span style="color: #741b47;">creative enhancement of
other’s lives</span></b> as well as sincere self-expression. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>As rigid patterns fall
away, in their stead comes the harvest of your labor: Compass virtues</b></span>. Virtues
that can now sprout forth as fruits of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22). This is because
you are surrendering your patterns to the Lord. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Dependent Pleaser and
Histrionic Storyteller patterns yield to the Love compass point virtues of <b><span style="color: #741b47;">charity and
good cheer</span>.</b> The Paranoid Arguer and Antisocial Rule-breaker patterns give way to the Assertion
compass point virtues of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>courage and creativity</b></span>. The Avoidant Worrier and Schizoid Loner patterns
transform into the Weakness compass point virtues of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>empathy and objectivity</b></span>.
And the Narcissistic Boaster and Compulsive Controller patterns find wholeness in the Strength compass
point virtues of <b><span style="color: #741b47;">autonomy and discipline</span></b>.</span></div>
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</div>
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVIZYoZLXtvTuRWjQsx_bWDAygWPpJi1o4Zgj6fyA2Bb_axLjGJkzbsrgJTSXpN17mCCxx0k-Te2cB-6R09aCitGgF4hRM4CZ8p7kqZKTfkaNBj33Jve6ozVTjVQe__IF1h_5W455BQ/s1600/Compass+Virtues.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWVIZYoZLXtvTuRWjQsx_bWDAygWPpJi1o4Zgj6fyA2Bb_axLjGJkzbsrgJTSXpN17mCCxx0k-Te2cB-6R09aCitGgF4hRM4CZ8p7kqZKTfkaNBj33Jve6ozVTjVQe__IF1h_5W455BQ/s400/Compass+Virtues.jpg" width="365" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Compass Virtues</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">The
rhythmic and self-correcting polarities of </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>L<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">ove, </span></span>A<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">ssertion,
</span></span>W<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">eakness and </span></span>S</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>trength</b></span>—combined
with a deep reliance on Christ—support your <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>transformation</b></span> from the inside out.
</span></span>Notice how a person’s <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>trust in</b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b> God</b></span> </span></span>replaces the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>fear </b></span>produced by personality patterns when you “trust in
the Lord with all your heart” (Prov 3:5).<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm; font-weight: bold !msorm; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">For The Dependent Pleaser</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">Pattern</span></span></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm; font-style: italic !msorm; mso-bidi-font-style: normal !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="font-weight: normal !msorm;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">When
nurturing </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">others<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">'
well</span></span>-<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">being is combined with
the willingness to stand up for </span></span>your<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">
needs and confront unfairness, the capacity for <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>healthy love, untinged with resentment</b></span>, </span></span>grow<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">s. </span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">By
exercising the Strength compass point, you develop confidence in your personal
power and loving concern for others, realizing that you really <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>count</b></span> in the
world. Instead of automatically disowning compliments, recovering Pleasers are
finally comfortable receiving them. You humbly accept your imperfections,
knowin</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">g that God and
others love you as you are<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">With the full use of the Self Compass comes the authentic<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> virtue of charity</b></span>, uniquely expressed by each redeemed Pleaser:</span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></b></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">Sensitive
and sympathetic. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">Doesn’t
need the limelight. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">A
good listener and follower. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">Tender
and talented in care for chil</span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">dren.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">Quick
to forgive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">Compromises
easily. </span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;">Is
kind and helpful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></b></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"></span></span></b></span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For more, read:</span></span></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://azon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY"</span></span></i></b></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://azon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Where Psychology & Theology Really Meet</span></span></i></b></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman" !msorm;"><span style="mso-prop-change: "Dan Montgomery" 20060308T1354;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span> </span></span></span></span></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-36591130640940482592013-02-25T09:16:00.002-08:002013-02-25T09:16:52.013-08:00Is God's Love Really Unconditional?
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<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">God’s love, as presently viewed in general culture, embraces an
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>unconditional </b></span>regard for all people, possessing only an accelerator for loving
people, only moving forward to bless them <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>no matter what</b></span> they think, feel, or
do, and no matter how they respond or don’t respond to him. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">But this is not the God of the Bible, the God of Judeo-Christian
revelation, who clearly possesses <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>both deep expressions of love</b></span> as well as
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>discerning restraint</b></span>, love that takes into account how human beings respond to
him. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTsjL24BVtJVn8ZQZa5NQlSSejMTFgp7mjFFEFYstZE1lyMoAJkNVBm34wyhkLJPs9TV_XZEIxUFMT3x0_bncBL35N7o_a5lJAzWaDP_cAjssi-gpAWUDl5IZ5Da2nUrRx2cj4Cfa2Q/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqTsjL24BVtJVn8ZQZa5NQlSSejMTFgp7mjFFEFYstZE1lyMoAJkNVBm34wyhkLJPs9TV_XZEIxUFMT3x0_bncBL35N7o_a5lJAzWaDP_cAjssi-gpAWUDl5IZ5Da2nUrRx2cj4Cfa2Q/s320/images.jpg" width="305" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">God of the Bible</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Lord takes faithful care of those who trust in him and become like
him, but pulls back from those who dismiss or dislike him, or deny his
existence. In other words, while <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God in eternity loves blessing all who receive
and obey him</b></span>, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>in time he exercises discernment about whom he loves and how much
he loves them</b></span>.</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Bible repeats this consistent theme: </span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">“Know therefore that
the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love
to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. <span style="font-size: small;"><i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>But</b></span></i>
</span>those who hate him he will repay to their face by destruction; he will not be
slow to repay to their face those who hate him” (Deut 7:9-10). </span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Jesus
further emphasizes the conditional nature of God’s love when he says, “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><i>If</i> </b></span>you keep my commands, you will remain in my love” (Jn 15:10).</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And, Jesus says, "You are my friends<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> <i>if</i></b></span><b><i> </i></b>you do what I command" (Jn 15:14).</span></div>
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">From a human point of view, it can sound like God is playing favorites
and being picayunish about the conditions he places on his love. But from the
divine point of view, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God is unwilling to squander his love on foolish
relationships and imprint his stamp of approval on unrighteous behavior</b></span>. He
really does know the secret motivations that drive behavior, discriminating
between those who seek him in their heart and those who don’t. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>It is true that God is love, but his love is tempered with wisdom that
balances <i>expression</i> and <i>restraint</i></b></span></span>. He expresses more of himself
and his blessings to those who enter a reciprocal relationship with him, while
applying restraint to those who harden their hearts. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The Bible shows again and
again how people can break down, nullify, or destroy the love bond that God
initiates by perpetuating negative patterns of behavior, patterns that also
break down human relationships. The Bible also describes how God can alternate
between blessing and cursing people, cherishing or abandoning them, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>according
to whether or not they abide in him</b></span>.</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Christ provides expression/restraint guidelines for human love: </b></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfO8vcnYcwSPumAu-YAVPj1ujPDtjmQx7xgjl00C2mXDGb-xbhQkfIZH-4Z1rq4mfZ_n3cYGgDV6Q12wO2mjzsShdGoKc2qvJtfiM-EDxWr6E-La_n25AtUfJ6WZ54xuJexOqeODQx8g/s1600/ExpressRestr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfO8vcnYcwSPumAu-YAVPj1ujPDtjmQx7xgjl00C2mXDGb-xbhQkfIZH-4Z1rq4mfZ_n3cYGgDV6Q12wO2mjzsShdGoKc2qvJtfiM-EDxWr6E-La_n25AtUfJ6WZ54xuJexOqeODQx8g/s400/ExpressRestr.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Expression and Restraint<b><br /></b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b> </b></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For the
forward rhythmic swing of the arc Jesus says, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“‘Love the Lord your God with all
your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your
mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’”</b></span> (Lk 10:27). Christ wants those
who love him to take on his passion for the wellbeing of humanity. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So during the course of a day, persons are to <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>watch out for the welfare of
others</b></span>, helping strangers in need, displaying kindness toward employees in
stores and fellow drivers on the freeway, and expanding tenderness in one’s
heart for friends and family members. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">By the same token, the backward rhythmic swing of the arc represents an
equally crucial teaching of Christ: <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the
midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” </b></span>(Mt 10:16). </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Naïve love can result in a world of trouble, because
many human situations call for a more <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>objective assessment of people’s
intentions </b></span>and less of a subjective, heartfelt involvement with the person. Responding with an open heart to everyone who shows interest leaves a person
with no defense against the manipulative patterns of a con artist or
narcissist.</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;">For more, read: </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trusting-Trinity-Compass-Psychotheology-Applied/dp/0557055792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261293346&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Trusting in The Trinity: </b></i></span></span></a></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trusting-Trinity-Compass-Psychotheology-Applied/dp/0557055792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261293346&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Compass Psychotheology in Action </b></i></span></a></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Sy2bmCF7BAb6r26ZLCqRbN8WDc1mmqIBnrrlfsbbaWrZb79hbpasTlMlO2ac-JZu9YjLkkgZrzCCsAX3-9nu0Lu17FGz95ugUBNzn6flmVNBGaFlqRyNKotT4lRITuP5xp6axLtswg/s1600/TRINITY-SILVER-TIFF-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2Sy2bmCF7BAb6r26ZLCqRbN8WDc1mmqIBnrrlfsbbaWrZb79hbpasTlMlO2ac-JZu9YjLkkgZrzCCsAX3-9nu0Lu17FGz95ugUBNzn6flmVNBGaFlqRyNKotT4lRITuP5xp6axLtswg/s400/TRINITY-SILVER-TIFF-300x200.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: small;">Trusting in The Trinity</span><i><b><br /></b></i></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-77817306122472325702013-02-18T12:08:00.000-08:002013-02-23T12:54:57.615-08:00How The Christian Trinity Is Unique<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Undifferentiated concepts of God, like God as
nature, or God as the evolution of the universe, yield little meaning because
they are so <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>vague</b></span> they fail to grasp the distinctly <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>differentiated</b></span> aspects of
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God’s personhood</b></span> that offer concrete points of<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> integration</b></span> with <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>human beings</b></span>. </span></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Bible holds a unique place among world
religions because what it records about God and persons occurs over several
millennia, arising out of particular historical situations and concrete
interpersonal encounters. This creates a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>public account open to all peoples</b></span>, a
common legacy to humankind. “I have spoken openly to the world,” Jesus says. “I
said nothing in secret” (Jn 18:20). The cohesiveness of Scripture comes from
the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>divine Subject</b></span> who guides the biblical narrative, and the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>human subjects
who interact with God</b></span>.</span></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZJDNnQELfdPlcN1gv-VRxtO1FLm8PT9U_BJoKWUH4Noi2BzeEQyd75EZOx19SDUbVDqR0vdAiMa0UeH6scaJvsmlJCAuf799B_r-gxbGKWoidt2dMpqUJFS5Jd0OeJLIVsXzK5-i4w/s1600/Bible.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYZJDNnQELfdPlcN1gv-VRxtO1FLm8PT9U_BJoKWUH4Noi2BzeEQyd75EZOx19SDUbVDqR0vdAiMa0UeH6scaJvsmlJCAuf799B_r-gxbGKWoidt2dMpqUJFS5Jd0OeJLIVsXzK5-i4w/s320/Bible.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Bible</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Two singular concepts arise from the Bible that
reveal how this divine Subject, this God of the Bible, interfaces with people,
concepts that arise from the Old Testament and carry forward into the New. </span></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The
singular message of the Old Testament lies in the revelation of a <i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>personal
transcendent Creator</b></span></i>, a novel concept even in the world of ancient comparative
religions. </span></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The singular message of the New Testament lies in the revelation
that <span style="color: #741b47;"><i><b>right thinking about God, or doctrine, combined with personal faith in
God, leads to reconciliation and friendship with God</b></i></span>, a thesis original to religions
of that day.</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA1ZAY26RdUQT9qj2tZOyjSbNH0NVTr6-tmEbcjoThMJNpFWoL_k2nFpczUFtGOF4xEeIQlGsMhyxAB_047vvb3Ywm6JJREtAjWyJeexmNdhqw-dgwXo8-d4tOat6gzNDMca2hrSX-w/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPA1ZAY26RdUQT9qj2tZOyjSbNH0NVTr6-tmEbcjoThMJNpFWoL_k2nFpczUFtGOF4xEeIQlGsMhyxAB_047vvb3Ywm6JJREtAjWyJeexmNdhqw-dgwXo8-d4tOat6gzNDMca2hrSX-w/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Christianity</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christianity</b></span> puts together the Old and New
Testament into the synthesis of orthodox doctrine about the personal
transcendent Creator, asserting that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God can be known and loved by
understanding his personality and attributes</b></span>. This requires a rhythm of
integration and differentiation, so that people can perceive, name, and engage
the personal transcendent God. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Just how does God disclose and differentiate himself
from all the other claims to deity in world history?</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> He simply says, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“I AM”</b></span> (Ex 3:14; Jn 8:58). God’s
essence, therefore, constitutes <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>self-existent personality without beginning or
end</b></span>.</span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8kCFIrqyG2lxnoeUP1MjTsGzlWUeD_FidCpSAiwoQudnjUWFxeq86GYLuczI7S0szXTn2H79Uh3zgZ2mNlNmKEcxIwe_nI0WRxJU6QBCNUJ5WBoo6GgpVxE4wdlX-zTcDR_PqIuqpQ/s1600/images-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp8kCFIrqyG2lxnoeUP1MjTsGzlWUeD_FidCpSAiwoQudnjUWFxeq86GYLuczI7S0szXTn2H79Uh3zgZ2mNlNmKEcxIwe_nI0WRxJU6QBCNUJ5WBoo6GgpVxE4wdlX-zTcDR_PqIuqpQ/s1600/images-3.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">"I AM"</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">From this foundational premise, God continues to
reveal himself throughout Scripture with names that provide clarification. From
the Old Testament come the names <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God Almighty</b></span>, for example, and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Lord of Hosts</b></span>,
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Holy One of Israel</b></span>, and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Ancient of Days</b></span>—surely meant to convey awe and wonder,
mystery and majesty. Not the average idol in the land of Canaan, or the average
tribal god. This is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God the one and only, Maker of heaven and earth</b></span>, a
transcendent-personal presence to be reckoned with. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In the New Testament comes increased
differentiation, this time toward personalizing God’s immanence, his holy and
loving presence in the world. Now God becomes entirely <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>personal</b></span>—so personal
that his name is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Jesus</b></span>. Human, yes, but also divine: one Person with two
distinct natures, co-existing without mixture or confusion, in one interpersonal
self: <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Jesus Christ, the Son of Man and Son of God</b></span>. Here is differentiation, in
rhythm with integration. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUJaFbqfxedQIMes_a9x_P7sXCmw3zu1gKDboJSFlOZwZ3cJf89on37W2Pl3ZaEcwJTobkB3L5Vjlb1OlzzFDkFOTLO9nOcFBWLO-5SsXr3H3c6pPiktm2Cm2VpPv4OQWm3VNpDNbZQ/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKUJaFbqfxedQIMes_a9x_P7sXCmw3zu1gKDboJSFlOZwZ3cJf89on37W2Pl3ZaEcwJTobkB3L5Vjlb1OlzzFDkFOTLO9nOcFBWLO-5SsXr3H3c6pPiktm2Cm2VpPv4OQWm3VNpDNbZQ/s320/images-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Jesus Christ</span></td></tr>
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<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And through Jesus, God the Almighty becomes
differentiated as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God the Father, Holy Father, Righteous Father…Our Father</b></span>. And
whom do the Father and Son reveal but the differentiated <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Holy Spirit: the
Spirit of the Father, Spirit of Christ, and Spirit of the Lord</b></span>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">And what is the sum total of God’s self-communication
in the Old and New Testament story? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">One God in Three Persons, blessed Trinity.</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">F<span style="font-size: small;">or more, read: </span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div>
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<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">CHR<span style="font-size: small;">ISTIAN PERSONALITY THEORY:</span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></i></a></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">C<span style="font-size: small;">ompass Psychotheology Applied</span></span></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></i></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fRsq1GjM9xqWXCbPJy5_di0N2RXn2zU6EsUc7Rf7IrOCik1GhNT1u7Co-BqMyWrss1GpTOdcnMQVslJaUwRVeQqjK3k4lFfQrGH8JqCBfwlB8xM8c-35e1v-PLzTG7c2jkeJ6XIjPQ/s1600/PERSONALITY-SILVER-300X200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fRsq1GjM9xqWXCbPJy5_di0N2RXn2zU6EsUc7Rf7IrOCik1GhNT1u7Co-BqMyWrss1GpTOdcnMQVslJaUwRVeQqjK3k4lFfQrGH8JqCBfwlB8xM8c-35e1v-PLzTG7c2jkeJ6XIjPQ/s400/PERSONALITY-SILVER-300X200.jpg" width="273" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christian Person<span style="font-size: small;">ality Theory</span><i><b><br /></b></i></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span> </span></span></span></span></b></span></span><b> </b></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-11798385824513443942013-02-11T08:33:00.000-08:002013-02-11T08:33:03.185-08:00Hegel, Christianity, and Compass Psychotheology<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>I first read Hegel's <i>Phenomenology of Spirit</i> when I was twenty-one</b></span>, an entree to my lifetime study and enjoyment of the great philosophers who have influenced and shaped Western philosophy and religion. I read him again during my master's degree in philosophy, and again in later years when I was differentiating Compass Psychotheology from other systems of world beliefs.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hegel</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Georg Friederich Hegel (1770-1831) was born in the same year as Beethoven and the poet Wordsworth</b></span>. At the age of 18 he studied theology at the University of Tubingen. During his mature years, he wrote four books in philosophy and was given the chair of philosophy at the University of Berlin, where he remained until his death from cholera at age 61. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hegel was a Christian. And Hegel valued the rational mind. He integrated his perceptions of Christianity and Reason this way: Hegel saw<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>
the whole universe as the products of an absolute subject, an Absolute
Mind</b></span>. He wanted to underscore that the real world is more than the
subjective conception of people's minds, that reality is rationality, or
Thought. "Reason," Hegel said, "dominates the world and ...world history is thus a rational process."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The process of human history evolves from the tensions of polar opposites (thesis and antithesis) that give way to historical developments (synthesis), which in turn create new contexts for <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>thesis, antithesis, and synthesis</b></span>. For example, there exists an ever-recurring tension in any historical era between the freedom and autonomous will of individuals (thesis), the freedom and autonomy of nation-states (antithesis?), and the collaboration or clashing of nations in terms of peace or war (synthesis?). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjmmyA5GaAp9jv8iZr6E6Rf1d2wX1PfqLdZ0Aa__biYIQSjFjBf6wVzmsg2uGxLFq76A4RRJi7uHAla84bwbWkGbC4qQLYXHrjukExTiBHvR09sBH4pG8E5Z1G4v7mzFvROkgGkSohA/s1600/thesis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjmmyA5GaAp9jv8iZr6E6Rf1d2wX1PfqLdZ0Aa__biYIQSjFjBf6wVzmsg2uGxLFq76A4RRJi7uHAla84bwbWkGbC4qQLYXHrjukExTiBHvR09sBH4pG8E5Z1G4v7mzFvROkgGkSohA/s1600/thesis.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In this way the Absolute Mind, or <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the divine Spirit, becomes the external manifestation of human Will and its Freedom</b></span>, and the <i>good</i> is "the realization of freedom, the absolute final purpose of the world." Because for Hegel reality is rationality (Thought, Idea), it seemed only logical that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>our knowledge of the Absolute is actually the Absolute knowing itself</b></span> through the finite spirit of human beings. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass psychotheology, too, asserts that the personal-transcendent God revealed in Hebrew and Christian Scripture stands behind nature and the cosmos, interacts creatively with the people of every culture and nation, and is moving human history toward a climactic fulfillment of his plan and purposes for humankind.</b></span></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH7OcJCOQ7U9ODrxj2NBaPzyjXSw0XRUD1iaXtYEfbiomlAJenaS-Fr3-7PGgueMp6woagWZq70E5HFk_p1m2wm3gwd1EuBWXk_wrdfnnBvx4PAMJqpaotInnIl43puhHo07wu6bEvw/s1600/God:History.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH7OcJCOQ7U9ODrxj2NBaPzyjXSw0XRUD1iaXtYEfbiomlAJenaS-Fr3-7PGgueMp6woagWZq70E5HFk_p1m2wm3gwd1EuBWXk_wrdfnnBvx4PAMJqpaotInnIl43puhHo07wu6bEvw/s400/God:History.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">God's Creation</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compass psychotheology, too, suggests that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>freedom of the will is a divine endowment in which Homo sapiens are imprinted with the image of God their Creator</b></span>, and through which individuals live in tension between self will and God's unfolding will.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Compass psychotheology, too, sees <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>creative tensions of polarities built into human nature and personality</b></span>, and that these mirror to some degree the personality and nature of the divine as revealed in the incarnate <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Son of God, Jesus of Nazareth</b></span>, who upon his resurrection from the dead, became the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Savior of the World</b></span>, and the eternal destiny toward which human history is moving. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>The apostle Paul says it this way</b></span>: "<span class="text Col-1-15">The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.</span> <span class="text Col-1-16" id="en-NIV-29482">For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.</span> <span class="text Col-1-17" id="en-NIV-29483">He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.</span> <span class="text Col-1-18" id="en-NIV-29484">And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.</span> <span class="text Col-1-19" id="en-NIV-29485">For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,</span> <span class="text Col-1-20" id="en-NIV-29486">and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:15-20).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">These polarities include the transcendence of God as existing eternally apart from the created cosmos, and the immanence of God as manifested in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, both of whom as divine person intersect human history and influence persons and nations. These polarities are found in human personality, in the tension that exists between the compass points of Love and Assertion, Weakness and Strength, which are nevertheless synthesized into the unifying whole of self-aware identify, with freedom of choice and self-will.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass psychotheology diverges with Hegel's philosophy of Mind and Spirit in holding to the biblical narrative, in which humankind is fallen from the Will and Purposes of God, and must be rescued from sin by the atoning sacrifice for sin: Christ on the Cross</b></span>. Persons can resist this offer of personal salvation, for it is not rational, and to believe in one's heart the scandalous "Good News" that the crucified God provides grace and forgiveness to all who repent and have faith Jesus. <span class="text 1Cor-1-18"> </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="text 1Cor-1-18">"The message of
the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who
are being saved know it is the very power of God.</span> <span class="text 1Cor-1-19" id="en-NLT-28343"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>As the Scriptures say,</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="poetry top-1" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="line">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="text 1Cor-1-19">'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise </span><span class="indent-1"><span class="text 1Cor-1-19">and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.<sup>'</sup></span></span></span></div>
<div class="line">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span class="text 1Cor-1-20" id="en-NLT-28344">So
where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world’s
brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish.</span> <span class="text 1Cor-1-21" id="en-NLT-28345">Since
God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through
human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who
believe.</span> <span class="text 1Cor-1-22" id="en-NLT-28346"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>It is foolish to the Jews, who ask for signs from heaven. And it is foolish to the Greeks, who seek human wisdom.</span> <span class="text 1Cor-1-23" id="en-NLT-28347">So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.</span><span class="text 1Cor-1-24" id="en-NLT-28348"> But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.</span> <span class="text 1Cor-1-25" id="en-NLT-28349"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>This
foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s
weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength" (1 Cor 18-25, NLT).</span></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In the view of compass psychotheology, Hegel is one of the philosophers who, though great in intellectual sweep and motivational ambition, erred when he tried to remake Christianity into a philosophical instrument for his will and purposes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>In avoiding the confrontation of the Old Testament prophets with the Hebrew culture, and the confrontation of Christ and the apostolic witness with the Gentile world, Hegel too facilely equated the good, the rational, the mind, and the spirit, with the Will and Purpose of the divine.</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As a corrective against this kind of philosophical idealism and romantic optimism, compass psychotheology speaks of the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>categories of evil </b></span>that characterize all persons via their human natures, personalities, and relationships. However, when persons deals decisively with their sin and self will through confessing and receiving Christ, other parts of Hegelian philosophy do indeed characterize what Christians call <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>sanctification, growth in holiness, discipleship, or, in compass psychotheology terms, "self-actualization in Christ."</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Here, then, we do find God and sinner reconciled, and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the power of the Holy Spirit (who is the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son) at work in those who believe</b></span> both to know and to do the will of God.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqF7mg5flej6E1TqvqFDzg5KKRLexZELF6mH3g7Y1kOdHkqA5xmDpl0JlA2xU_ncy1TQezSoKf9SMNUANAb1313sZLwnywOa_cuiC0I2j76jxzEgaCC5NzJeB2qNuPkBemWaEcfPsWg/s1600/Spirit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrqF7mg5flej6E1TqvqFDzg5KKRLexZELF6mH3g7Y1kOdHkqA5xmDpl0JlA2xU_ncy1TQezSoKf9SMNUANAb1313sZLwnywOa_cuiC0I2j76jxzEgaCC5NzJeB2qNuPkBemWaEcfPsWg/s320/Spirit.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect" (Romans 12:2).</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Personally, I'm thankful for having read Hegel in my formative years</b></span>, for he prodded me to stretch my mind and seek to see the big picture of the cosmos and the divine, in creative tension with the little picture of human history and individual life. And though I came to see these things through the lens of faith that illuminates reason, I can well understand why it was important for Georg Friedrick Hegel to see the universe through the lens of reason that inspires faith.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-10391198314200114612013-02-04T09:41:00.002-08:002013-02-04T09:41:51.678-08:00Compass Personality Theory and Behavioral Personality Theory<style>
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<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Behavioral personality
theory is the brainchild of Joseph Wolpe, B. F. Skinner, and Arthur Staats,
among others. Also known as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>learning theory</b></span>, it is the most <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>empirically based
</b></span>approach ever devised to study human behavior. However, since scientific and
laboratory studies aim at controlling all variables in order to discover
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>objective</b></span> information about how living organisms behave, the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>subjective self </b></span>of
human beings can be lost in the process. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnl5EwPGOC45bjLsdK8IU2rVOCg7tk1qXAnbXkQAbYAGIrVtMA17cakiief3nOoyxelt95-Q2_LI9tOttpFYhLuaRDQomvWo4CAAWg8QPEXXRDGpVNC7tiIjgW34-qZY2MnEyYH-ifYA/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnl5EwPGOC45bjLsdK8IU2rVOCg7tk1qXAnbXkQAbYAGIrVtMA17cakiief3nOoyxelt95-Q2_LI9tOttpFYhLuaRDQomvWo4CAAWg8QPEXXRDGpVNC7tiIjgW34-qZY2MnEyYH-ifYA/s1600/images-1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">B. F. Skinner</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Skinner</b></span> articulates this perspective
when he says: <span style="color: #741b47;"><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“There is no place in the scientific position for a self </b></span></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>as a
true originator or initiator of action.” </b></span></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Behaviorism generates
highly differentiated knowledge, such as how to extinguish a phobia or
reinforce a target behavior, but this information is not well integrated with
the self who lives as a complex person outside of the scientific experiment.
Concepts that cannot be measured quantitatively—concepts like <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>selfhood, free
will, dignity, and openness to God</b></span>—risk diminishment if the person is reduced
to an experimental object, leaving a personality theory that mainly focuses on
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>how changes in environmental stimuli elicit changes in behavioral response</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Behavioral theory produces
significant quantitative data about the limits of human perception; for
instance, the range of decibels required to hear a sound, the level of lumens
required to perceive an image, or the amount of pressure needed to trigger a
sensation. By treating the hypothetical “self” as a black box, the theory also
answers questions about <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>operant conditioning</b></span> for use in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>controlling social
behavior</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9avZfQolL-WE3DeDm8yQVLJMCmweRV5w8PiXNlrKFxuZXP-12DmzilS7Q1dcal256n9Ip4xRwMRL3KqpDjhTArYIPlZ5sa9r8aaEbHzRE3fqaAELhwuL7NONL33PmTOuGSXLE4qFQw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM9avZfQolL-WE3DeDm8yQVLJMCmweRV5w8PiXNlrKFxuZXP-12DmzilS7Q1dcal256n9Ip4xRwMRL3KqpDjhTArYIPlZ5sa9r8aaEbHzRE3fqaAELhwuL7NONL33PmTOuGSXLE4qFQw/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Operant Conditioning</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For example, the best way to manipulate a person to do something new
is to <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>reinforce</b></span> the first appearance of that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>behavior</b></span> with a massive schedule
of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>reward</b></span>. Then, as the behavior is repeated more often, the reinforcement is
modified into an <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>intermittent</b></span> schedule of reinforcement. Before long, the human
organism is hooked on the behavior, so to speak, because there is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>an
unconscious quest for continuing the behavior with the hope of an occasional
reward</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>This objective knowledge
of how to shape and control human behavior can be used benevolently or
malevolently</b></span>. In casino gambling the manufacturers of slot machines use the
full power of behavioral theory so that the machines pay out in varying
rhythms, ranging from several payouts in a row (which establishes motivation to
stay at the machine), to one payout for every twelve or thirteen pulls (to
maintain the addictive excitement). Of course, the odds are in the casino’s
favor because human selfhood is bypassed through the use of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>contingency
management</b></span>, <i>the dispensing or withholding of reinforcing stimuli designed to
strengthen behavior at an instinctual and unconscious level</i>.</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In a more positive venue,
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>behavioral personality theory makes many contributions</b></span> to classroom discipline
for teachers, showing them <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>how to reinforce on-task behaviors</b></span> such as silent
reading or group cooperation by verbally rewarding proactive behavior, and
ignoring or creating a “time out” to <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>extinguish negative behavior</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Behavioral
principles are valuable in many situations where selfhood and personal choices
need suppression in order to maintain a safe and organized environment. Jails,
the military, business management, and caretaking for incapacitated persons all
benefit from some form of token economy, or <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the exchange of cooperative
behavior for tangible rewards that strengthen individual compliance and support
group cohesion</b></span>.</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">However, when it comes to
the question of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>human worth</b></span>, the development of autonomy, and self-actualizing
choices, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>learning theory falters</b></span>, since its primary view of Homo sapiens rests
on an animal behavior paradigm that considers <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>thoughts, feelings, and values</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>as
variables to be controlled, not</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>inalienable rights for pursuit and fulfillment</b></span>. </span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiup7fSsD2o5NCpmDTmyoY0XTYQrImGELhoVF0Cbf2ZZVQMg9kHOATmF5iliQcuT7ilS7h7_bEV7guAO2A9DZHLrDQ-RcXOFFStdlJWX2Pk_BCx8tNxJS9xEeNxVo8t7_6MR28r67parg/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiup7fSsD2o5NCpmDTmyoY0XTYQrImGELhoVF0Cbf2ZZVQMg9kHOATmF5iliQcuT7ilS7h7_bEV7guAO2A9DZHLrDQ-RcXOFFStdlJWX2Pk_BCx8tNxJS9xEeNxVo8t7_6MR28r67parg/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inalienable rights</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Compass personality theory
suggests that behavioral theory makes its most valuable contributions in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>building
efficient social environments that support constructive interaction</b></span>, as well as
in helping persons whose judgment is impaired by disease, disability, or drugs
to achieve a measure of self-control where none existed. </span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Yet for the bigger picture
of actualizing human development, people’s <span style="color: #741b47;">interpersonal selfhood </span>must come to
the fore, <span style="color: #741b47;">working synergistically within environmental structures that foster
safety and morality, while offering freedom for the development of individual
identity, both of which contribute to the wellbeing of community</span>.</span></b></span></div>
</blockquote>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWzavbnmFnMlImEZ8UfkiCrtOX4x6M7f5h2cChxEBAXVH15JwH4tnk4EVmlwCYL5rkFxeCNur8fKfj9adNp1c82r0xqbCtmfXRsvOlK64LnYozIcnnQ7yUm70ECC613reYI_hDTg5EOQ/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWzavbnmFnMlImEZ8UfkiCrtOX4x6M7f5h2cChxEBAXVH15JwH4tnk4EVmlwCYL5rkFxeCNur8fKfj9adNp1c82r0xqbCtmfXRsvOlK64LnYozIcnnQ7yUm70ECC613reYI_hDTg5EOQ/s320/images-1.jpg" width="320" /></a> </div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For more, read:</span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY THEORY:</span></b></span></a></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">Compass Psychotheology Applied </span></b></span></a></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJle-SN4t3GC_ujX5yMTBx9xNFqXqfXFsDluNgmUbAKT568NtW_N6cxrnB3Zu3EO2RtIVPM_70HnmJJpFwOYjkMbJ6ywpAvmrqkoh4zj1-UL4ioooVB0-fwEbeO0uICPHXzhcawFx_Xg/s1600/PERSONALITY-SILVER-300X200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJle-SN4t3GC_ujX5yMTBx9xNFqXqfXFsDluNgmUbAKT568NtW_N6cxrnB3Zu3EO2RtIVPM_70HnmJJpFwOYjkMbJ6ywpAvmrqkoh4zj1-UL4ioooVB0-fwEbeO0uICPHXzhcawFx_Xg/s400/PERSONALITY-SILVER-300X200.jpg" width="274" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Christian Personality Theory</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-56272544650277322492013-01-28T08:08:00.003-08:002013-01-28T08:08:45.279-08:00How Can Christians Be Holy As The Trinity Is Holy?<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Be holy as I
am holy” (Lev 19:2).</span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In the Old Testament the Lord reveals a good
deal of concern for both <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>his holiness and the holiness of his people</b></span>—a concern
expressed with what one might consider uncomfortable frequency. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A frequency
which the apostle Peter reinforces in the New Testament with a fair degree of
forcefulness: “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do</b></span>;
for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy’” (1 Pet 1:15-17).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBNygLF-sqhTNDryfooyw6gq-OATvZxZh6HmzskpHKD4_BmP0oQXe1VGHD5JxZML4e5kBqC2bLX7QcZPRLHyWA882KGQ0dnJfk87zwVszZX66VuLNgNQHjT-GaRyxP25oRFZraTOJPw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigBNygLF-sqhTNDryfooyw6gq-OATvZxZh6HmzskpHKD4_BmP0oQXe1VGHD5JxZML4e5kBqC2bLX7QcZPRLHyWA882KGQ0dnJfk87zwVszZX66VuLNgNQHjT-GaRyxP25oRFZraTOJPw/s200/images.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What is God getting at? What can he mean?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">How can a person be holy like God?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">And just how is God holy, for that matter?</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Let us begin with
Jesus.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When Jesus
appears to his disciples after his resurrection, he blesses their <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>hearts</b></span>, declaring,
“Peace be with you!” (Jn 20:19), offering his <span style="color: #741b47;"><b><i>shalom</i></b></span> of well-being and wholeness.
Later, concerned for their <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>physical well-being</b></span>, he feeds them with fish cooked
over a charcoal fire.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> How does he
provide for them <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>spiritually</b></span>? Jesus breathes on them, saying, “Receive the Holy
Spirit” (Jn 20:22). </span>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Through this
gift, Christ initiates human beings into <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>wholeness</b></span>, into <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>holiness</b></span>, into a new
creation that came into being<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> </i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b><i>in
Christ</i></b></span> by his incarnation, death, and resurrection, and is actualized by <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the
Holy Spirit</b></span>.</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnp2sKQMKegd_451EhdnB0mRuANfepPPnxHKnuXfmv9Zc98-75m7NU06ggy9kt4sJOGkpLnDqBTWXU9JBk6cf3doRKnD-I7Pr6HRppAxdUZn90jBQPoSw0InXMCj5DYVGQV5YaFGhpA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtnp2sKQMKegd_451EhdnB0mRuANfepPPnxHKnuXfmv9Zc98-75m7NU06ggy9kt4sJOGkpLnDqBTWXU9JBk6cf3doRKnD-I7Pr6HRppAxdUZn90jBQPoSw0InXMCj5DYVGQV5YaFGhpA/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Help from The Holy Trinity</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So we could
conclude that, far from being left out on a limb, struggling against impossible
odds to be holy as God is holy, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the Trinity really understands a person’s needs
and frailties</b></span>, really takes in the impossibilities of living a holy life on
this planet without the all-out help of the holy Trinity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the
assistance is not unilateral. God does not accomplish it all on his side. For
Jesus consummates his call to holiness and wholeness with the challenge, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“As
the Father has sent me, so I send you”</b></span> (Jn 20:21). Such a challenge requires a
good deal from anyone who accepts it, for it calls on human beings to embark on
a process of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>holistic transformation in personality and attitude, thoughts and
feelings, as well as practices and behavior</b></span> (Lk 24:38-43). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0GSCxyCj2dA0Z71RpFoAl_bsAGBF8VtOyuy7Avgg307rIs9pAR_gIFv7j3MrnBSGfb43TfeHFOWFbO8Nxr5iF1MjVrM_hE6_3iiiqwZ2rSMgiMa2WqH-bPeAlfT3HEL63pUmkVH9cg/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt0GSCxyCj2dA0Z71RpFoAl_bsAGBF8VtOyuy7Avgg307rIs9pAR_gIFv7j3MrnBSGfb43TfeHFOWFbO8Nxr5iF1MjVrM_hE6_3iiiqwZ2rSMgiMa2WqH-bPeAlfT3HEL63pUmkVH9cg/s200/images-1.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holy Transformation</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Compass
psychotheology asserts that it is less helpful to view holiness in the Platonic
sense of an absolute quality in God’s eternal being, and more helpful to view
it as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>a relational dynamic that overflows from intra-Trinitarian love into
God’s relationship with people</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This means there is a compass dimension of
holiness meant to connect people to their own highest good that grows from
relating rightly to God and one another. Thus we can understand God’s holiness
as a delicate balancing act between <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>his altruistic love</b></span> (Love compass point)
and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>impartial justice</b></span> (Assertion compass point), between his <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>humble service</b></span>
(Weakness compass point) and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>glorious majesty</b></span> (Strength compass point). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Taken
together, these dynamic interactive qualities set God apart from both the
physical creation and from any sense of moral degradation, because <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>his
faithfulness to his eternal consistency and wholeness endures forever</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This holiness
and sheer interpersonal health of the holy Trinity helps explain the great reversal
of the cross, through which “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so
that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). While God
finds sin abhorrent, he nevertheless took sin into himself in order to ultimately
vanquish it; that is, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>to dissolve sin from inside out, replacing its
insidiousness with a deeper outworking of loving power</b></span>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gRBrGjh2eHCr6tvcF1deaM0pKHDls7bJKvYfrjlmaj8QuoZ1VyjRmtN6MlBG1NxDtl4R0YpY6WK0MwSgpPFrwyJJRVMfxPinLIzjsioqfSio4utML1TrSvuzmQAlKsO6FIoMhN9XNw/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3gRBrGjh2eHCr6tvcF1deaM0pKHDls7bJKvYfrjlmaj8QuoZ1VyjRmtN6MlBG1NxDtl4R0YpY6WK0MwSgpPFrwyJJRVMfxPinLIzjsioqfSio4utML1TrSvuzmQAlKsO6FIoMhN9XNw/s320/images-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Great Reversal of The Cross</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For instance,
God initially sanctifies King Saul and fills him with the Holy Spirit, but when
Saul disobeys God, the Lord sends his Spirit to torment Saul (1 Sam 16:14), and
uses Saul’s paranoid jealousy to develop holy qualities in David, so that when
David becomes king, he will rule righteously, having become a man after God’s
own heart. In this way <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God makes even evil serve his holiness</b></span>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When people
allow God to set them apart for his holy purposes, their lives take on a depth
dimension, for the Holy Spirit has their permission to promote personality
health, cultivate interpersonal communion, and actualize their mission on
earth.</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This is
holiness and wholeness. </span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Hope is
offered in the words, “Be holy as I am holy,” for in contemporary exegesis they
mean,<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> “Be well-balanced…in your whole lifestyle”</b></span> (1 Pet 1:13,15; Davids,
NICNT).</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For more<span style="font-size: small;">, read:</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trusting-Trinity-Compass-Psychotheology-Applied/dp/0557055792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261293346&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><b><span style="font-size: large;">TRUSTING IN THE TRINITY </span></b></a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytulSjIsHJg8w_0avWDGlL1EH6fBeASc_3WP-37-D77HT6tTQNHd91Jz9sqmCNDsNadPJN04biVlGqSQO9oj3fjGiYV9xrkulIH0u41POY5_QpAtOh_xCc9RKcOeNhyphenhyphen1c2fiNL0JWyw/s1600/TRINITY-SILVER-TIFF-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytulSjIsHJg8w_0avWDGlL1EH6fBeASc_3WP-37-D77HT6tTQNHd91Jz9sqmCNDsNadPJN04biVlGqSQO9oj3fjGiYV9xrkulIH0u41POY5_QpAtOh_xCc9RKcOeNhyphenhyphen1c2fiNL0JWyw/s320/TRINITY-SILVER-TIFF-300x200.jpg" width="219" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><b>Trusting in The Trinity</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span> </span></span></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-9773187086157088562013-01-21T08:15:00.001-08:002013-01-21T08:15:38.491-08:00Compass Personality Theory and Humanistic Personality Theory<style>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Pioneers in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>humanistic personality theory</b></span> include
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and Fritz Perls</b></span>. The uniqueness of humanistic
theory lies in its benevolent view of human nature with an emphasis on the
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>positive potential for self-actualizing development </b></span>that lies within every
person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">What is the essence in the life work of these three
theorists? A perspective that plays down the unconscious factors in behavior
and builds up the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>self-actualizing tendency of the human organism</b></span>, suggesting, as
Maslow does, that when basic needs such as food and shelter are met, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>higher
order needs such as belonging and a quest for meaning emerge</b></span>. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgZC_p7oKQocabibsobALFW6iwfpTaj-Qlbe-fZp7ou7SYLoT5P46dGm1qLHiR8lT6viUXzWfiC57uToU1R0GdvB59wzl9WFol7ZMOdM22TfyOO2NZ9hU7fGzbb698LG-bL9y0AEqfQ/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOgZC_p7oKQocabibsobALFW6iwfpTaj-Qlbe-fZp7ou7SYLoT5P46dGm1qLHiR8lT6viUXzWfiC57uToU1R0GdvB59wzl9WFol7ZMOdM22TfyOO2NZ9hU7fGzbb698LG-bL9y0AEqfQ/s400/images-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hierarchy of Needs</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The idea is that people can be <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>trusted</b></span> to develop in
pro-social ways because <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the more they come to esteem and love themselves, the
more capable they become of esteeming and loving others</b></span>. The more patient and
sensitive they become with themselves, the more patience and sensitivity they
express toward others. The path to healthy self-development is not through the
internalization of “shoulds, oughts, and musts” from parents or society, but
through <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>listening to the ever-changing gestalt of needs, wants, and
preferences from within one’s self, thereby attending to
one’s “inner perceptual field.” </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Humanistic psychology is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>strong on validating people</b></span>
and not inclined to categorize behavior so as to judge right from wrong or good
from evil. The reason why some people are cruel, harmful, or exploitive of
others lies in their earlier development, because they were not treated with
appropriate respect and trust when growing up. The remedy lies in <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>providing
educational or therapeutic influences</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>that offer unconditional positive regard
and the prizing of one’s personhood</b></span>. Once people internalize this empathetic
form of relating, they are likely to radiate this response to others,
increasing the quality and intimacy of their social relationships. As Carl Rogers
said, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“The basic nature of the human being, when functioning freely, is
constructive and trustworthy.” </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Compass personality theory agrees that human beings
are endowed with potential for noble and praiseworthy behavior, adding that
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ expresses this human ethic in the Golden Rule: “So in everything, do to
others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the
Prophets” (Mt 7:12). </b></span></span></div>
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</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet as the Bible shows and human behavior empirically
validates, there exists <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>a profound capacity within human nature and personality
to resist, corrupt, and even destroy the possibility for positive outcomes in
self and others. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Compass theory calls this mystery of iniquity by the biblical
name of <i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>sin</b></span></i>, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>a problem in which human beings manipulate the self and others
through</b></span> <i><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>personality patterns</b></span></i>. These patterns create rigidities present in every
person to some degree. Jean Paul Sartre writes of these rigidities that “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>all
human beings are guilty in principle, of self-deception, of inauthenticity, of
playing a role or trying to disguise one’s actual personality behind a façade.” </b></span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaPd0-ckSn9Q3ZiQU7OI0aMj4F-n6FOeIEafvEeXN8C8MQjeGa_HhbRB30B6hmF9jPJGhnPmOidaJKRFFzOowZ3_WbZfrsTPGzzT6_KmqLLmMLqHXmofpZJow9MqdEF2fjoROYux2Bw/s1600/Manipluative+Strategies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHaPd0-ckSn9Q3ZiQU7OI0aMj4F-n6FOeIEafvEeXN8C8MQjeGa_HhbRB30B6hmF9jPJGhnPmOidaJKRFFzOowZ3_WbZfrsTPGzzT6_KmqLLmMLqHXmofpZJow9MqdEF2fjoROYux2Bw/s400/Manipluative+Strategies.jpg" width="377" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"><b>Manipulative Strategies</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Maslow, too, noted, “We must also face squarely the
problem of what stands in the way of growth: that is to say, the problems of
cessation of growth and evasion of growth, of fixation, regression, and
defensiveness, in a word, t<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>he attractiveness of psychopathology</b></span>, or as other
people would prefer to say, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“the problem of evil.” </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">When it comes to human growth, Maslow, Rogers, and
Perls see <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>self-trust</b></span> as fundamental to making authentic choices that foster <span style="color: #741b47;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">congruence</i></b></span> through listening to one’s
emotions, sorting out thoughts, and integrating thinking and feeling with an
awareness of bodily states. All three theorists believe that religious attitudes
can contribute to the process of healthy living:</span></div>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Maslow offers a Taoist orientation to reality, a
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>non-invasive, non-interfering</b></span> way of listening to one’s own needs and relating
to others. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Rogers is sympathetic to the teachings of Lao-Tse,
believing that this way of being promotes <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“agape love”</b></span> in human encounters by
encouraging non-possessive openness and respect for individual differences. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Perls, though at times distinctly anti-religious,
nevertheless asserts that Zen Buddhism provides a laudable orientation to
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>living in the here and now</b></span>, free from the burden of demands and expectations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">By the same token, all three theorists espouse a
humanistic personality theory precisely because they believe that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the highest
form of authority lies in one’s own human experience</b></span>. </span><br />
<br />
<br /></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroo0px0P-oS6vaNJwyG0MVAjFytmvF1566Tit_7CMALNlrFL6-H-xN18jmDCV1-I7KRQqryoQnvdu8vfHjGCzk_O8GndHW_uAK-WSILPXWJUxA3Molx3-SdeKCHG2epcboU-_gjHP6w/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgroo0px0P-oS6vaNJwyG0MVAjFytmvF1566Tit_7CMALNlrFL6-H-xN18jmDCV1-I7KRQqryoQnvdu8vfHjGCzk_O8GndHW_uAK-WSILPXWJUxA3Molx3-SdeKCHG2epcboU-_gjHP6w/s320/images-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kingdom of God is Within You</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass personality theory shares with humanistic
theory an emphasis on the importance of inner experiencing in becoming a
person.</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Jesus taught that “the kingdom of God is within you”</b></span> (Lk 17:21),
indicating God’s intimate concern with a person’s thoughts and feelings,
sensation and perception, learning and memory, attitudes and worldview.
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christianity encourages an attitude of trust in the present and hope for the
future</b></span>: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in
him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom
15:13).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Indeed, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>it is within a person’s inner perceptual
field</b></span> that the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Holy Spirit moves to create self-trust, self-love, and self-development</b></span>,
versus fear of life or idolatrous subjugation to any external facet of
creation. From this inner phenomenological field, which compass theory terms
the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>spiritual core</b></span>, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ moves in cooperative dialogue with persons,
ever-guiding them toward </b><b>expanding circles of caring involvement with people
and culture</b></span>. Since God enjoys infinite contact with all creation, individuals
growing in Christ are called to develop tenderness toward existence that
reflects God’s connectedness to all that is. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisD-6rSQL1ZKNwa2alkGuTgk3eNyyp9gBlbEZb1PuXFyz6kDDWDuSrRQVS12VBSQC6l_L4nKUjLGWrZ3u2OKJd-O9Z3KozpPaKcXzBRmFDEtfAucaHA319zUAGSwWwUl-3CgO0xUag4g/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisD-6rSQL1ZKNwa2alkGuTgk3eNyyp9gBlbEZb1PuXFyz6kDDWDuSrRQVS12VBSQC6l_L4nKUjLGWrZ3u2OKJd-O9Z3KozpPaKcXzBRmFDEtfAucaHA319zUAGSwWwUl-3CgO0xUag4g/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">This outreach requires a rhythmic reliance upon the
structure provided by the Word of God, orthodox creeds and doctrine,
sacraments, and the Lord himself, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>offering a higher authority than an
individual’s private perceptual field alone</b></span>, a rhythm that benefits from
developing an <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>interpersonal selfhood in Christ</b></span>. Within this context, trusting
Christ for inner and outer guidance makes one’s personality and human nature
relatively trustworthy, since <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ has redeemed human beings and calls them
to exercise autonomy in creative dialogue with the Trinity</b></span>.</span></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-51830699722954314312013-01-12T08:26:00.001-08:002013-01-12T08:26:59.340-08:00Compass Psychotheology and the Spiritual Core<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">At the center of the Self Compass lies an inner
circle called <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the spiritual core</b></span>. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">Compass psychotheology interprets the spiritual core as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the “I am” center of awareness and free will</b></span>. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Self Compass</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The spiritual core also finds expression in personality
theory as a person’s:</span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">center of gravity (Horney) </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">inner locus of control (Rogers)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">nucleus of the total psychic system (Jung)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">inner supreme court (Maslow)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">core of personality (Shostrom)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">higher self (Assagioli)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana;">spiritual self (Frankl)</span></li>
</ul>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">For compass psychotheology, the spiritual core is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the sacred center of personality</b></span>, the equivalent of a nucleus within
a living cell. The spiritual core symbolizes the depth dimension of personality
from which people find self-identity and develop intimacy with others and with
God, whom William James calls “the Great Companion.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">From the spiritual core arises the “I am” quality
of personal existence, endowing human beings with the capacity for
self-awareness and free choice, a capacity imparted by God in the creation of
humankind. The Lord is the transcendent <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“I AM,”</b></span> a name that signifies eternal
self-existence and personality. By contrast, the human person is a temporal and
finite <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“I am,”</b></span> a limited interpersonal being <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>created in the image of the
Trinity, whose spiritual core needs God’s indwelling for completion</b></span>. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhode18uHIpneGxDu-7lsz9039F3mr4O7u4zSaqVINc8Dhs8bPtpZcMKn1YAsmjTe1uD8xlX2nnW9KlzTl1dHgs6BZLcA5JMWq7TJpB638Y0SKeREp1tLEhGOqgIGSzhUtLShlDkWipng/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="315" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhode18uHIpneGxDu-7lsz9039F3mr4O7u4zSaqVINc8Dhs8bPtpZcMKn1YAsmjTe1uD8xlX2nnW9KlzTl1dHgs6BZLcA5JMWq7TJpB638Y0SKeREp1tLEhGOqgIGSzhUtLShlDkWipng/s320/images-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Holy Trinity</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The spiritual core is what differentiates Homo
sapiens from other mammals, bestowing a sense of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>responsibility for behavior
and receptivity to inspiration from the Holy Spirit</b></span>. Jesus spoke of the Holy
Spirit when he said, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">“As the scripture has said, ‘Out of the believer’s heart shall flow
rivers of living water.’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom believers in
him would receive” (Jn 7:38-39).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Jesus' metaphor of
existential intimacy conveys the dynamic flow of the spiritual core, for God
is in the hearts of his people. It is the personality of the believer that is
the residence filled with God’s living presence. That place of the Holy Spirit
where Jesus tells the Samaritan woman, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“the water I will give them will become
in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life”</b></span> (Jn 4:14). </span><br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1zvbWK5kV5biq3mPsdJpBVeQHxvr1Lg-NlMbcQlPVs7pzb3Lta7ccdyyDaTpxBWYBZVVfzPqP5SYjUGyT9YG7rLr2_LOmc2Dm8auHxf21vdLgkrWJ38SgZY5s31Bodyj9zIN72eFyA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir1zvbWK5kV5biq3mPsdJpBVeQHxvr1Lg-NlMbcQlPVs7pzb3Lta7ccdyyDaTpxBWYBZVVfzPqP5SYjUGyT9YG7rLr2_LOmc2Dm8auHxf21vdLgkrWJ38SgZY5s31Bodyj9zIN72eFyA/s400/images.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The wellspring
of the Holy Spirit provides a fountainhead of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>existential intimacy </b></span>between God
and individuals, and between persons. God's love has been poured into our
hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us (Ro 5:5), through whom
we actualize the love of God in Christ.</span></div>
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<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Holy Spirit is the one called alongside to help. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Parakletos.</i> Comforter. The Companion who
inspires <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>transformation in the personality</b></span> by accepting and understanding
people, while spurring them on to their full potential.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_H9n6vXL05t9k8LTbc4BHyQvnWMZH1kNX_344qSS-MsL0mn3eGuQm_StpZ1spGMnkCXUbck4DG-XktnrXhLMI12mpV2kdp_2LBKQdyNPPG3gEjlxeRoluqb8tKcupIyuAw7X5ma-7yg/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_H9n6vXL05t9k8LTbc4BHyQvnWMZH1kNX_344qSS-MsL0mn3eGuQm_StpZ1spGMnkCXUbck4DG-XktnrXhLMI12mpV2kdp_2LBKQdyNPPG3gEjlxeRoluqb8tKcupIyuAw7X5ma-7yg/s320/images-1.jpg" width="315" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">The Holy Spirit</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">“<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>When the
Spirit of truth comes, he will </b><b>guide you into all the truth</b></span>” (Jn 16:8,13). When individuals open themselves to believe and trust in Christ's Holy Spirit, their spiritual core becomes the vehicle for healing and transformation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><br /></span>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-26354691365671321132013-01-05T09:40:00.000-08:002013-01-05T09:40:50.773-08:00Why We Need A Christian Personality Theory<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There is a
Freudian personality theory, a Jungian personality theory, a
cognitive-behavioral personality theory. And now there is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>a Christian
personality theory</b></span>.</span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddYS9MBqJ8El0uIhVon5I3oAEPjIaAWNYwfvX8GxHAWTr-LPfX2PU0aqTFdVrrwdJuC7nu3pKrGSB6hMaZeq40cb4OMdevGuvXTvLWRXgOdItH179c4MiG0u9KzogiTzDD3ibZAI1og/s1600/Front-Cover-CPT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhddYS9MBqJ8El0uIhVon5I3oAEPjIaAWNYwfvX8GxHAWTr-LPfX2PU0aqTFdVrrwdJuC7nu3pKrGSB6hMaZeq40cb4OMdevGuvXTvLWRXgOdItH179c4MiG0u9KzogiTzDD3ibZAI1og/s1600/Front-Cover-CPT.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Compass
personality theory offers a Christian approach to personality and relationships
that is anchored in a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>biblical worldview</b></span>, informed by <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>personality research</b></span>, and
applied to the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>understanding of self, others, and God</b></span>.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Compass
theory describes human beings through the term <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>interpersonal selfhood</b></span>, a term
that unites the essence of individual persons with their common humanity, a
term that preserves the singularity of personality while reflecting the
plurality of social existence, a term derived from <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the Trinity as three persons
in one God who created humankind in their image</b></span>. Thus, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>human beings derive
their personhood and interpersonal orientation from God</b></span>, who is “a living person
whose nature defines the meaning of personhood” (cf. Nah 1:4-5).</span> </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
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<style> </style></div>
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<style> </style></div>
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<style></style><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">God exists as
the transcendent and sovereign Creator of all that is: “The Lord our God, the
Lord is one!” (Deut 6:4). Yet the plurality of God’s Being is revealed by the
use of the plural pronoun, elohim, in the Genesis narrative of creation: “Then
God said, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness’” </b></span>(Gen
1:26). Further, God has disclosed his personality and interpersonal nature
through Jesus Christ, the God-person, and through the social Trinity—<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit</b></span>—who are historically and progressively revealed in the
biblical narrative.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLe57Z3u2HD0yH_mri9kCpQEuhowCwYz3jYHvLHhwD9uWyBwCEI_YE9A4lW8UZKFbI9RzPJ5LtTne-iUWrlxxOaWss1iRtCNzSwsP0gRD1otPiLcys4EwfhcLD6aw4Xk1kRFmb3xWpA/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXLe57Z3u2HD0yH_mri9kCpQEuhowCwYz3jYHvLHhwD9uWyBwCEI_YE9A4lW8UZKFbI9RzPJ5LtTne-iUWrlxxOaWss1iRtCNzSwsP0gRD1otPiLcys4EwfhcLD6aw4Xk1kRFmb3xWpA/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because Jesus
voluntarily descended from the Godhead to assume human nature, he relates to
all humanity. His death accomplished the atonement for sin that reconciles
persons to God and one another. At his resurrection he declared on behalf of
every person, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>“I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God”</b></span> (Jn 20:17). </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Because Jesus
is himself God, sharing with the Father and Holy Spirit the interpersonal
selfhood of God’s essence, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ mediates the Lord’s actualizing purpose for
human personality</b></span>, infusing those who trust in him with the power of
personality transformation, power imparted not through esoteric teaching,
ethical striving, or religion per se, but <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>through an individual’s own human
nature, personality, and connection to Almighty God. </b></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0MAC7XaVjHHqc9PxwzDyiV52WovlC5DY-yvaGis5A6AzP5f-FWGhNpKCGAKGTTrntFI1jlIW3ozIIaFbcr9jbOv39euoK3hRGwutdKusYTCK4WjxhSmVuWO839TejTuEtNTYGge-iwg/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0MAC7XaVjHHqc9PxwzDyiV52WovlC5DY-yvaGis5A6AzP5f-FWGhNpKCGAKGTTrntFI1jlIW3ozIIaFbcr9jbOv39euoK3hRGwutdKusYTCK4WjxhSmVuWO839TejTuEtNTYGge-iwg/s1600/images-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Human
psychology is not foreign to Christ because he invented it. Human personality
development is not irrelevant to God, because <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God’s personality gives infinite
significance to human personality.</b></span> Human community is not alien to God, because
he delights in it, reflecting as it does the Trinitarian community. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>When joined
together in Christ, human psychology, personality, and community find actualizing
fulfillment</b></span>, as Jesus foresaw in his earthly prayer to the Father. “I have
given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in
them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know
that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (Jn 17:22-23).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christ
actively engages those who invite him with the greatest challenge they can
know: to develop their <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>thoughts and feelings, sensation and perception,
learning and memory, motivation and intentionality</b></span>—with the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>presence of God in
their personality</b></span>. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_P4Z3ujr-t6reANuHjoAG9Yysr1eFuDn2vPPkpxhy9Y8juvqzXq2YlZFXgulPu4a5oD_ubCf2uI2tgCFAZbbh2dLoLS5cYoija1IUK45SDBAlOOhggIa0yyZ59Deo0nElxE9UnYJBSA/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_P4Z3ujr-t6reANuHjoAG9Yysr1eFuDn2vPPkpxhy9Y8juvqzXq2YlZFXgulPu4a5oD_ubCf2uI2tgCFAZbbh2dLoLS5cYoija1IUK45SDBAlOOhggIa0yyZ59Deo0nElxE9UnYJBSA/s1600/images-2.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Since the Trinity radiates supreme health in their unity as
God and their relationship to humanity, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Jesus provides the standard for
assessing personality health among human beings,</b></span> not just theoretically, but as
the ontological foundation for compass personality theory.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For more, read:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY THEORY:</span></b></i></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHRISTIAN-PERSONALITY-THEORY-Compass-Humanity/dp/0557196671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261889943&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b>A SELF COMPASS FOR HUMANITY</b></i></span></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-53969732779521423902012-12-29T09:55:00.001-08:002013-03-28T15:32:06.221-07:00God Gave You A Mind, Heart, Body, & Spirit. Why?<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-indent: 0in;">
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--</style><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">God gave you a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>human nature</b></span> -- a mind and heart, body and spirit -- to grow closer to him.</span></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Human Mind</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The mind houses <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>cognition</b></span>, where people think about their life experiences,
store past learning, plan for future contingencies, and make choices about
whether or not they seek God as an intimate companion. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9NnxpxASqwx4dY-Csl7FHT1uhL9RsTpRp6UxGMjTF2zAPfKZ2J7V2iarDiWfRrbIyK_gXhWX3WKPjXbBCCV5BVOMwR77OJ_JSg71sqrYNambes93yTF7mSJbdNwxfTzt4eZ2BDQeFQ/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG9NnxpxASqwx4dY-Csl7FHT1uhL9RsTpRp6UxGMjTF2zAPfKZ2J7V2iarDiWfRrbIyK_gXhWX3WKPjXbBCCV5BVOMwR77OJ_JSg71sqrYNambes93yTF7mSJbdNwxfTzt4eZ2BDQeFQ/s1600/images-1.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For all who
seek a living relationship with the Trinity, the mind plays a crucial role, capable not
only of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>conversing</b></span> <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>with God</b></span>, but of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>understanding</b><b> God’s
self-disclosure</b></span> received through the Bible, God’s living and lively Word,
which conveys a historical record regarding God’s attributes and expectations
about people’s personalities and patterns of behavior. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">For good
reason Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Ro 12:2). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The pursuit of
God requires intellectual commitment, a hunger to know God interpersonally, and
a willingness to develop conceptual constructs in accord with the Word of God and in the person of Christ. To <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>think</b></span> about
God is a good thing, to <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>pray</b></span> to him even better, asking what matters to him,
and what his plans are for one’s life. This takes the discipline, mental focus,
and thoughtfulness that only the mind can bring. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0NwiuAkUhOhwnYencvJWfPWvqoO9OjWRVQmYyqK0RiLxBV8kXybe74WLFiWE6N8gAlLAc3EvzfkIUvaZAQoWW4U7iCqFdJ0lR5eHmNSlnyuy2gHmmwCHEEMxVBpeN8shB7MJfUxPpw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW0NwiuAkUhOhwnYencvJWfPWvqoO9OjWRVQmYyqK0RiLxBV8kXybe74WLFiWE6N8gAlLAc3EvzfkIUvaZAQoWW4U7iCqFdJ0lR5eHmNSlnyuy2gHmmwCHEEMxVBpeN8shB7MJfUxPpw/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span><b><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Human
Heart</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While the mind
plays a crucial role in self-understanding and perceiving enough about God to
trust in him, it is the heart, one’s <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>emotional attitude</b></span>, where God encounters
the person.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Whether it is God speaking through the prophets to the
Israelites or Christ speaking about
what really matters in a relationship with the Father, the heart holds high status in
the eyes of the Lord. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">“I will give
them <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>a heart to know me</b></span>, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will
be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart” (Jer 24:7).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Parents want
their children to love them. Spouses
want to give and receive love. Friends share love through their loyalty and
enjoyment of each other. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>The Trinity desires to experience heartfelt human love, and
wants persons to know and trust God's love for them.</b></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bYkM1Cry7ssw_H42Ll3KVdApd0z9aPZhLQQUQQweUN6CPlba67OJRytuSiiUrYAiqmPUlSTsL-hvf0Y7FykLrzHZbAi0pGlVhyofxdozsBIX0RX4cF5eqt95Gxz5qsqDP0sYtLgwEQ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5bYkM1Cry7ssw_H42Ll3KVdApd0z9aPZhLQQUQQweUN6CPlba67OJRytuSiiUrYAiqmPUlSTsL-hvf0Y7FykLrzHZbAi0pGlVhyofxdozsBIX0RX4cF5eqt95Gxz5qsqDP0sYtLgwEQ/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Carrying on a
relationship with God brings inclusion in the active love flowing between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Though it has received
little emphasis in the history of the Church, God is far more interested in
people feeling warmly connected to him than he is in all the rites and rituals
and rules combined—and not just connected by way of membership in the church,
but<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> interpersonally connected</b></span> to the Lord by way of attraction, excitement,
curiosity, delight, and celebration. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Jesus
experienced John as the beloved disciple precisely because John more than all the rest
cared for Jesus, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>treasuring the time they could spend together</b></span>, the many talks
they shared, the good times and frightening times they walked through together
as friends, including the Last Supper, where John, alone among the disciples,
rested his head on Christ’s shoulder, and at the cross, where Jesus entrusted
his mother Mary to John’s tender, faithful care.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The sharing of
one’s emotions with God is not limited to love, but within that love,
encompasses occasions of frustration, confusion, depression, irritability,
complaint, anguish, insecurity, anxiety, loneliness, and even doubt. God, for
his part, never turns a deaf ear or tries to change the subject in order to cut
short a person’s cathartic release. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>The Lord draws especially near when one is
processing and ventilating human emotion</b></span>, knowing that some feelings are
crucial to express before gaining a larger perspective. David, the Psalmist, a
man after God’s own heart, knew this well.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Human Body</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">God views the
human body as good. He created it. He wants people to cherish it. “Do you not
know,” Paul says, “that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit</b></span>, who is in
you, whom you have received from God?” (1 Cor 6:19). The human body—whose
tangible bone and tissue, muscle and sinew, brain and spinal cord, central and
autonomic nervous systems—is home to that mystery called the human spirit,
something that scientists can never explain. Paul declares that the body and
spirit are raised together in a personal resurrection that transfigures the corruptible
biological body into an incorruptible one like Jesus Christ’s (1 Cor 15:39-44;
Ro 8:23).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Yet persons
are called by God to <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>live in their bodies in the here and now</b></span>: touching,
tasting, seeing, hearing, moving, dancing, making love, playing sports,
walking, running, swimming, exercising, eating, drinking; using one’s hands to
express caring, write a poem, create a science experiment, or fold in prayer;
lifting one’s arms to embrace another with a hug, carry a load of groceries,
shovel snow, or praise the Lord: surely reason to celebrate the body—as does
the Son of Man during his time on earth. </span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJs0xKduZoltJT8MiSSyw9rvAs3vkdZPz79DVJDlrNSjCQtK858XUyMofKMdjydETnlOE6QcwtBybSOdNylKeDkw-8CPZpDMl5y6Atsc4Ezu21D0d8hyphenhyphen52O0-siNBX1mzG188XNQes1A/s1600/images-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJs0xKduZoltJT8MiSSyw9rvAs3vkdZPz79DVJDlrNSjCQtK858XUyMofKMdjydETnlOE6QcwtBybSOdNylKeDkw-8CPZpDMl5y6Atsc4Ezu21D0d8hyphenhyphen52O0-siNBX1mzG188XNQes1A/s400/images-3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">As embodied
persons, human beings need techniques for reducing the distraction of body
tensions that mount in a stressful day. Teeth grinding, chest tightness,
migraines, or lower back pain need attention not only for bodily health, but
for finding the source of the underlying psychological stressors; not only for
mental health, but for the health of one’s relationship with the Trinity.
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Relaxing the muscles and deepening the breathing helps the Holy Spirit move
through the human body to inspire the human spirit</b></span>. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The Human
Spirit</span></b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The spirit
rounds out the fullness of human nature, the gift of God to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Homo sapiens</i>, a gift that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>differentiates
them from other mammals</b></span>, bringing a level of awareness, choice, and
responsibility unparalleled in the animal or plant kingdoms.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">While no field
of study can objectively account for the spirit within human existence, we can
say that when people are dispirited they are depersonalized, losing the sense
of meaning and purpose that would otherwise enliven them. This awareness
increases the trend for health professionals, including psychotherapists, to
respect and utilize <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>spirituality as a healing force</b></span> within human nature.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The human
spirit is not an ethereal, otherworldly affair, but rather a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>concrete, embodied
dimension of one’s grounding in Christ</b></span>, the “life-giving spirit” (1 Cor 15:45).
While persons can live apart from a relationship with God, they cannot abandon
his image within them as the true origin of their existence. They can repress
the spirit that comes as part of human nature, or distort it to such an extent
that their behavior is far removed from God’s will. But they cannot escape the
reality that God loves them and is calling them into his family.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWd9JeDCoV6QibMWLKp_0kAXMPPv4dcvVGa43wx1v_h3zpAmlbFdTinVTEiRZh-Gx_f4t59hhDmeTFudz7DYqvb3ZHh0xcqk1nIeOt6o1JnBKNjVRxJpUrJYdhwk3hDd3sNyA1CNlug/s1600/images-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIWd9JeDCoV6QibMWLKp_0kAXMPPv4dcvVGa43wx1v_h3zpAmlbFdTinVTEiRZh-Gx_f4t59hhDmeTFudz7DYqvb3ZHh0xcqk1nIeOt6o1JnBKNjVRxJpUrJYdhwk3hDd3sNyA1CNlug/s320/images-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Christ’s entry
upon this earth unites the human spirit with God the Holy Spirit, who in turn
assists the human spirit to form an intimate, inner connection with God, a connection
that generates a conscience, not in the sense of Freud’s rule-shackled
superego, but in the sense of a<span style="color: #741b47;"><b> living union with Christ</b></span>, an inspired yet
vulnerable capability to know and do the Father’s will. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In other words, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the
Holy Spirit is sent by the Father and Son to indwell the person, bearing
witness with their spirit that they belong to God</b></span>. “And because you are children,
God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’”
(Gal 4:6). Invited to serve God with the same intentionality that Christ
did and the Holy Spirit does, individuals can now learn to do so, not by
following the letter of the law, but because God is so loveable.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /><b>For more, read:</b></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://mazon.com/Trusting-Trinity-Compass-Psychotheology-Applied/dp/0557055792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261293346&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">TRUSTING IN THE TRINITY:</span></b></i></span></a></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<a href="http://mazon.com/Trusting-Trinity-Compass-Psychotheology-Applied/dp/0557055792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261293346&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial;">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY APPLIED </span></b></i></span></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JqzylYhJmUFhgJH-vyyltbUDaIZw8pkX0HPjBuUI_zxqq3CDAwArcGUfjKYJUJZOxWTJHf-Ua2-dVRYfP9V-AEa8C671gnlA7W7_P3PALeKHjytNeqkQcF1KgCNsW5HDcbXaN4vDaw/s1600/TRINITY-SILVER-TIFF-300x200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3JqzylYhJmUFhgJH-vyyltbUDaIZw8pkX0HPjBuUI_zxqq3CDAwArcGUfjKYJUJZOxWTJHf-Ua2-dVRYfP9V-AEa8C671gnlA7W7_P3PALeKHjytNeqkQcF1KgCNsW5HDcbXaN4vDaw/s400/TRINITY-SILVER-TIFF-300x200.jpg" width="273" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></b></i></span>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-69487458858339532712012-12-22T11:38:00.000-08:002012-12-22T11:38:24.650-08:00Childhood Origins of Personality Health or Dysfunction<style>
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<div class="ChapSubhead" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">Human
development is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>complex, yet comprehensible</b></span>. A human being’s biogenetic
heritage, psychosocial development, and spiritual propensity all influence the
ongoing development of personality and interpersonal relationships. </span></div>
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="ChapSubhead" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">There are
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>sensitive periods</b></span> for particular <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>developmental tasks</b></span> which emerge at particular
times during this process. Infants, for example, are genetically predisposed to
form an attachment bond with an adult in the first year of life. Yet whether or
not this developmental need is met depends upon the intricate interplay between
an infant’s biological predisposition, the style of parenting the infant perceives,
and the immediate socio-economic environment.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-weight: normal;">
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">How does
compass psychotheology regard the developmental process? By viewing personality and
interpersonal development as significantly influenced by the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>ratio of core
trust versus core fear</b></span> a child experiences. If core trust prevails, the child
grows increasingly capable of exercising compass choices. Love in rhythm with Assertion, Weakness with Strength. But if core fear outweighs core trust,
personality contracts, leaving the child fewer and more rigid behavioral
options. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcueeuYpNVoohU1QGK91PKmTuU2ysr9OJGvs0SYQ9jWg7CAErjarRZMupmlbSVdS7O4xvFssoxb0jRMhswCLHUyYtQuwGvL4nZ8S8uEsX9PqhUT8fYM3pbGxqmlYt1mIvA0bhgZAU7QQ/s1600/Fear+vs+Trust+SC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcueeuYpNVoohU1QGK91PKmTuU2ysr9OJGvs0SYQ9jWg7CAErjarRZMupmlbSVdS7O4xvFssoxb0jRMhswCLHUyYtQuwGvL4nZ8S8uEsX9PqhUT8fYM3pbGxqmlYt1mIvA0bhgZAU7QQ/s400/Fear+vs+Trust+SC.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center; text-indent: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Thus, in compass terms, the process of personality development is
framed within a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>continuum</b></span> that ranges from the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>actualizing balance of compass
living to the rigidities of trends or patterns</b></span>. All four compass points are
present as potentiality in children, since humans are made in the image of God.
</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; page-break-after: auto; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; page-break-after: auto; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The developmental tasks that
lead toward personality wholeness emphasize some compass points more than others,
depending upon the child’s particular stage of growth. In the first year of
life, in which <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>infants</b></span> and their parents enter a dance of budding intimacy, the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>L</b><b>ove compass point</b></span> is the primary locus for healthy intrapsychic and
interpersonal growth. As infants are cuddled, talked with, bathed, and changed
with caring consistency, they learn about love in sensorimotor ways, developing
a sense of trust from the care they receive.</span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; page-break-after: auto; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9H13KFCdrEceN4ZJj960w44-fAa64PzFZga6Uek8qNkRZPG-8rCvE7jtcM8QUVH6od3vZ71An27vZa_EMLp0EZXL574SsJa71yvjQ9eVu28A4sHAh6zo54Fc4atUo8bX_a9PUCWhFQ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc9H13KFCdrEceN4ZJj960w44-fAa64PzFZga6Uek8qNkRZPG-8rCvE7jtcM8QUVH6od3vZ71An27vZa_EMLp0EZXL574SsJa71yvjQ9eVu28A4sHAh6zo54Fc4atUo8bX_a9PUCWhFQ/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; page-break-after: auto; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But
there are potential risks for the development of secure attachment. Infants may
receive <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>infrequent, disengaged care</b></span> from a mother who is depressed and
withdrawn on the weakness compass point. Or, if an infant is <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>biologically predisposed
to irritability</b></span>, the parent may respond in kind, especially if the parent
already exaggerates the Assertion compass point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In
the second year, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>toddlers</b></span> explore the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Assertion compass point</b></span> by testing
interpersonal boundaries as they investigate their immediate world. Avidly
curious, they move to learn, searching out the nooks and crannies of their universe
with their bodies, hands, and mouths. If their parents set limits with
kindness, toddlers learn a rhythm between rudimentary self-expression and
restraint. They protest out of Assertion and acquiesce from Weakness, while
feeling grounded in the comfort of the Love compass point.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixR_vp6Gik9vSsj2v295MnrZytaYz7z_PQgnww19f5H_LuHFV4GoC2XJFIn7lCzRQcDU6YeBjGoBOgIPKIYr6k-ol1Q04fcRy-jAGoocuOk8JHpI0a-2pqu5tWjVfmjWYawaDprDflOg/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixR_vp6Gik9vSsj2v295MnrZytaYz7z_PQgnww19f5H_LuHFV4GoC2XJFIn7lCzRQcDU6YeBjGoBOgIPKIYr6k-ol1Q04fcRy-jAGoocuOk8JHpI0a-2pqu5tWjVfmjWYawaDprDflOg/s320/images-2.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Toddlers
will have difficulty developing this rhythm if parents <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>rigidly over-control </b></span>or
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>under-control</b></span> their exploration. Toddlers may respond by developing a
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>compensatory rigidity of their own</b></span>, moving into frequent temper tantrums or
inhibited fearful behavior. The situation can be complicated by the toddler’s
predisposition to shyness. The potential result is either Assertion or Weakness, exaggerated at the expense of a rhythm between the two.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Preschool
children</b></span> expand the context of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Assertion</b></span> to include the exploration of their
creativity. They test limits with newfound verbal skills. Increased social and
cognitive skill brings more sensitivity to their own and others' feelings as
well as more awareness of behavioral standards. One of the consequences is
short-term healthy guilt. In compass terms, children of this age are deepening
their experience of the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Weakness compass point</b></span>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxf8qQpzT4q-782j6L8MaymIVpKoJnq8fRawIkZYM1ngWBosEO94fyWJWB3PzqAQldnQnxPhLtSifLzQRN-EpUhfUCnR6E6qosrQdgou7jJErwcfYi_CzqWzJcVDTwN3ah85tBt6xtA/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHxf8qQpzT4q-782j6L8MaymIVpKoJnq8fRawIkZYM1ngWBosEO94fyWJWB3PzqAQldnQnxPhLtSifLzQRN-EpUhfUCnR6E6qosrQdgou7jJErwcfYi_CzqWzJcVDTwN3ah85tBt6xtA/s320/images-1.jpg" width="294" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But
if preschoolers are <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>frequently judged or punished</b></span>, or if they are primarily
ignored when rude or aggressive, then their behavior polarizes into incipient
withdrawn, dependent, or aggressive trends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; page-break-after: auto; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; page-break-after: auto; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">During the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>school age years</b></span>,
the heart of motivation lies in the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Strength compass point</b></span>. Children experience
a sense of competence when they read out loud, complete a science project, or
collect coins. These activities are fueled by the desire to accomplish
something concrete—an end product that compares favorably to the efforts of
their peers. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5_zVxFix8lY5Jkp37fPZMY6GsDR04QQD1VWjXyp9CA-tQRiOVW88SUUDktnfCnGLXjvPWtb5K8SXUOIy8GF24oniQtPS3R-8tyYm3Iywszud4n1dkqNaCa5n222gYM2fpjgG3_9agg/s1600/images-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjI5_zVxFix8lY5Jkp37fPZMY6GsDR04QQD1VWjXyp9CA-tQRiOVW88SUUDktnfCnGLXjvPWtb5K8SXUOIy8GF24oniQtPS3R-8tyYm3Iywszud4n1dkqNaCa5n222gYM2fpjgG3_9agg/s1600/images-4.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; page-break-after: auto; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText" style="line-height: normal; mso-pagination: widow-orphan; page-break-after: auto; tab-stops: .5in; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">When confidence grows in
rhythm with healthy Weakness, school age children develop a beginning ability
to assess their strengths, yet are realistic about their limitations. But if given
an <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>over-inflated sense of their capabilities</b></span>, school age children can
exaggerate the Strength compass point, feeling entitled to praise with little
effort. Or if they are treated as <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>incapable or unintelligent</b></span>, they can retreat
to the Weakness compass point, avoiding the needed risks for growth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Then
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>adolescence</b></span>, that period of life when the challenge of existential identity
awakens. This is not to imply that a child forms little sense of identity
before adolescence (or subsequently, for that matter). It means, rather, that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>identity
formation</b></span> takes precedence at this stage in order for the development of an
actualizing person to proceed.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><b> </b>Identity
is a developmental task that calls upon <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the entire Self
Compass</b></span>.</span>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The
increasing ability to think abstractly allows adolescents to construct
theoretical concepts. To see one’s self as separate from others. To begin the
search for ideals. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>To pursue dialogue with God about goals, friends, and work
choices.</b></span> In actualizing development, adolescents learn to know and prize
themselves as persons separate from their family. They cooperate with their
parents when appropriate, yet take stands if they feel their identity is at
risk. These growing abilities reflect the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>initial rhythmic relating of loving
assertion and caring strength</b></span>. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But
adolescents whose legitimate decisions are <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>frequently preempted by
over-controlling parents</b></span> can respond by rebelling, thus exaggerating the Assertion compass point through active or passive aggression. Or they can
respond by complying with the identity proscribed by the parent. They retreat
into the deflated Weakness of the avoidant pattern or distorted love of the
dependent.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QLXk6XBG3kl_DZ14WNfF2RpVo4pykWMw82fbpjZhs5fN7pLovBLy-6BadQ8e1WH2SKZ_0ZriYKduSeTLcG-IO-_W-d6sRfHOSs2nsqaVTLRhEdQRc9PcRN8qiysAtm013hAHm71T9A/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2QLXk6XBG3kl_DZ14WNfF2RpVo4pykWMw82fbpjZhs5fN7pLovBLy-6BadQ8e1WH2SKZ_0ZriYKduSeTLcG-IO-_W-d6sRfHOSs2nsqaVTLRhEdQRc9PcRN8qiysAtm013hAHm71T9A/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">By <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>young adulthood</b></span>, the developmental focus becomes
the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>search for intimacy</b></span>. Young adults on an actualizing path give love to
intimate others. And they seek to receive it. They experiment with immersing
themselves in another person while preserving their own identity. But few
actually experience love in dynamic rhythm with assertion, and strength in
balance with humility. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In reality, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the majority of young adults function
with a partial Self Compass</b></span>. Rigid responses are congealing into trends or
patterns. If the response is aggressive, then one refutes love by insulting or
arguing with those who try to offer it. If controlling, one strives for
perfection to earn love, yet one’s judgmental behavior damages others' esteem.
If dependent, one sacrifices one’s identity to people-pleasing neediness. If
withdrawn, one pulls back from love, seeing intimacy as too dangerous a risk. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">If left unchecked, the consequences of these
imbalanced responses replace a sense of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>intimacy with God and others</b></span> with a
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>growing isolation, even alienation</b></span>.</span>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">By <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>adulthood</b></span>, the developmental initiative centers
on <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>participation in community</b></span>. If the actualizing process prevails, the life of
an adult reflects the LAWS of personality and relationships in one’s work,
family life, and interest in the common good. </span></div>
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<div class="BOOKSSTYLE" style="line-height: normal; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0in;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana;">It is as if every adult needs to
revisit the developmental tasks of 1) forming attachment bonds with others, 2)
asserting one’s identity and individual differences, 3) handling vulnerability
and anxiety without undue stress, and 4) developing esteem for self and others.</span></b></span></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-69437612964845875232012-12-15T08:08:00.000-08:002012-12-15T08:08:54.323-08:00Three Ways to Keep Christianity Simple<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Have you ever wondered as a Christian believer how to keep your faith simple and effective over all the years of your life? Have you wondered <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>how to keep your first love for Christ alive</b></span> in spite of all the cultural, financial, and psychological pressures of modern life? </span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I'm going to share three insights that I hope are as meaningful to you as they have been for me in keeping your personal walk with Jesus <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>zestful and focused</b></span>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">1. Keep in mind that the core teaching of Christianity has to do with the Triune God: <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit</b></span>. This is a great mystery and we ought to feel no shame in receiving it as a gift of divine revelation, rather than a product of our own rational deduction of what we think God could or should be. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Other world religions have core beliefs about God that must also be accepted through faith and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>not rationally deduced</b></span> from experience. For instance, Hinduism professes to believe in a million gods, whereas Buddhism teaches that there is no personal God at all. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">So when the Bible shows us the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit each acting as fully God in different historical situations, while existing together as One God, we do well to make this a <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>primary building block</b></span> of our view of reality. This teaching of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the Trinity</b></span> is especially meaningful to me as a theologian-psychologist because it answers so many important questions about humanity's existence and God's existence; how they are similar and how they differ.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We know from anthropology, psychology, and sociology that humans do not live successfully in isolation. And from your practical experience you know that those people who are <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>loners do not do well in life</b></span>. They become depressed, develop no social skills, and over time lose even the ability to converse meaningfully. There are two mental disorders that lead to this condition, known as the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>avoidant</b></span> personality disorder and the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>schizoid </b></span>personality disorder. In both conditions individuals <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>isolate</b></span> themselves from others, and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>hide</b></span> in the margins of life, work, and civilization. Before long, their emotions shrivel up and their cognition becomes bleak and barren. Their spirit dies within them, and even their bodies look forlorn and forsaken.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33gDcsn1sv_kh9L3-uppZRvfozrldRyYSFcH2xaStATfFIa9mlmaSDLoLP2wDEbVJGdFdtM6IZtR3Njo0HKId6S5VJinTa7n3ds7JunrMP533Yu0rokRZBIA5-3aWmCa8W84YBZfkDQ/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33gDcsn1sv_kh9L3-uppZRvfozrldRyYSFcH2xaStATfFIa9mlmaSDLoLP2wDEbVJGdFdtM6IZtR3Njo0HKId6S5VJinTa7n3ds7JunrMP533Yu0rokRZBIA5-3aWmCa8W84YBZfkDQ/s320/images-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Looking back at what the Word of God teaches us, however, offers a remedy. God declared way back in Genesis, during the foundational epoch of an ancient civilization, that <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>it is not good for persons to live alone</b></span>. Why? Because, from God's point of view He has created them for friendship, fellowship, love, empathy, communication, communion, trust, and lifelong interpersonal learning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In other words, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>just as God Himself is an interpersonal Trinity, so we are made in His image as interpersonal selves.</b></span> Whatever else we are called to know or to do, we can never get away from the universal calling to become meaningfully involved with others as God is and does.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Knowing this keeps your life simple in this way: you dedicate yourself to become a lifelong student of <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>personality development and social communication</b></span>, so that you're always gaining greater facility in meeting, talking to, caring for, and living together with friends, acquaintences, and family members. This calling to caring relationships won't end with your personal death, but is resurrected with your body and personality for eternal pursuit in heaven.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Think of how both in the Bible and today <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>God is always involved in relationships</b></span> — perceiving, speaking, listening, caring, confronting, feeling, thinking, and acting. And you are invited to do the same!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGOxNeJZ-39LmH16qKYkbYB8zzZKVzCTKVe4j48i4pdTRinCvfUyKvyASk65EBVW5YkQsGk_cqcF5netWFr0EVZ4HzJs3BKpg08YDwI5V5hYQCVd_5Xy7g5kTPo0Ug4ZbIy048T2DBg/s1600/Jesus+&+Guy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijGOxNeJZ-39LmH16qKYkbYB8zzZKVzCTKVe4j48i4pdTRinCvfUyKvyASk65EBVW5YkQsGk_cqcF5netWFr0EVZ4HzJs3BKpg08YDwI5V5hYQCVd_5Xy7g5kTPo0Ug4ZbIy048T2DBg/s320/Jesus+&+Guy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">But you can forsake your calling in Christ altogether by insisting so vehemently on your own selfish ways that you <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>separate yourself</b></span> from God and spend eternity in hell.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Instead, why not spend your life <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>drawing ever closer</b></span> in your thoughts and feelings, sensations and spirit, to the living Triune God, and through God's love for others, to them as well. Why not treat even strangers or newcomers as potential new friends? God does, or else he never would have chosen you while you were yet His enemy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2. <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Make the Bible, God's personal revelation of who He is and what He expects from you, the foundation of your life.</b></span> That means reading it many times through, on your own or in a Bible study group, all the while you are going through school, working at a job, or raising a family.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtn3X0Btu72dDlzs7ZfgGA9ZAJlVx2NoD5p8mKb8SlKA00G3-Sn14m0tDrUd8H5t_O8-M3o9QQPFqfdohAozrFPZB2Se6Y_vbcuzXzPTCcx9TqVqlpkr6ZSZwnoNKUDqO8t8v9TnJtQ/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMtn3X0Btu72dDlzs7ZfgGA9ZAJlVx2NoD5p8mKb8SlKA00G3-Sn14m0tDrUd8H5t_O8-M3o9QQPFqfdohAozrFPZB2Se6Y_vbcuzXzPTCcx9TqVqlpkr6ZSZwnoNKUDqO8t8v9TnJtQ/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You will no doubt run up against many human opinions, some of them from very smart people, who will contradict what you learn and believe in Scripture. But <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>where were they when God laid the foundation of the Cosmos</b></span>? When He set the stars in heaven and created the fish in the ocean? When He made the thousand types of butterflies, and formed them to emerge as delicately winged and beautifully colored creatures out of former worms?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Recently a person emailed me to say he had read a Bible verse in his daily devotional that reinforced just what he was in the process of doing with his relationships:</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
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<span class="text"><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Don’t lie to each other, for you have
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds</b></span>.</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> <span class="text"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Put on your new
nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him"</b></span> (Col 3:9-10).</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">3. Many atheistic scientists and pseudo-philosophers have been quite enamored with themselves during the short time their enfleshed skeletons walk around, and they make grand pronouncements about God, truth, and meaning. But <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>far greater heed should be paid to Jesus Christ</b></span>, the Son who was sent by the Father from heaven to teach us about God, truth, and the meaning of life. Don't let His voice from the New Testament or His Spirit whom He sends to indwell you, get lost in the shuffle. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn 14:6)."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It's amazing how well you can do in keeping your first love for Christ, and developing a humble spirit for learning the Word of God, by just <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>placing the Trinity, the Bible, and the love of Christ for you at the center of your consciousness</b></span>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And if you need a little more encouragement, I invite you to read the <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Compass Series </b></span>books that my wife and I have provided for fellow Christians or those interested in the Christian faith. In fact, when you read our words, we feel a family feeling toward you, a bond that originates in the Trinity and is passed to us on earth. You are why we write, and we always pray that our concepts are just what you are hoping to find.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">May I say, since it's that time of year, <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Merry Christmas</b></span> to you, and <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>may God the Father, Son, and Spirit draw very close to you in the coming year!</b></span></span></div>
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Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-42686421548338385852012-12-08T10:34:00.003-08:002012-12-08T10:34:38.478-08:00The Narcissist, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">What goes on in the mind of the Narcissistic Boaster?</span>
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I wait for you to admire me, to reflect back to me my
astuteness. Accomplishments. Attractiveness. I am quite irresistible, you know.</span></b></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And because my essence emanates these extraordinary
qualities, it will take no effort on my part before you recognize them.</span></b></span> <br />
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<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And applaud me. Compliment me. Orient your attention on
me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b></span></div>
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Me.</span></b></span> <br />
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</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">If you try to steal my glory, you will find yourself
eclipsed.</span></b></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">After all, it is I with whom you are competing.</span></b></span></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">With <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>omnipotent self-assurance</b></span>, Boaster patterned persons
follow in the footsteps of their namesake, the Greek god Narcissus, who
according to legend, fell in love with his own reflection in a pool.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdSLM2DO_tr-ATEuoJ4chddJ-HGO1mdrU0taSEK9m4MsuAgCznehNcIq-okqX6g49PExLMcxVoT6AZdSP5qKiSJ9e8jF5zsXnPIz0Fh_Zg3XUdGOCUXgFxaxPcBPEcMDCyeh4_uiVvA/s1600/Narcissus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHdSLM2DO_tr-ATEuoJ4chddJ-HGO1mdrU0taSEK9m4MsuAgCznehNcIq-okqX6g49PExLMcxVoT6AZdSP5qKiSJ9e8jF5zsXnPIz0Fh_Zg3XUdGOCUXgFxaxPcBPEcMDCyeh4_uiVvA/s320/Narcissus.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Paul understood the Narcissistic pattern</b></span>. Of his years as Saul of Tarsus, Paul wrote: “I was so
enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and
shoulders above my peers in my career” (Gal 1:13-14). </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Christ was
unimpressed</b></span>. On the road to Damascus, Saul was confronted and rendered
helpless; made temporarily blind, in fact. This was followed by three years in
the desert. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqZZUwRYrXwX-ftYrDHaX3WBPR4bG-MA3vn7-7QF8ewtfXDP8T_MwpjRO4wywox1fF4mR6C5MP_eXqIo7BEIhi5HJ2v0T6USzTIea0N491ijzcwz7KeOJAI_CR6vwnFqr1cjBmpRlVw/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqZZUwRYrXwX-ftYrDHaX3WBPR4bG-MA3vn7-7QF8ewtfXDP8T_MwpjRO4wywox1fF4mR6C5MP_eXqIo7BEIhi5HJ2v0T6USzTIea0N491ijzcwz7KeOJAI_CR6vwnFqr1cjBmpRlVw/s320/images-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">And then…Paul writes, “If we live
by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit,” Paul says. “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Let us not
become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another</b></span>” (Gal
5:25-26).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">These are the
words of one who <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>chose to face and surrender his Narcissistic pattern to God</b></span>. Of one whose
core fear was being replaced by actualizing trust. “For God is my witness, whom
I serve in my spirit in the gospel of his Son” (Rom 1:9). <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>The Spirit is the
source of Paul’s serving God through his spiri</b></span>t. Paul’s spiritual core is
yielded to God, flowing with the rivers of living water in an actualizing
rhythm of weakness and strength, love and assertion. Paul did not secure such a
life in the Spirit; rather, he risked realizing it imperfectly, as does anyone
who grows in Christ.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqMR1-lobz9jPMkAPFaDMG_DUsvn78A2SLAukMEAwesms_BdY9lTzkCAQzsFCicHPoop-duPyHiS2CAELpsLD5Qfa8q7RhoBEfrDtN9r7xqU0PeyO_2XOTgdMtMwdlR3sMoy4Ow4GBw/s1600/By+The+Spirit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqMR1-lobz9jPMkAPFaDMG_DUsvn78A2SLAukMEAwesms_BdY9lTzkCAQzsFCicHPoop-duPyHiS2CAELpsLD5Qfa8q7RhoBEfrDtN9r7xqU0PeyO_2XOTgdMtMwdlR3sMoy4Ow4GBw/s400/By+The+Spirit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Risking
trust i<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>n the Lord. How? “<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>The Spirit
assists us in our weaknesses</b></span>; for we do not know for what we should pray as we
ought, but the Spirit makes appeal (in our behalf) with inarticulate groanings”
(Rom 8:26-27). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span>Fear is still
present. Anxiety still spirals in wormy wisps within one’s spiritual core. But <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>the Spirit
employs the vulnerability one feels</b></span>, gently handling the enormity of one’s weaknesses,
and intercedes on one’s behalf. A person prays with the visceral immediacy of
one’s whole being—mind and heart, body and spirit—by enlisting the help of the
Holy Spirit, who understands the mind of God. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Spirit’s
aim is not to eliminate a person’s humanity, but to work through it with the
“<span style="color: #741b47;"><b>water of rebirth and renewal</b></span>” (Titus 3:5). For it is the Holy Spirit who circumcises
the heart
so that the righteousness required by the Torah is fulfilled by those who walk
in the Spirit (cf. Rom 8: 4).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6k9P81k2VZMMeht43I2b2lHYyD2Tdq7QlFNueQT7nmaKKAHCL0yy1ZWcVvrmoZXl1n94CTFOdXkWqNb6WLNxu0-kwZ75IZOxqTX8IFMS-H6XGzZO0xck1cVtQQ3lAu7Frc9UNA194g/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK6k9P81k2VZMMeht43I2b2lHYyD2Tdq7QlFNueQT7nmaKKAHCL0yy1ZWcVvrmoZXl1n94CTFOdXkWqNb6WLNxu0-kwZ75IZOxqTX8IFMS-H6XGzZO0xck1cVtQQ3lAu7Frc9UNA194g/s320/images.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The result of
such surrender? <span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Receiving as gift a growing core trust in the Spirit</b></span>. Trust
that erases core fear sufficiently for one’s personality to work for good; to
be conformed by that same Spirit into one’s unique image of Christ. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #741b47;"><b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As the
spiritual core is opened to the cleansing flow of the rivers of
living water, the core grows more free from the tyrannies of one’s narrowness
(cf. 1 Cor 3:18-23).</span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">For more, read:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY: </span></span></i></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Compass-Psychotheology-Psychology-Theology-Really/dp/1847281788/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b/103-7688834-1303849" target="_blank"><i><span style="font-size: large;">WHERE PSYCHOLOGY and THEOLOGY REALLY MEET </span></i></a></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1736567129519399347.post-61049314537567689362012-12-01T19:45:00.002-08:002012-12-02T12:53:04.831-08:00The Inner Life of The Christian Trinity<style>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfMUe7G_1zEot4DHukoWkwyxY4MY8oFAw83NHpuzEaCx6jsMGMJmyc0WTTcIaI7ChuVaQuBPsT7Ui-ERoRCJM34HY8gDW9KlLmLCEAFFE_jrvivE-6QY57q8eax6zMne0BOCAZZp-xA/s1600/New+Intradivine+SC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">
</a><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Christ’s personality
both shows how human beings are called to live and provides insight into all
three persons of the Trinity, who are One in creating and redeeming humanity, <b><span style="color: #741b47;">inviting people to develop whole personalities and loving
relationships, where loneliness and hostility are diminished, and where
individuals learn to express their uniqueness in as original a manner as the
Lord’s</span></b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 13.5pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While
God may be said in a certain sense to remain inscrutable and beyond human
knowing, nevertheless, in another sense, because of the Trinity’s direct
appearance and involvement in human history, <b><span style="color: #741b47;">it
is possible to house the Self Compasses of each Trinity member within the unity</span></b><span style="color: #741b47;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span></span><b><span style="color: #741b47;">of
one Godhead</span></b>. This arrangement, for diagrammatic purposes,
illustrates the unity of the Triune God, while at the same time differentiating
between the personal identities of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.</span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfMUe7G_1zEot4DHukoWkwyxY4MY8oFAw83NHpuzEaCx6jsMGMJmyc0WTTcIaI7ChuVaQuBPsT7Ui-ERoRCJM34HY8gDW9KlLmLCEAFFE_jrvivE-6QY57q8eax6zMne0BOCAZZp-xA/s1600/New+Intradivine+SC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAfMUe7G_1zEot4DHukoWkwyxY4MY8oFAw83NHpuzEaCx6jsMGMJmyc0WTTcIaI7ChuVaQuBPsT7Ui-ERoRCJM34HY8gDW9KlLmLCEAFFE_jrvivE-6QY57q8eax6zMne0BOCAZZp-xA/s400/New+Intradivine+SC.jpg" width="356" /></a> <br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The individual Self Compasses show that <b><span style="color: #741b47;">Trinity members relate through rhythms of communication
and communion, the same way that they call human beings to relate to one
another and to the Trinity</span></b>. If one only looks for it, the Scriptures
from Genesis to Revelation pulse with examples of God as a supremely innovative
agent, brimming with creative motivation and action. Conceptualizing God’s
personality as three Self Compasses within a larger circle of the divine self
does not imply that God is containable, but rather implies an interpersonal
selfhood that allows for infinite variations of self-expression and
interpersonal exchanges among Trinity members who are nevertheless one God.</span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">God’s inscrutability lies primarily in the fact
that no one can predict what the Lord will say, think, or do next, other than
in the compass sense that <b><span style="color: #741b47;">whatever God does will
not contradict the health and wholeness of his being</span></b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The larger circle encompassing the Trinity portrays
the mystery of God’s diversity-in-unity, a circle that is not a physical
barrier, but rather symbolizes <b><span style="color: #741b47;">the one God who
is all in all</span></b>. The back-and-forth arrows connecting each
Trinitarian member to the others indicate how each Person exists <b><span style="color: #741b47;">in everlasting rhythmic presence</span></b> to the other
two, empowering the exchange of ideas, conversations, and emotions within an
overarching essence of love, expressed through caring self-transcendence that
respects, delights in, knows, and wills the highest good of one another.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<b><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Georgia;">Some such encounters between Trinity
members are recorded for our benefit in Scripture</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia;">. At Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River, the Father
says, communicating his own point of view and self-identity, “This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” He is not talking to himself the way a
person might self-reflect, but actually addressing the Son with sincere words
that convey the depth of his love for Jesus. At the same moment, the Holy
Spirit descends upon Jesus, anointing him with power for ministry, and then
drives him into the wilderness where Christ must stand alone for a season,
firming up his identity as the Son while learning to rely completely upon the
Father and Spirit in preparation for his public ministry.</span></div>
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKxVHzcqK1cYqce5zq9-4ABNi3YcA_oISO5iJP7ukFAMk3NhgmYQTi0ih85vs5rUF17oo8r2HSCQo34rZMzatn095aegxxqDsmhD1wE3fl71ThRP50ifAVcMx8krjeRmXXuBS3mXlhQ/s1600/images-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbKxVHzcqK1cYqce5zq9-4ABNi3YcA_oISO5iJP7ukFAMk3NhgmYQTi0ih85vs5rUF17oo8r2HSCQo34rZMzatn095aegxxqDsmhD1wE3fl71ThRP50ifAVcMx8krjeRmXXuBS3mXlhQ/s320/images-1.jpg" width="226" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Compass psychotheology asserts that this dynamic
interplay of the three Persons who are one God has always distinguished God’s
essence, and will always characterize God’s relationality (theologians call
this the immanent Trinity, meaning what God is outside of human history). Most
importantly from the human perspective, this interplay creates a trustworthy
basis for the Trinity presence as <b><span style="color: #741b47;">infinitely
caring and intentionally creative dialogue partners</span></b> across the
temporal span of human history (the economic Trinity, which means God’s
self-revelation in space, time, history, and personality).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Now note how the Trinity diagram focuses on the
phrase “I AM.” Of all the names attributed to God in the Bible—the Lord of
Hosts, the Lord God Almighty, the Holy One of Israel—there is none more
revealing than “I AM,” for when God reveals this name to Moses (Ex 3:14), and
Christ applies this name to himself (Jn 8:58), God means that <b><span style="color: #741b47;">his existence as the “I AM” transcendent Subject is the
ultimate ground of being that renders all else contingent and temporal</span></b>.</span></div>
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<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKt-2rIOagM3H0oVzejPOcIC1QsZAZRO98_XcGo2GCKdi8ErOSF-2MNFDVSU8oFlXG39KNnSpaZvPE5R4v4GHtLyLAayXhVOCoJ59Z-r47XJxOS20DXo-GKKlInHLPUed33Y6VwCxnvA/s1600/images-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKt-2rIOagM3H0oVzejPOcIC1QsZAZRO98_XcGo2GCKdi8ErOSF-2MNFDVSU8oFlXG39KNnSpaZvPE5R4v4GHtLyLAayXhVOCoJ59Z-r47XJxOS20DXo-GKKlInHLPUed33Y6VwCxnvA/s400/images-2.jpg" width="400" /></a> </div>
</div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">Finally, notice how<b><span style="color: #741b47;">
the “I AM” of each Trinitarian Person fully indwells the others</span></b>,
showing the interpenetration of freely willed devotion, each Trinity member’s
identity so secure, so engaged in self-transcendent love, that there is no
existence apart from being one God.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">In other words, each Person of the Godhead does not
consider self-identity and autonomy something to be grasped at or competitively
sought, but rather as foundational to <b><span style="color: #741b47;">adoring,
cherishing, and actualizing</span></b> the uttermost fulfillment of one
another.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;">The Trinity indwells one another non-invasively and
non-competitively, generating the perpetual glory of being one God, as Jesus
explains: “<b><span style="color: #741b47;">I have given them the glory that you
gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they
be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have
loved them even as you have loved me</span><span style="color: black;">”</span></b>
(Jn 17: 21-23).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;">For more, read:</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div>
<div class="COMPASSBOOKSTYLE" style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trusting-Trinity-Compass-Psychotheology-Applied/dp/0557055792/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261293346&sr=1-1" target="_blank"><i><b>TRUSTING IN THE TRINITY: COMPASS PSYCHOTHEOLOGY APPLIED</b></i></a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<br /></div>
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</div>
Dr. Dan Montgomeryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06342834383298292338noreply@blogger.com0