Friday, May 24, 2013

Psychology and Theology: The New Integration


To some, it is a scandalous position; for others, even worse…it is unreasonable. To propose, as compass psychotheology does, that psychology finds its purpose when grounded in the Trinitarian God. And that theology is distorted unless examined under the lens of psychology.

Further, compass psychotheology proposes that it is possible to summarize the God-human relationship with a two-word equation. An equation developed from the Biblical salvation narrative, asserting that human beings derive their essence as persons within the loving interpersonal field of the triune God. 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 communication and communion with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Existential Intimacy Equation

Compass psychotheology proposes that the following paradigm illustrates both the meaning of existence of persons and the existential intimacy possible between God and every human being.

 
Existential Intimacy

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, “I AM” (Ex 3:14, Jn 8:58). 

And that it is through God’s eagerness to share his essential Being that he urges each person (represented by the lower case “i am”) into a relationship of love and reciprocity. 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. “God lives in creation in a God-like way, and the world lives in God in a world-like way,” as Jurgen Moltman says.

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 one-on-one participation in intimate dialogue with individuals 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).

God initiates relationships with individuals that grow over time, modulated to the person’s level of maturity and God’s own desire for affiliation. 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.
 
But above all, God demonstrates his personal fidelity to individuals. When Jeremiah receives his call from the Lord, he is told: “Before I formed you from the womb, I knew you intimately” (Jer 1:5). The Hebrew word yada, “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).

Fellowship of Mutual Indwelling

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 potentiality, but requires voluntary cooperation 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. 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.

Jesus expresses this reality in his prayer for existential intimacy between the Father and those who will believe in him:
“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).
On the left side of the equation, “i am” is invited to abide in loving reciprocity with “I AM,” 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.

"i am" in Relationship with "I AM" 

Because God is their common Origin, all people possess the potential for responding to God and for carrying the fruit of that relationship into their daily lives (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 it is “i am” who risks emotional vulnerability when building a relationship with “I AM.” 

Habakkuk

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). 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.

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Thursday, May 9, 2013

How Compass Psychotheology Bridges the Diviseness within Christianity


Have you ever wondered about the many paradoxes embedded within Christianity? The greatest paradox is this: God's absolute, eternal, and transcendent Being stands apart from this present world, while at the same time God's historical, temporal, and immanent Becoming infuses the world and calls all human beings to know and love him.

Compass psychotheology 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 healing where there is presently disturbance and divisiveness.

God's Being & Becoming

On the one hand, there is the paradoxical tension we can characterize as the Fundamentalist/Progressive polarity. 

In the Fundamentalist view, the absolute truths of the Bible reveal God's Being 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. 

In the Progressive view, God's Becoming 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 social justice in every generation. One follows Christ by accepting the universal love of God for people, and seeking to live a compassionate life of service.

On the other hand, there is the paradoxical tension we can characterize as the Evangelical/Pentecostal polarity. 

From the Evangelical perspective, God's Being stands over against a sinful world and requires the evangelization of the nations, and the application of well-formed theologies that articulate doctrine and guide ethical choices. 

In the Pentecostal view, God's Becoming takes center stage, with a prime emphasis on the power of the Holy Spirit 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.

Compass psychotheology places these polarized traditions within the compass paradigm and offers the following interpretation.

Christianity Being & Becoming

Placing these two sets of polarities within the Compass Model allows each to form a rhythmic continuity with the other, yielding a dynamic synthesis that encompasses a continuum of truth, 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 embraces the truth in both camps and negates the untruth in these positions as well."

Thus, there lies within this compass paradigm a challenge for each of the four traditions: a challenge that each tradition both value its foremost contributions, while at the same time valuing the key contributions of the others.  

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. 

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.

In such a way, the paradox of God's Being and Becoming is honored within the Body of Christ, 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  '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."

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