The Theological Foundation of it All

Here I plan on giving the primary theological basis upon which psychotheology is derived. This one verse is not wholly comprehensive and does not carry in it every attribute of the nature of God, but it will perhaps play the biggest part for our discussions here.

"God is love"
-- 1 John 4:8 & 16

This biblical assertion, unbeknownst by pop culture today is not a characterizing statement about the nature of a trait of God. This view superimposes the subjective love ideal of man onto an eternal wholly "other" being that our minds cannot comprehend in the first place. Rather, this statement is a call for humans to redefine the cultural love ideal based on the objective reality that is God as revealed by His Spirit in His Word.
This one statement is so crucial to the entire idea of who God is, how He works, how He relates to us, and how we realte to Him. It is in this statement that the Bible, the Gospel, and our Future Glory are fully realized. Let's explore:

As stated above, the statement does not say to man, "whatever your conceptualization is of love, that is what your conceptualization of God must be." It is natural for humans to do this regardless of the verse itself. It's how we were built. Study after study reveal that one's conceptualization of God is based primarily on the examples of love modeled to them by their parents. One's parents model love (or lack thereof), and through the intrinsic created mechanism of association between God and love, they link the two. They end up defining love and creating their expectation(s) of it based upon what their parents do or do not do.

Socio-cultural factors play a large part in this mechanism as well, as this association helps forms the necessary heuristics (mental shortcuts) humans require to survive. This makes the created mechanism not only of emotional and spiritual relevance, but also practical importance as it is also functional. God has built humans very specifically and my hope is that in this blog, I can show that no part is for one purpose, and no part is for no purpose. This includes your desires, your drives, your needs, and all the psychologically functional mechanisms we use to live life. All these have spiritual implications as well as practical ones.

So much more can be built upon that one truth, but it will at a later date, I assure you. I could base an entire blog on that one verse and its ramifications for humans, but here I feel it is prudent to use this merely as a foundation and launching pad to use for further future study. So, the foundation I want you to remember is this:

If saying "God is love" is meant to effect how we view love, it follows that this new view of love must be based upon God, his attributes, ways, and words. This means not only can we see how God loves and use that to see how we love, but, we can also see how God loves relationally and see how that effects how we view our relationships. Here are some basic tenets from which most of the rest of this blog will forever be based upon. This list is not comprehensive, it just contains the bigger ones:

-- If God is love, and we are not God, then we in and of ourselves don't know love or have love. This helps define love positionally. (1 John 4:8)
-- We are built to want and need this love we don't have. This helps define love eperientially. (Proverbs 19:22)
-- If God's ultimate manifestation of His love was not only in sending His son, but also in giving us the possible relationship in that, then, God 's love is further testified to by the nature of Christ's relationship with his Church (believers). This helps define love relationally. (1 John 4:10)
-- The love of God not only satisfies the angst of knowing we are not God and thus have not love (1 Corinthians 2:9), but it also creates a future hope and faith the rest of the satisfied Christian life is based upon, making God's revelation of love not only preeminent to but also greater than those other "Christian things" it produces (1 Corinthians 13:13) This defines love functionally and effectually.

* * *

Basically, theologically speaking, psychotheology is the study of God's image in man. God said in Genesis "Let us make man in our own image." Now, theologians have argued for centuries as to what extent this "image" goes. Some say it is the "self-determination of man" that is the main attribute of God's image in us. Others say the fact that we have a "spiritual side" is chracteristic of God's image in us. Still others say it is our reason. I believe "the image of God" in us stands for the standard to which we are designed to desire to live. Long story short, God's image in us tells us that the more we are like God (inasmuch as general attributes, desires, and outworkings thereof) the more we are who we are made to be and the more mentally and emotionally functional, healthy, and efficient we will be. If the "being like God" thing messes you up, then just substitute with "being like God in flesh, Jesus"; it is said he is our example for human living but he is also God, and Lord, though. We can't forget that.

So, in conclusion, the more we love like God, speak like God (using His words), desire what God desires, behave like Jesus, and draw near to him in order to do this, we will be more "psychotheologically" healthy and stable.

Next post: The Historical/Psychological Foundations of Psychotheolgy

As always, God Bless,
--Paul<><

Introduction to Paul Burkhart

I hope in this post to provide a framework to anyone that may read this as to the preconceived notions, dispositions, belief systems, and worldviews I am speaking from, as these are the necessary filters through which everything I say will pass through. I plan on using standardized categorizations to accomplish this so hopefully anyone that stumbles upon this blog will be able to get the proper perspective of me, no matter there preconceived notions. Before I get to that, though, I'll briefly be personal.

I am currently a student at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA. After this (of course, all this is God willing), I plan on pursuing a Masters of Psychology and/or Masters of Divinity. Other options are Masters in either Counseling or Marital and Family Therapy from a Seminary. Then, the plan is to return to VCU to earn my Doctorate of Counsleing Psychology. After that, I hope to take a stint as a missionary for a few years. Upon return, I'd like to start a corporation dealing with providing all facets of society with Psychological Services. This corporation will take a three-pronged approach to affecting society and culture in positive ways. The first is a contracting branch where different places will contract out our psychologists and therapists to provide various services such as crisis counseling in schools, managerial training for corporate managers, rehab programs for prison systems and so on and so forth. The second branch will be the counseling branch. This will be held at every central office with clear, easy to find pricing that will be low, and carry certain concessions for those with certain financial burdens. I want to make healthy psychological counseling available to all people, no matter race, class, social status, religion, or economic state. The offices will have individual, couples, family, and group therapy always available. The last branch will be a training hospital to help deal with more psychopathology and train p and coming psychologists in the skills necessary. This branch will hopefully be associated with nearby universities for internship opportunities and be a way that we could find promising therapists to bring into our company. This is my personal dream; on to the standardized big worded categorizations of myself . . .

When it comes to the "thinking perspectives", most people fall into one of three categories: philosopher, scholar, and scientist. Scientists need to prove things out in front of them in more concrete ways to draw conclusions. Scholars research what has been said and done before them in order to draw conclusions. Philosophers look at the world and through thinking and making connections draw conclusions. I am a philosopher-scholar. Philosopher, primarily as the bulk of this blog is dedicated to the conclusions I have seen, drawn out, applied, and seen connected in the world around me between the Bible and the human experience. Though this is my primary role, I am also a scholar to a certain extent. I have done (and continue to do) extensive research in the areas pertaining to psychotheology, first and foremost the "theology" part. I love the Bible, the Word of God, and know it has the answer to every human need and it has objectively expressed to us why we have those needs, what fulfills them, and how they get that way. In short, I feel I am a scholar of the Bible (in the ongoing verb sense, not "positionally" as if I am an expert) and have only become this way not from analyzing the Bible, but letting it analyze me. I also read other books. Many, many other books. These books help integrate the Word of God into the world around me in certain ways that helps in forming my ideas on psychotheology.

My philosophical perspective is Biblical Pragmatism. The easiest way to describe pragmatism is the view that "hey, whatever works, works." For example: What psychological perspective is correct? Which ever one "works"in therapy and explains the greatest amount of human behavior. Now, the "biblical" part comes in the fact that I have seen and I believe the Bible testifies to the fact that it is what "works" in this world. My pragmatism always seems to support my Bible. That is not my standard, it is just reality. I don't use my experience to validate the Bible; I use the Bible to validate my experiences. And you know what? That "works." Every psychological thing that I have seen that "works" I see is supported and validated in the Bible. I then use this to look and see what more the Bible says in the context of this specific truth and helps broaden the scope of the psychological truth I initially observed. Be it a new application, the reason why it works, a broader scope, or narrower focus, the Bible continues to astonish me as it shows me how to be a counselor and how people work.

Psychologically, I am a cognitive-behaviorist. I'll just say this now to get it out of the way. I believe most everything concerning the beliefs of Freud is fiction. It is only seen as "literature" in the psychological world, not fact. Before approaching this blog, remove all you may think you know about Freud; it will be of little use, application, or help to you at any point tin your life. More specifically, I consider myself a student of Dr. William Glasser and his theoretical perspective known as "Choice Theory," and its therapy component "Reality Therapy" as my choice perspectives, for more info on these topics, Google them or read a paper I wrote on Choice Theory compared to the most popular Marital Therapy used today. you can read that paper by clicking here.

Theologically, I historically come from a Southern Baptist background, but more recently, my theological doctrines have shifted somewhat. I consider myself a Reformed Evangelical Conservative-Charismatic Protestant. More specifically, I am a 5-point Calvinist, post-millenialist, old-earth theologian and believer in the present full workings of the Holy Spirit and that Salvation is given freely by God through faith alone in only Jesus and not of works. For more on these things, Google them, check out the links on the sidebar, or just read the Book of Romans. Better yet, just read your Bible. For those who know of John Piper's ministry I consider myself a strong Christian Hedonist. For those that haven't heard of John Piper, either find out what that phrase means on his website (www.desiringgod.org), or don't get hung up on it, just pass right by it.

I know this is long and very few will actually read it, but for the few that do, I thank you; and I hope, and pray, that it was an enlightening and fruitful journey through the necessary drudgery of presenting myself as open and honest and laid bare so everyone will know what is coming.

Next post, we will actually start getting into the meat of it all. I must warn you: some days may just be a little ditty, others may be an entire psychotheological treatise, I don't know. Just stick with me, as it is going to be good . . .

In Him always,
--Paul<>

Introduction to Biblical Psychology

Okay, so this site has been up for a while with no update whatsoever. Well, here it is. In this post, I desire to provide a brief introduction to what I want from this blog.

My goal is to use this blog to help formulate a systematic biblical integrated model of what I call "psychotheology": the study of God through the way he has formed the psychologies of human beings.

My hope is that this blog can later help give me a systematic approach to this topic that can then be turned into a book for later publication. As stated in the subtitle of this blog, the psychotheology of human beings will be studied in five broad categories: General psychology of humans, behavior, relationships, psychopathology, and psychological counseling. These will be studied using three perspectives.

The first is the internal perspective. From this view I hope to provide insites on the psychological make up of human beings independent of those entities without it and focus on the entities within it. From here philosophical topics may include: the source of right and wrong in the hearts and minds of humans, the desire for satiability and satisfaction, and how humans view themselves. Specifically psychological topics may include: psychopathology (orgins, duration, factors involved, treatment), Perception, Cognitive worldviews, self-"esteem", development, morality. In short, this will be studying how the human mind itself works.

Second is the human-relational perspective. As the name implies, its focus will be human psychology as expressed through interaction with other humans. Topics may include: Attraction, male-female psychology, aggression, marriage, divorce, societal roles, and race relations. From this perspective, the scope may perhaps be broadened to include some sociological analyses including politics, ethics, policing, welfare, warfare, and biblical opinions of afforementioned topics.

Lastly, but certainly not least is the deific-relational perspective. (By the way, on a side note; all of the little "names" and titles I am giving to these various topics and ideas, are open to change. I am opening this blog to all comments not only for commonets on my thougts, but even on the system used to present them, including the names.) As the name imlies, this will study psychotheology in the interaction of God and man. This will be explored through topics such as: conversion, sustained conversion (who does it, is it possible to lose), perception of God, worship, subsequent worldview changes after a conversion, self-fulfillment, view of self in light of God, loci of control, and prayer.

I hope to come up with a color-coded system where I can provide the topic to be discussed in the color of the category it falls in. The categories are the five found in the subtitle mentioned above:
-- General psychology of humans
-- Behavior
-- Relationships
-- Psychopathology
-- Psychological counseling

Each on of these will have a different color. For example, let's say the color for "Relationships" was blue. If I wanted to talk about divorce and its effects, the title of my post would be

Dicorce: ramifications and implications

I hope this piques the interests of those who venture here by accident or on purpose. I also hope this will be a long and fruitful journey that changes my life and the lives of others and will lead to healthier, happier, more God-glorifying living. Lastly, I hope this can be a place where beelievers and non-believers in the God of Christainity can come and share ideas, comments, concerns, argurments, or questions.

God has been forming these ideas in my mind for a long while now, and this is the forum He has led me to so as to express them effectively and efficiently.

On our next episode: I will give a brief summary of myself. What I have to say, the perspectives I come from saying it (both theological and psychological), why I think I have the right to say it, and why you should listen.

God bless.

--Paul<>