The integration of faith and learning has been a “popular” discussion topic at Christian colleges across the country. The word popular has been placed in quotes here because, for many Christian students, the discussion faith and learning integration has been the source of much confusion and stress. This stems from an erroneous belief that one cannot coexist with the other. In essence, students feel that their faith would be undermined if science had explanations for the many beliefs they had about the natural world. For example, if in science class, students learn that rainbows are a natural phenomenon created independently of God then that would somehow lesson the impact that the Bible had in explaining this event as described in Genesis 9:16-17.
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Entire courses are devoted to helping students examine how their major area of study can be integrated with their faith. Students are required to write extensive papers analyzing how to integrate faith and learning and discuss major issues during class. The importance of faith-learning integration extends to professors applying for tenure, as they are required to submit an integration project as part of their tenure and promotion portfolio. Aside from getting a good grade in class or attaining job security, the integration of faith and learning is absolutely necessary for the Christian who wants to live in this world and engage with the culture in a healthy way as described in Romans …show more content…
Before I begin, it is important to first define psychology as the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes (Meyers, 2011). This definition, though short and succinct, implies that the psychology I speak about is based on empirical evidence as opposed to pseudoscience or what people derisively refer to ask “pop” psychology. Psychology as a science also implies that students must have a willingness and an ability to think critically about the claims regarding human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Psychology students need to have the skills in order to assess these claims and make objective judgments on the basis of evidence rather than personal testimony or any other forms of unsupported assertions no matter how convincing they may sound. This requires students to ask questions, define terms, analyze evidence, avoid emotional reasoning, consider alternative explanations, and tolerate uncertainty (Wade & Tavris,
Entire courses are devoted to helping students examine how their major area of study can be integrated with their faith. Students are required to write extensive papers analyzing how to integrate faith and learning and discuss major issues during class. The importance of faith-learning integration extends to professors applying for tenure, as they are required to submit an integration project as part of their tenure and promotion portfolio. Aside from getting a good grade in class or attaining job security, the integration of faith and learning is absolutely necessary for the Christian who wants to live in this world and engage with the culture in a healthy way as described in Romans …show more content…
Before I begin, it is important to first define psychology as the scientific study of human behavior and mental processes (Meyers, 2011). This definition, though short and succinct, implies that the psychology I speak about is based on empirical evidence as opposed to pseudoscience or what people derisively refer to ask “pop” psychology. Psychology as a science also implies that students must have a willingness and an ability to think critically about the claims regarding human thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. Psychology students need to have the skills in order to assess these claims and make objective judgments on the basis of evidence rather than personal testimony or any other forms of unsupported assertions no matter how convincing they may sound. This requires students to ask questions, define terms, analyze evidence, avoid emotional reasoning, consider alternative explanations, and tolerate uncertainty (Wade & Tavris,