Some Core Concepts from Entwistle Relating to Integration
(Brian Campbell, 2016)
Below please find a list of core concepts from Entwistle’s textbook. You are not expected to incorporate all
or even most of these concepts you’re your 4-MAT review. However, I am looking to see whether you
grasp some of the most salient points—especially as they relate to the main theme of integration.
☐ Truth: All truth is God’s truth.
☐ Both Seek Truth: Science/psychology & theologian both seek truth.
☐ Sources of Truth: Science/psychology studies  physical world/nature.
☐ Sources of Truth: Theology studies  Bible (and is inspired by the Holy Spirit).
☐ Two Books to Study: Francis Bacon, four hundred years ago…God has given us two books to study—
His Word, and His Works.
☐ Hostility: Historically, religion/church has at times been hostile to science/psychology.
☐ Hostility: Science/psychology has belittled theology as being less “intellectual.”
☐ Enemies and Allies: Historically, science (reason) and religion (faith/belief) have been both enemies
and allies.
☐ Equal Validity: Both sources of truth (“Books of Truth”) are valid and reflect/come from God.
☐ Equal Validity: God can be seen in the “genome or the cathedral.”
☐ Methods: Science/psychology seeks truth through scientific/experimental method.
☐ Methods: Theology seeks truth through Hermeneutics (the systematic study of the Bible).
☐ General Influence: “Worldviews” (set of assumptions), influence our search for the truth and our
efforts at integration.
☐ Personal Influence: Our own “Worldview” influences our search for truth and willingness to consider
integration. Important for people to examine presuppositions.
☐ Potential Bias: Our search for truth is biased/influenced/filtered, by how we view the world (our
presuppositions).
☐ Secular World View: Belief that science is the only source of truth.
☐ Naturalist: Believes that nothing other than the material world exists. Two propositions: 1) There is no
God; 2) Matter is all that there is.
☐ Supernaturalist: Believes material world exists, but it came into existence because God created it. The
material world does not exist on its own.
☐ Metaphysical Questions: Considerations of the nature and existence of God, the relationship of God to
His creation, and the nature of ethics and aesthetics. These considerations have implications for
integration.
☐ Determinism: Science believes that everything is determined.
☐ Free Will: Christianity, believes that man has free will, and thinking/behavior are not strictly
determined—not explicable by nature alone (Lewis).
☐ Theocentric Worldview: God is the central aspect of our existence.
☐ Main Premise for Integration: Science is descriptive, not prescriptive.
☐ Metaphysical Underpinnings: Scientific understandings and Christian understandings are compatible
(Entwistle, 2013, p. 110).
☐ Five Models of Integration: Enemies; Spies; Colonists; Neutral Parties; & Allies.
☐ 1. Enemies: Like Tertullian, some believe that faith and reason cannot be in agreement.
☐ 2. Spies: People with a psychology background/training, who do not believe in God, but see some
Christian concepts (like forgiveness) as useful or potentially effective for helping psychological
problems.
☐ 3. Colonialists: “Religious spies in the psychological world” (p. 187). They plunder psychology and
remove what may be of use to “religiously committed” people. Try to align psychological findings to
a Christian worldview.
☐ 4. Neutral Parties: Encourages the contribution of both disciplines. However, keeps the two disciplines
distinct—separated. “Parallel” models (Carter and Narramore).
☐ Psychological Neutrality: People committed to psychology, who hold religious beliefs, but not
necessarily Christian beliefs.
☐ Christian Neutrality: People who are committed to psychology, but simultaneously hold Christian
Beliefs. They do not rule out overlap of the two disciplines.
☐ 5. Allies: See Christianity and Psychology as two complimentary methods of discovering truth.