Entwistle Integrative Approaches

Abstract
Historically, scientific and technological advancements have fueled debates among theologists and the scientific community; Entwistle explores these conflicts as well as how they have fed into the views and debates of current time with regard to psychology and Christianity in his book Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity. Through this text he seeks enlightenment, and answers to the doubts that the two disciplines can both exist, in concert, without the view that if one is correct the other must be incorrect. Entwistle starts his analysis by comparing and contrasting the ancient cities of Athens and Jerusalem, stating that both cultures have value to the history of human kind. The fundamental difference between these
I have left for extended periods for professional or academic ventures in the past but Vanessa and I both are deeply rooted in my parent’s home. Between December of 2008 and July of 2009 Vanessa lost a grandmother, two great grandmothers and a great grandfather. She was blessed with seven years of her life in which she was able to get to know the generation of people that she had come from. In 2005 her father moved in with his elderly mother and grandmother after his mother was diagnosed with breast cancer; shortly thereafter my maternal grandfather began to rapidly deteriorate, physically and mentally, at which time he moved in with us. Vanessa gained a great respect for the elderly as well as life experiences and knowledge one can only gain by exposure to older generations; however, these blessings came with lessons in illness and death and the real life challenge of coping with the sadness of end of life deterioration and the loss of loved ones. Vanessa understood that death was the inevitable end to life in the flesh, but she also understood that her loved ones were starting a new life in heaven. Instead of displaying exclusively classic signs of grief that would normally be seen in a child her age under the circumstances, she approached coping with a bitter sweet perspective that
He posits convincing evidence that the two disciplines can exist in harmony; however, he does not largely consider the idea of people integrating their spiritual and secular lives. Many people value their spirituality as a private dimension of their personal being and may view a clinical as too public for comfortable discussion of such beliefs and values. (Eck, 2002) The integration of these disciplines meets friction from many sources. (Entwistle, 2010) While the passive acceptance of one discipline by the other is a step in the right direction the need for active interdisciplinary study is greater than ever. Where does the burden rest with regard to active promotion of change and growth? Is it the result of the psychological exclusion of spirituality with regard to scientific study or is it the rejection of scientific principles by the church? The answer to the latter is not as important as the fact that in order to see growth in the professions that serve to advise and aid individuals in improving even the most personal aspects of their lives, change must be initiated somewhere. In a perfect world Entwistle’s theme that “all truth is God’s truth” would nicely apply to a worldly setting. He does consider some of the obstacles to the application of interdisciplinary practice, but