Psychology and religion go together

Answer 1

I can't speak to Religion in general, but to Christianity and The Bible.. *If we view psychology as "mental ploys and strategies" for treatment of illness, we have to be weary. Many common treatments can be very helpful and curative, but some are purely human opinion, even bordering on spiritism, conflict with Bible teachings and could even be dangerous . Each treatment would have to be examined individually to be sure it does not go against God's principles. *If we view psychology as a basic 'science of human behavior', it can be useful, since understanding people is an important part of a Christian's life. We're told at Proverbs 19:11 that "the insight of a man slows down his anger…" Insight is defined as "an understanding of the motivational forces behind one's actions". Understanding human behavior, and the reasons behind a behavior, can help us be forgiving and less angry over someone's questionable actions. Matthew 7:1-5 tells us to Stop judging others…." Why, do you look at the straw in your brother's eye, but do not consider the rafter in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Allow me to extract the straw from your eye'; when, look! a rafter is in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First extract the rafter from your own eye, and then you will see clearly how to extract the straw from your brother's eye. This involves SELF examination and understanding our OWN behavior. How much more valuable we can be to others if we first deal with our OWN issues, see our OWN faults, overcome our OWN improper thinking, before we find fault with anyone else. This involves some SELF analysis and insight.

Matthew 7:12, the well known 'Golden rule' tells us to treat others the way WE want to be treated. If we think about it, we ALL want to be treated with consideration ; to be understood for who we really are. Only then can someone give us what we need. Therefore, in order to treat OTHERS the way they want to be treated, we have to KNOW what they want. That takes insight into the knowledge of THEIR human behavior. For psychology to be useful, it must harmonize with the Bible.(Jeremiah 8:9) So much of the Christian Greek scriptures involve "keeping an eye on the interests of others", "making our minds over", "putting on the new personality", involving our gaining insight into, understanding of, patience with others, all of which requires a knowledge of human behavior, our own and other people's. So Psychology and Religion CAN go together.