Dr. Tim

Dr Tim Rice's psychology course, titled Psychology: A Christian Perspective, is sure to become a homeschool high school favorite for parents and teens.

2012-01-20T14:18:00.000-05:00

Dr Tim Rice's homeschool psychology course, titled Psychology: A Christian Perspective, is sure to become a homeschool high school favorite for parents and teens. Read Heather Gneco's full review here.

An advertisement and a prop.

2012-01-17T08:28:00.001-05:00

Early registration discount. Extended indefinately!

2012-01-14T12:50:00.000-05:00

Dear School Administrator,

Thanks for writing. Great question.

First, because I do not know how you came to find out about my book, let me extend to you an offer I've made to other school administrators. That's to send you a full pdf copy of Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition so you can know if its a good fit for your students.

I used Scripture verses in the text for emphasis and illustration, and I used them infrequently. The verses I checked from Chapter 1 and 2 were KJV, but I'm not certain that they all are. I study using The Guideposts Parallel Bible that I found at a thrift store. It has the KJV, NIV, and RSV side by side, so I wouldn't be surprised if some verses are from those translations.

My objective was to write a text that would be useful to all Christian students. To do so I described "a Christian worldview" in terms of few components (God, the Nature of Mankind, Epistemology, and the causes of and cures for mental pain and suffering). Doing so allowed me to contrast a Christian perspective and the humanistic, evolutionary naturalism characteristic of Psych 101 at State U.I hope you like the book.

Write again if you have other questions.

Online Class

2012-01-13T19:26:00.000-05:00

Are they prepared for the most worldview-challenging class they will take in college?

Psychology: A Christian Perspective. Online!
Whatever you think about psychology, the time to deal with it is before your student goes to college.
How are you preparing your students for the most worldview-challenging class they will take in college?

Psychology is the most worldview-challenging class Christian students take in college.

Are they prepared?

It's not too late. Winter classes begin January 16th. Sign up today for early bird savings.

Dr. Tim Rice, D.Min., LPC is the author of

Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psych 101

and

Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition.

"The thing that pleases me most is how it simulates classroom interaction rather than the students just sitting quietly in their living rooms listening to a canned presentation! You’re able to respond to their questions and shift gears when you feel the need…COOL! My daughter is learning so much and really enjoying the Intro to Psychology class with you." - Kim J.

"I want to thank you again for teaching this class. My daughter has very much enjoyed it and has learned a lot about a topic we really haven't covered at home. I hope you will continue to offer this class and that by word of mouth, internet, or whatever, more people see that you are offering it and more people join you online." - Trish M.

Special offer for parents!

What did they teach you in Psychology 101?

Audit Psychology: A Christian Perspective Online for a special low price!

Introductory Sessions 1/18, 1/19, and 1/20/2012

Click here to register today.
Only $50!
(parents attend free with student registration)

Two options for students!

Now students everywhere can join Dr. Tim for Psychology: A Christian Perspective online live in an interactive 16-week study of Psychology from a Christian worldview perspective.

Click here to register today.
(Lectures only option $150.)

"If it is true that many Christian students walk away from their faith after the first year of college, and if that has anything to do with the teaching in college, I believe that it is because of the subtle worldview challenges embedded in psychological theories."

Click here for more information or to register.

Email tim@homeschoolpsych.com
www.homeschoolpsych.com

"Psychology: A Christian Perspective would be an excellent course to offer in a Christian high school or in a Christian homeschool."

2011-12-19T14:56:00.000-05:00

Review of Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition

As the Christian parent of a daughter who is a freshman at asecular college and a home educated son who is in high school, I was extremelyinterested in this textbook. I graduatedfrom an excellent Christian school and then attended a state university. It was difficult to evaluate the worldview ofthe required Psychology courses on my own. I would have welcomed such a course to prepare me for what I would facein college.

Psychology: AChristian Perspective would be an excellent course to offer in a Christianhigh school or in a Christian homeschool. This one semester course would be helpful to prepare Christian studentsfor college classes, especially since many home educated high school studentstake college classes from secular colleges while still in high school for dualenrollment credit. Psychologicalconcepts are woven into other college courses as well as popular books,magazines, television programs and lectures. It is important for Christianstudents to be prepared to evaluate what they will hear from a Biblicalperspective.

This textbook offers a comprehensive overview of Psychology. It has an appropriate level of depth for highschool students. It is challenging, butunderstandable, with interesting case studies and examples. It is a 15 chapter, 265 page book. There are review questions at the end of eachchapter with answers available in a teacher’s guide that may be purchased ordownloaded free online. There are alsofill- in- the- blank quizzes with answers, and links to information for furtherstudy (articles, demonstrations, and videos) for each chapter.

The Christian aspect of the textbook comes in briefexplanations of the Christian worldview on the various topics. He also states where Christians havediffering views on aspects of Psychology, such as diagnosis and treatment. These are helpful springboards that would allowa parent or teacher to discuss their particular views in more detail with theirstudents. While a high school homeeducated student could certainly do this course on his own, I would recommendthat the teacher or parent be available to discuss each topic with thestudent. There are serious subjectsaddressed that would be best approached together.

I look forward to using this textbook with my ownchildren.

Cassie Johnson (I have home educated my 3 children. I am in my 14^th year ofhomeschooling.)

Sarah Bailey (OhioSarah) Review of Psychology: A Christian Perpsective

2011-12-17T10:04:00.001-05:00

Psychology: A Christian Perspective; High School Edition by Dr. Tim Rice

About the book from HomeschoolPsych:
Whatever you think about psychology and its effect on Christian students, the time to deal with it is now.

Some Christians think that psychology is an important discipline, that it is consistent with a Christian worldview, and that it is an acceptable field of study and career choice. Other Christians see psychology as an idolatrous and ungodly rival religion. Some Christians think that God created psychology when He created Mankind. Others describe psychology as psychobabble, psycho-heresy, and the most deadly form of modernism to ever confront the Church.

Whatever you think about psychology, the time to deal with it is now because many Christian students go to college to become psychologists, counselors, or social workers. Most colleges (even Christian colleges) require students to at least take an introductory psychology class.

My Opinion:
I graduated from the local community college with an Associates degree in Social Work, I never went on to actually use my degree, but in same ways I do even being a homemaker. That said I enjoying reading up on the field of Psychology, I may not be as learned as those who deal with it day in and day out but it does fascinate. Maybe because I’ve dealt and worked in mental health, my mom is an ANP in mental health, my dad is a nurse so I’ve been around it and I’ve had to take my share of Psych classes in college.

When I saw a chance to receive a copy of Dr. Tim Rice’s book Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition I knew I had to grab the offer. Like above some if not most Christians either have strong views for or again Psychology – there are some bad Psychologists out there and there are some good ones as well. What I really liked about this was the fact that God is at the center of the entire book, there are some differing points of view explained but it always come back to the Creator.
This is written for the high school student and will come in handy if you’re high school student wants to study a course of Psych at home as a credit toward graduation or you or him are just interested in Psych from a Christian world view. The book is $29.95 plus shipping but of course, like most homeschool families, it can be read by more than one student – there is a free teacher’s guide to download or you can order a physical one. You can also purchase the accompanying student workbook, quizzes and answer keys in order to make a full study out of this text.

The text covers 15 chapters with an introduction, index and references. Chapters one through fifteen will cover What Is Psychology?, A Christian Worldview, Sensation and Perception, Human Development, and of course more. I liked the fact that each chapter has a chapter summary with the basic and most important information summarized as well as some review answers and statements asking the students to pull from what they’ve learned so far – a great help if your student plans on testing and getting a credit for the course.

No worries mom and dads if you’re leery about teaching Psych to your children – Dr. Tim Rice does a 16 part lecture series on this text and students are expected to read the text and answer the review at the end of each chapter. He doesn’t grade or give tests, that is to the discretion of the parents however if you don’t feel qualified or don’t have enough time to devote to this subject this could be what you need to help your budding Psych student along in his or her endeavors. You can learn more about the class by visiting the class page, and you can order the text (including Kindle formatted) on the order page.

**I was provided a copy of this book from Dr. Tim Rice in exchange for my honest review, no other compensation was given.

Vist Sarah's Blog

Southern Rock: Evidence for Creation

2011-12-06T10:36:00.001-05:00

I was watching my friend Johnplay bass guitar.

Sometimes I indulge hubristicfantasies in which I, like Columbo solving a crime, convert atheists, evolutionists, and democrats to myperspective. I had such a fantasy while watching John play.

John is a world-classmusician specializing in southern-classic (aka real) rock and roll. John’sfingers fly across his guitar faster than I can see. John’s playing is a rockand roll problem for the Theory of Evolution.

As I watched John play, Iimagined having a conversation with a hard-core evolutionist. I ask "Mr.Evolutionist, can you believe how well John plays bass?" He answersdreamily, "its amazing!" I ask, “do you really believe that hisgift, in all its incomprehensible cognitive complexity, and the emotions,memories, and urge to dance it triggers in us, traces all the way back to the primordialsoup in an unbroken chain of gradual change and natural selection?”

In my imagination my friend confesses,“not really.”

I believe John’s gift has aGiver.

Consciousness

2011-12-04T17:41:00.001-05:00

Naturalistic psychologists explain consciousness as acharacteristic of the most highly evolved animals. A Christian worldview seesconsciousness as part of our God-likeness and the vehicle of our relationshipswith God and others. Consciousness is a pre-requisite to free-will, andfree-will is a pre-requisite to moral accountability. The principles offree-will and moral accountability are central to the Christian worldview.Without moral accountability, sin and salvation are meaningless. Withoutconsciousness, humans are nothing more than very complex machine-like animals. Theoriesof consciousness that deny the “specialness” of human consciousness areincompatible with a Christian view of Mankind.

Human consciousness is inextricably connected to brain activity.For the Christian studying consciousness, that means understanding ourGod-given self-awareness in the context of the complexities of the nervoussystem. You must balance the discoveries made in neuroscience with thesupernatural component of human consciousness; they are not incompatible.Because our experience of consciousness is inherently subjective,consciousness, whatever it is, is not subject to the usual objective methods ofnatural science.

Modernevolutionary psychology, as you might guess, describes and explains consciousnesssolely in terms of brain activity. The consensus among modern psychologists isthat all of mental life, including consciousness and emotions and choice andmorality, are the products of brain activities. The naturalistic worldviewpresumes that consciousness must be nothing but the product of brainactivity.

Psychologistsstruggle to define consciousness and to identify the mental structures andprocesses involved in it. To explain consciousness in terms of evolution, onemust acknowledge that it exists, describe its structure and process in thenervous system, and describe how it enhances survival and reproduction.

Psychology class online. New session begining in January.

2011-11-19T09:22:00.000-05:00

Are you preparing your students for the most worldview-challenging class they’ll ever take in college? Whatever you think about Psychology, the time to deal with it is before they go to college.

Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition will both introduce your students to the study of God’s greatest creation, the human mind and equip them to evaluate Psychology’s theories and perspectives at the worldview level.

Sign up now for Psychology class online! New 16 week lecture series begins in January.

Two Options:

Lectures only - $160 (register by December 9 - $150).
Lectures plus 12 online assessments (chapter quizzes) and online final exam - $225 (register by December 9 -$200).

We are midway through fall classes. The interactive teaching platform (JigSaw) is great. Check it out here. Students watch real-time presentations and videos, ask questions, chat, and see my lectures live.

For more information, to register for classes, or to sit in on a class go here. Contact Dr. Tim at tim@homeschoolpsych.com to enroll your entire co-op class or for other questions.

Evolutionary Psychology

2011-11-04T17:26:00.000-04:00

Evolutionary psychologists explain human motivation in the same ways that evolutionary biologists explain human anatomy and physiology, but it goes much further.

Evolutionary biologists explain human anatomy in terms of adaptive physical structures that became progressively more complex over time. Evolutionary psychologists explain motivation and emotion in terms of adaptive mental structures that have become progressively more complex over time. Every human motivation and emotion exists because it served an adaptive function that increased the chances of survival and reproduction.

Love, art, faith, sacrifice, determination, envy, anger, and more,from a naturalistic psychology perspective, are not transcendent,supernatural, or even special. They are illusions – ways of understanding and interpreting innate patterns of behaviors and mental processes that themselves are no more than biochemical processes which exist solely to help us pass along our genes to the next generation.

My daughter, the model

2011-10-21T14:01:00.000-04:00

Psychology: A Christian Perspective - Online class starting soon!

2011-09-23T10:50:00.000-04:00

The fall session of Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition online class begins October 3, 2011.

Choose from Monday afternoon, Wednesday morning, and Friday afternoon live interactive sessions.

Join me for an introduction to the class.

Friday 9/23 at 1pm EST
Monday 9/26 at 3pm
Wednesday 9/28 at 10am

Send an email to tim@homeschoolpsych.com for the link.

Review of Psychology: A Christian Perspective

2011-09-13T13:06:00.000-04:00

Sharon Grooms' review of Psychology: A Christian Perspective

Well, I may be dooming myself to forever owning the “geek” label that uninformed people place on homeschool families, but I was SO excited when I found out there was a new Christian psychology curriculum available. For those of us who understand how imperative it is to prepare our students well, prior to their flying the nest – into a not-so-kind-to-Christians environment called college – especially in the arena of psychology, this was big news. Having graduated one student, who happened to enter college on a full four-year scholarship as an honors psychology major, I knew well the struggles faced by many families.

I remember the delight I felt when I tripped across Dr. Tim Rice’s Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psych 101, several years ago. To know there was actually something prepared to help guide me in this task was tremendous. As my son and I manned our way through the details of the book, I thought quite a few times how wonderful it would have been to be able to do this with other students – the deep conversations that could have been had, of which we could only dream. I had, in fact, invited several other families to journey with us, but was met with snarls from the naysayers, or gasps from the faint-hearted. Perhaps now you will begin to understand my enthusiasm with Dr. Rice’s newest book and curriculum, Psychology: A Christian Perspective – High School Edition. The purchase price for the textbook is very fair, but Dr. Rice makes an offer almost too good to be true by making it possible to download from his website a Teachers' Guide that includes Chapter Summary, Chapter Outline, Discussion & Activities, For Further Study, Questions for Review (with answers), and Chapter Quizzes (with answers), all FREE of charge!! To add to the lure of this new curriculum is the fact that it has been developed with a co-op setting in mind! Aw, now inquisitive minds that want to know will be able to voice their thoughts to others and analyze those of their peers – sounds like we should all pull up a couch!

I spent a great deal of time enhancing Dr. Rice’s original book to make it an honors level course by requiring my student to not only do all of the standard assignments, but required him to complete the For Further Study material as well and read some additional books that I selected. In reviewing Dr. Rice’s newest book, Psychology: A Christian Perspective – High School Edition, I was pleased to find he had included more information specific to the subject of psychology (in contrast to Biblical psychology worldview vs. secular psychology worldview covered so well in the first half of his first book), and he did so in direct correlation to the AP Psychology standards.

Although my son is very settled and articulate in his Christian foundational beliefs, and Dr. Rice’s initial material helped to prepare him to face the opinions and agendas of college professors (and often-times church people as well), he did find he had a slight gap in basic psychology content during his first week of college. His General Psych class was given an overall assessment of psychology content knowledge, so the professor could get a feel for where the class average was, and my son felt he was slightly behind some of the other students. (This has not been confirmed, it was just my son’s opinion, but he is also known for being a perfectionist.) This concern of my son helps explain my excitement to find Dr. Rice has adjusted the psychology content in his newest book.

This is not to say that there is anything wrong with Dr. Rice’s first book – in fact, I think the books could easily serve two very distinct purposes. The first book is excellent exposure for those students who do not care to pursue psychology any further than the general education requirements of most colleges; the plus is they will be well exposed to the destructive and anti-Christian beliefs of so many in secular psychology and the college environment in general. The newest book, Psychology: A Christian Perspective – High School Edition, will definitely prepare students needing further details specifically in psychology for a solid foundation to build upon. Although you would have some duplication, the two books used together, (this is a very reasonable consideration when you take into play the extremely consumer-friendly price of Dr. Rice’s material) would prepare all students well, no matter where their vocational pursuits take them. Thank you, Dr. Rice, for recognizing and doing something about, the desperate need to prepare our Christian students to go forward in a strong and equipped manner.

Sharon Grooms – has been a homeschool mom for 11 years, served in multiple board member capacities with various homeschool support groups during those years, served as a mentor to many homeschool mothers, and runs a support e-loop for homeschool families in the state of South Carolina.

Susan G. Komen 3-Day Walk for The Cure

2011-09-12T19:10:00.000-04:00

With its incredible memorials, monuments, and museums, Washington, D.C. is one of the most scenic backdrops for a Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure journey.

In 2 weeks my wife, my daughter, and my editor will join the thousands of Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure participants who are living examples of the power we all have to change the world.

In my last post I described my decision to spend my book marketing $ for Psychology: A Christian Perspective to help Tina, Abby, and DJ meet their goal. For everyone who will agree to write a review and post it somewhere (your blog, Facebook, Co-op, etc.), I'll make a donation. I'm hoping for 60 reviews.

Help me please to spread the word.

Reviews for the Cure

2011-07-31T20:04:00.002-04:00

In my last post I offered Psychology: A Christian Perspective to 100 people who would write a review and share it with their social network. The response has been good – about 40 copies so far.

I have another idea.

This week I received an advertising solicitation from my ad representative at my favorite homeschool magazine. For $625, the magazine’s team of 60 reviewer-bloggers will review and blog about a product.

Sixty reviews, sixty blogs, for $625.

That’s what I want. But instead of paying for reviews, I’m going to spend my tiny advertising budget to help find a cure for breast cancer. This summer, my editor, my daughter, and my wife will join a Susan G. Komen 3 Day Walk for the Cure.

If you will write a review of my book and post it to your blog, I will make a $10.42 donation on your behalf toward their fund-raising goal.

Sixty reviews, sixty blogs, $625 toward the cure.

It is important that Christian students recognize the worldview assumptions underlying modern psychology’s theories and schools-of-thought. I wrote Psychology: A Christian Perspective to equip parents and teachers to help students recognize psychology-specific worldview issues and to introduce them to the study of the wonders of God’s greatest creation; the human mind.

Help me spread the word, and help my girls help find a cure. Contact me at tim@homeschoolpsych.com.

To donate directly to Abigail, click here.

To donate directly to DJ, click here.

To donate directly to Tina, click here.

Stanley Milgram, Psychology, Going Viral and Free Books

2011-07-15T13:01:00.037-04:00

It is difficult to resist immoral authority. Christian parents teach their children to obey authority. Stanley Milgram demonstrated in the psychology lab what we learn from Daniel 6:10 – 21; it is difficult to resist immoral authority.

This fall, thousands of Christian students will fill classrooms on campuses everywhere for their first taste of Psychology 101. The authority in the room will be the professor, who may share beliefs like those of the late philosopher and professor Richard Rorty who wrote:

“I, like most Americans who teach in colleges and universities, try to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own ...”

“... when we American college teachers encounter religious fundamentalists, we do not consider the possibility of reformulating our own practices so as to give more weight to the authority of the Christian scriptures. Instead, we do our best to convince these students of the benefits of secularization.”

“So we are going to go right on trying to discredit (your beliefs) in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable. We are not so inclusivist as to tolerate intolerance such as yours.”

Prepare them for what’s ahead.

You’ve probably heard that 70 -75% of Christian students walk away from their faith after the first year in college. If that statistic is accurate, and if it has anything to do with the teaching in college, I believe it’s because of the worldview challenges embedded in psychology’s theories and schools-of-thought. I know it was true for me. My professor ridiculed the Christian faith, and 30 years ago, I was not well-prepared to defend my faith, much less to recognize the worldview challenges in the first place.

We need to approach psychology like biology. We use biology texts with a Christian perspective and we deal with evolution, before our kids take Biology 101. I wrote Psychology: A Christian Perspective to equip parents and teachers to get in front of this problem. This book helps students to recognize psychology-specific worldview issues, and to introduce them to the study of the wonders of God’s greatest creation; the human mind.

You know someone who needs to read my book. Or, you know someone who knows someone who needs to read it.

As I begin to spread the word, I am going to give away 100 copies of Psychology: A Christian Perspective.

If you would like a copy to give away on your blog or if you would write a review, let me know. If you will re-post, tweet, toot, like, recommend, +1, or otherwise help, I will give you my book.

As I begin this journey, I am eager to hear from you. Please send me your thoughts, questions, and especially your invitation to come talk with you and your group in person.

Stanley Milgram, Viruses, and Psychology for Christian High School Students

2011-07-14T23:57:00.002-04:00

The obedience experiment (see yesterday’s post) is not the only reason Stanley Milgram is famous in the history of psychology. In the first issue of Psychology Today in 1967, Dr. Milgram wrote about “the small-world problem.”

You’ve probably heard it called six degrees of separation or six degrees of Kevin Bacon.

The small-world problem is this: Starting with any two people in the world, person X and person Y, how many intermediate acquaintances, or links, are needed before X and Y are connected?
The answer is, about six.

Had you been selected as a subject in Milgram’s small-world experiment, you (person X) would have been asked to forward a document, via snail mail, to a stockbroker in Boston who you do not know (person Y).

You would have been told to mail the document, along with instructions, to only one person; someone you knew who was most likely to move the document along its way to Boston. Subsequent links in the chain likewise would have been told to forward the document to only one other person.

Six links. U.S. Mail. Pretty impressive.

How many links would it take you to find a particular stockbroker in Boston? What if you could ask all of your acquaintances, not just one? What if they could ask all of their acquaintances?

On Facebook? Two links. Three tops.

In tomorrow’s post I will connect the small-world problem, “going viral,” and psychology for Christian students, in an audacious promotion of my new book.

You see, someone you know needs to read it.

Stanley Milgram, of all people...

2011-07-13T23:19:00.001-04:00

50 years ago this month at Yale University, Stanley Milgram, a Harvard PhD social psychologist, conducted one of the most famous, most shocking – in more ways than one – and most disturbing experiments in the history of psychology.

What Milgram found was that average normal people, would readily inflict very painful and perhaps even harmful electric shocks on innocent victims.

Milgram recruited participants to be part of an experiment, supposedly to study the relationship between punishment and learning. The real purpose was to learn the factors that led some people to commit harm to others when told to do so by someone in authority.

Milgram created an elaborate sham, involving a learner, a teacher, a researcher, and an ominous look shock generator.

The teacher was the real subject in the experiment. The learner was in on the sham; hired by Milgram to play a role. The experimenter was also an actor, a very distinguished “professorial type” wearing a white lab coat.

The real subject, the teacher, was made to believe that he had been assigned to serve as teacher by the luck of the draw, and was made to believe that the shock generator actually delivered a shock to the learner. In fact, the only shock that was ever given was given to the teacher to “prove” that the shocks were real.

The shock generator had a series of switches, each labeled in 15 volt increments – from 15 to 450 volts. The last three switches were marked XXX.

The teacher read a series of words that the learner was to memorize. The teacher was instructed to deliver ever-increasing shock levels for each incorrect answer.

The learner made mistakes according to the script.

The teacher and learner were separated by a wall, but the teacher heard the learner’s taped reaction to each shock. Early mistakes got little “shocks” so the teacher heard “ouch.” Later, as the shock level increased, the teacher heard “ouch, open the door and get me out of here!” then, “hey that hurts, let me out of here!!” The teacher heard banging on the wall and complaints that, “I have a heart condition – let me out of here!!!”– and then silence – no response. Zap, no response. Zap, no response.

At some point, in response to the learner’s complaints (or their silence), each teacher turned to the experimenter and asked to stop – or at least questioned whether to continue. The stern professorial looking experimenter had been trained to provide the same 4 responses.

The 1st time the teacher questioned whether to continue the experimenter said, “Please continue”
2nd time: “The experiment requires that you continue”
3rd time: “It is absolutely essential that you continue”
4th time: “You have no other choice, you must go on”

If the teacher still wished to stop after 4 verbal prods, it was over; otherwise the shocks continued until the subject had given the maximum (450 volt -- XXX) shock, 3 times in succession.

Milgram’s experiment is famous because it was so deceptive, unethical, and just plain wrong to do that to people. It’s more famous because of what it says about us. 65% delivered the maximum shock.

Interestingly, one of Milgram’s subjects was a professor of Old Testament theology. This subject disobeyed authority and stopped giving the shocks shortly after the first protest. The professor explained his actions saying, “If one had as one’s ultimate authority, God, then it trivializes human authority.”

I think that Stanley Milgram, of all people, makes a pretty good case for why we need to deal with psychology before our kids go to college. There’s a professorial looking guy there who may demand their obedience.

It is in print.

2011-07-12T13:33:00.000-04:00

Psychology: A Christian Perspective. High School Edition has gone to print. Hallelujah.

It is quite an undertaking to write a text book. Twice now I have underestimated how much time and work it takes.

Now its on to writing the Workbook. Should be done in a day or two...

T - 17 days.

2011-07-08T21:39:00.000-04:00

I said I'd be ready to ship Psychology: A Christian Perspective. High School Edition by July 25, 2011. I will be.

The Journal of Evolution and Human Behavior on skinny women

2011-06-30T18:00:00.000-04:00

In the Journal of Evolution and Human Behavior there's an article titled Waist-hip ratio and cognitive ability: is gluteofemoral fat a privileged store of neuro-developmental resources? In it, the authors suggest an evolutionary explanation for why guys like skinny women.

I’m reporting them to the Journal of Political Correctness.

Whatever you think about psychology and its effect on Christian students, the time to deal with it is now.

2011-05-25T16:50:00.001-04:00

Do you think the study of psychology is tantamount to declaring the Bible inadequate? Do you believe that God created psychology when He created Mankind in His own image? Have you ever given it much thought?

Some Christians think that psychology is an important discipline, that it is consistent with a Christian worldview, and that it is an acceptable field of study and career choice. Other Christians see psychology as an idolatrous and ungodly rival religion. Some describe it as psychobabble, psycho-heresy, and the most deadly form of modernism to ever confront the Church.

Whatever you think about psychology, the time to deal with it is now. Many Christian students go to college to become psychologists, counselors, or social workers. Most colleges (even Christian colleges) require students to take an introductory psychology class (at least). Although there are many Christian professors, psychology departments are home to some of the more anti-Christian intellectuals on college campuses. Psychology professors have high levels of agnosticism and atheism and may attack the Christian worldview as unscientific, irrational, prudish, exploitive, controlling, inhibitive, oppressive, and naïve. Many psychology professors believe that Christianity is incompatible with sound mental health, that it contributes to human suffering, and that the intelligent believer will eventually abandon their faith.

The material taught in introductory psychology courses will challenge their beliefs. Christian students are not usually well-prepared to recognize and refute modern psychology’s core philosophical assumptions; naturalism, humanism, evolutionism, empiricism, relativism, and reductionism. Those core assumptions are embedded, sometimes subtly, in modern psychology’s theories and schools-of-thought and presented under the banner of “science.” Assumptions that are wholly inconsistent with a Christian worldview are thoroughly embedded in most psychology courses, even at some Christian colleges. Students need to recognize and be able to refute the anti-Christian and anti-scientific philosophies embedded in modern psychology. Failure to recognize those assumptions may lead Christian students to inadvertently compromise their Christian worldview.

Failure to recognize those assumptions my lead some Christian students to walk away from their faith. If it is true that 70-75% of Christian students walk away from their faith after the first year of college, and if that has anything to do with the teaching in college, it is because of the subtle worldview challenges embedded in psychological theories. By simply forewarning and preparing students in advance, they are better able to resist believing false assumptions.

The time to deal with psychology is now because Darwinian evolution is the “new” psychology. Freudian psychology, behaviorists, humanists, and cognitive psychology are yesterday’s news. Today, neurobiology and evolution are psychology’s main theories. Darwin anticipated evolution’s impact on psychology in 1859 when he wrote:

"In the distant future I see an open field for more important research. Psychology will be based on a new foundation, that of the necessary acquirement of each mental power and capacity by gradation."

Darwinian evolution, when applied to human psychology, reduces our consciousness, our morality, our capacity to make decisions and judgments, religious experience, love, empathy, altruism, hate, greed, dreams, and everything else that makes us human to nothing more a pack of neurons firing. All mental activity, even what we think of as our God-likeness, is nothing more than brain activities that humans acquired, bit by bit, through variation and natural selection.

Psychology is where evolution has the most difficulty and it is the author’s opinion that evolution’s death knell will not come from cellular biology, it will come from psychology. The fight against evolution, in my opinion, will not be won with arguments of sub-cellular irreducible complexity. It will be won in the arena of the incomprehensible complexity of the human mind.

It is important to deal with psychology because people are hurting. Christians have long been at the forefront of meeting the world’s physical needs with food, blankets, and shelter. But are we at the forefront of meeting the world’s psychological needs? Too often secular community mental health centers serve more hurting people than they can handle while Christians debate whether Nouthetic or Christian counseling or “just praying harder” is the answer. That is not right. Correcting the problem begins by re-claiming psychology for Christ.

The goal for our study of psychology, just like the study of biology, theology, history, and every other discipline, is to understand God’s creation and, in the words of Johannes Kepler, to “think God’s thoughts after him.” Instead of surrendering psychology and falling away in the face of the world’s beliefs teaching, we have a duty to put forth reasoned explanations for our worldview in every discipline, including psychology.

That is why I wrote High School Psychology: A Christian Perspective. There are many excellent works that explain a Christian worldview, and there are dozens of excellent introductory psychology texts. But there are very few introductory psychology texts that present psychology’s content from a Christian perspective and none, to the author’s knowledge, intended for Christian high school students. That is part of the problem.

High School Psychology: A Christian Perspective equips you to deal with psychology by presenting psychology’s subject matter from a Christian perspective and in a manner suitable for high school students.

The author believes that the study of the soul, the mind, and behavior are right and proper for Christians and that Christian students should join the contemporary psychological conversation and become part of the future intellectual leadership in psychology.

Homeschool Psych YouTube Channel

2011-05-24T15:27:00.004-04:00

See me lecture in 30 second snippets.

Psychology's History and Worldview - Learning Objectives.

2011-05-23T14:32:00.000-04:00

Students will be able to:
Discuss psychology's roots in philosophy and natural science.
Describe the emergence of experimental psychology.
Describe the study of psychology pre-dating the establishment of modern scientific psychology.
Describe examples of ancient psychological research and theories.
Describe the development of psychology as an empirical science.
Describe phrenology.
Trace the history of psychology through each of its five major schools-of-thought.
Describe Sigmund Freud’s worldview on the nature of Man and contrast his view with a Christian view.
Describe Freudian/psychodynamic psychology.
Describe behaviorism and radical behaviorism’s claims about the nature of Mankind and contrast behaviorism with a Christian view.
Describe the structuralists.
Explain the contribution of Dr. Charles Bell, Franz Gall, Gustave Fechner, Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchener to the development of modern psychology.
Describe reductionism and its implications on the nature of Mankind.
Describe the functionalists.
Describe the influence of Herbert Spencer, Charles Darwin, and William James on modern psychology.
Summarize the theory of evolution as applied to human behavior and mental processes.
Describe behaviorism and contrast behaviorism and Freudian psychology at the level of the nature of Mankind.
Describe humanism and contrast humanism’s beliefs about the nature of Man with a Christian view. Recognize Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers as important figures in humanistic psychology.
Define self-esteem. Evaluate “selfism” in comparison to Biblical anthropology.
Describe cognitive psychology.
Describe neuro-biology
Describe various explanations for mental illness in terms of underlying worldview assumptions.

For Discussion

2011-05-23T13:57:00.002-04:00

How does psychology “fit” in your worldview?
What other core beliefs are parts of your Christian worldview (i.e. the family, sexuality, dancing)?
True or false? The foundational beliefs of a Christian worldview, of an atheist’s worldview, and of a psychology professor’s worldview are matters of faith and philosophy and not of data and science. Why?
Do we have a mind that is greater than the sum of our brain activity?
Why do Christians disagree about whether extra-biblical techniques are proper approaches to caring for mental suffering?
How does God use guilt, pain, and suffering as tools to conform Christians to Christ’s image?
In what ways are we like the animals physically?
In what ways are we like animals mentally?
In what ways are we different from the animals?
Describe a monistic, dualistic, and tripartite perspective on human nature. Differentiate between naturalistic monism and Christian monism.
What do you believe about God?
What do you believe about the nature of Mankind?
What do you believe about moral absolutes?
What do you think causes mental pain and suffering?
Is “all truth God’s Truth?”
Why do many people believe that a Christian worldview and science are inherently in conflict?

Chapter 2 Learning Objectives.

2011-05-23T13:51:00.000-04:00

Define “worldview.”
Explain their worldview and explain how it intersects with modern psychology along the five worldview issues.
Describe a Christian view of God.
Describe a Christian worldview of the nature of Mankind.
Define and describe epistemology from a Christian perspective.
Describe a Christian view of moral absolutes.
Describe a Christian perspective of the causes for mental pain & suffering.
Describe the history and influence of naturalism on psychology and other sciences.
Describe how naturalism changed psychology.
Describe the limitations of naturalistic descriptions of Mankind.
Describe the history and influence of Darwinian evolution on psychology.
Name several of the father’s of modern psychology who were atheists.
Define Biblical anthropology.
Describe Sigmund Freud’s worldview on the nature of Mankind and contrast his view with a Christian view of the nature of Man.
Describe behaviorism and radical behaviorism’s claims about the nature of Mankind and contrast behaviorism with a Christian view of the nature of Mankind.
Describe reductionism and describe its implications on the nature of Mankind.
Describe humanism and contrast humanism’s beliefs about the nature of Man with a Christian view.
Define self-esteem. Evaluate “selfism” in comparison to Biblical anthropology.
Define epistemology. Describe a Christian view of knowledge.
Describe the “faith/Science dichotomy” and discuss a Christian view of science.
Describe the phrase “All Truth is God’s Truth” as it relates to a Christian worldview.
Describe general and natural revelation in relation to knowledge about the nature of Man.
Describe empiricism and its limits.
Describe the effect of sin on the study of psychology.
Describe moral relativism.
Describe various explanations for mental illness in terms of underlying worldview assumptions.
Describe the role of sin in a Christian understanding of mental pain and suffering.
Compare a Christian view of sin with moral relativism and humanism.
Describe counseling psychology. Explain the debate among Christian about counseling.

Chapter 2. A Christian Worldview.

2011-05-23T13:41:00.002-04:00

This chapter explores five worldview issues where psychology and Christianity intersect; God, Man, knowledge, morality, and mental pain and suffering.

I didn't know you had a blog.

2011-05-19T15:06:00.000-04:00

I asked Abby to download a photo off my blog for a project she was doing. I assumed she had seen the photo each time she went to my blog to read one of my many many posts.

Maybe she'll check in from time to time now.

It is right and proper and important.

2011-05-10T10:17:00.000-04:00

I thoroughly enjoyed my break-out sessions at GHEA. Both audiences were engaged, interested, and interesting.

The point of my session was that Homeschooling families should not send their students to college (or into the world) without a psychology inoculation. Much, most, or all (pick one) of modern psychological theories are grounded in worldview assumptions that are inconsistent (at best) with a Christian worldview. Don’t let the kids’ first exposure to those assumptions happen in Psych 101 at State U. Remember Milgram and Asch.

But by distinguishing modern psychology’s worldview assumptions from science, Christian students can engage in the scientific study of the mind. It is right and proper and important.

Georgia Home Educator's Association Conference

2011-05-09T22:20:00.003-04:00

Tina and I spent last weekend with several thousand homeschooling families at the GHEA conference in Atlanta. Tina's Tie Dye and Homeschool Psych were received warmly.

It was a very well done conference. Congratulations GHEA!

Psychology in the Church

2011-03-29T23:39:00.000-04:00

The extent of psychology is not limited to the culture and academia. The influence of psychological theories about learning and child development, parenting practices, moral development, personality and self-esteem, problems of living and more is widespread in the Christian church.

Psychological insights influence sermons across the country and many pastors leave the pulpit for jobs in pastoral counseling or social work. Self-help books about recovery, addiction, relationships, parenting, and weight loss make up the bulk of the new Christian book titles. Often these books are based on psychological theories that are fundamentally inconsistent with a Christian worldview.

You need to recognize when worldview assumptions are “Christianized” by sprinkling in a few Bible verses and mentioning Jesus. You must evaluate psychology at the worldview level (even when it is wrapped in Christian language) or you risk accepting ideas that are at their foundation inconsistent with your Christian worldview.

Maslow

2011-03-28T22:39:00.000-04:00

Maslow’s theory remains tremendously influential. Though intuitively appealing, Maslow’s theory is inconsistent with a Christian worldview.

Matthew 6:33 suggests we first seek the kingdom of God and trust that our needs will be met.

Contrition, self-denial, and humility are means by which we achieve spiritual growth, not group membership, achievement, or social status.

Jesus, not knowledge or self-awareness, is the measure of Mankind’s “actualization.”

Hurry hurts helping.

2011-03-24T09:15:00.000-04:00

Overall 40% of the subjects offered some help to the victim.

53% of those delivering the message on the Good Samaritan offered help.

29% of those giving the talk on seminary jobs offered help.

Of the students told they could take their time, 63% helped.

Of those told they really had to hurry, only 10% stopped.

Hurry hurts helping.

The findings remind me of a training I took about suicide risk assessment. The trainer showed the class a research study about assessing for suicide risk in primary health settings. I will try to find the data, but essentially the research showed that many primary health care providers do not ask their patients about suicidal thoughts. One reason they didn’t ask was because the patients might say “yes.” If the patient says yes, then the provider has to take time to help.

The Good Samartin (1973)

2011-03-23T10:41:00.002-04:00

In Luke 10:30-37 Jesus tells the story of the Good Samaritan. In 1973 John Darley and Daniel Batson at Princeton Theological Seminary put students to the test in a fascinating recreation of Jesus’ parable.

Darley and Batson Asked two questions. 1. Would seminary students on their way to deliver a message on Luke 10:30-37 offer assistance to a person in distress they passed along the way? 2. What would happen if the students were told they had to hurry because they were running late?

Darley and Batson divided students preparing for the ministry into two groups. One group was told to prepare a sermon on the Good Samaritan. The second group prepared a presentation about seminary jobs.

When each student arrived at the appointed place to deliver the sermon or presentation, they were told that the location had been changed at the last minute.

One-third of the students were told they were late and put under high pressure to hurry.

One-third of the subjects were put under moderate pressure to hurry, and one-third were told that they were not in a hurry.

In an alley along the way to the new location, the students encountered a man who was slumped over, coughing, and groaning in obvious distress. The researchers recorded whether or not the students stopped to offer assistance.

What do you think happened? Do you think some, most, or all of the students stopped to help? Surely students preparing for the ministry would recognize the situation and behave accordingly. Do you think the students rehearsing a sermon on the Good Samaritan would be more likely to offer aid, or does helping behavior depend on not being in a hurry?

What do you think?

Cover Design - What do you think?

2011-03-13T17:47:00.002-04:00

I want to be a psychologist or a Christian counselor

2011-03-03T08:33:00.000-05:00

Whatever you think about Psychology, the time to deal with it is before your student leaves for college. Psychology is a popular major and is one of the 1st courses your student will take in college. Many Christians are not prepared to recognize the worldviews underlying modern psychology.

Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psychology 101 will help prepare your student to approach psychology from a Christian perspective.

Why am I talking about evolution in Introduction to Psychology Class?

2011-02-20T22:14:00.000-05:00

Dr. Bloom asked his Psych 101 students at Yale that very question. He states:

"The good question to ask is, 'why am I talking about evolution in Introduction to Psychology class?' And the answer is that there are two ideas which come together. And in fact, they're both of the dangerous ideas. One idea is that Darwin's idea--that biological forms evolve through this purely physical process. The second idea, the rejection of Descartes, is that our minds are the product of physical things and physical events. You bring these together and it forces you to the perspective that what we are--our mental life is no less than the eye, no less than camouflage, the product of this purely physical process of natural selection. More to the point, our cognitive mechanisms were evolved not to please God, not as random accidents, but rather for the purpose of survival and reproduction."

Freud meets Darwin.

2011-02-19T00:07:00.000-05:00

In his Psychology 101 lecture at Yale University, Dr. Paul Bloom asks, from an evolutionary standpoint, "Why would an unconscious evolve?"

To deceive. To deceive ourselves, so that we can better deceive others.

Dr. Bloom explains; “deception defined broadly is simply to act or be in some way that fools others into believing or thinking or responding to something that's false.”

Animals do it. Cats arch their backs and toads make their throats swell so they look bigger and more tough than they really are.

Dr. Bloom notes that people do it too. We puff up our chests and try to trick others into believing that we're “smarter, sexier, more reliable, (and) more trustworthy” than we really are.

But there’s a catch. Humans have evolved good lie detection mechanisms. If I can tell that you are faking being tough, you lose the reproductive advantage. If you are going to pass on your genes, you need to be a really good liar.

So how do you become a good liar? Here is where the unconscious comes in. Since the best lies are the lies we believe, our ancient forebears who believed their own lies, had the evolutionary edge.

The unconscious mind evolved so that we can lie to ourselves better, so that we can lie to each other better, so that we can have an honest shot at reproducing.

Our modern skulls house a stone-age mind

2011-02-18T10:49:00.001-05:00

The Center for Evolutionary Psychology at the U. Cal. Santa Barbara says that "the goal of research in evolutionary psychology is to discover and understand the design of the human mind" and that "the mind is a set of information-processing machines that were designed by natural selection to solve adaptive problems faced by our hunter-gatherer ancestors."

Design. Designed?

Here are the 5 principles of evolutionary psychology as described by CEP.

Principle 1. The brain is a physical system. It functions as a computer. Its circuits are designed to generate behavior that is appropriate to your environmental circumstances.

Principle 2. Our neural circuits were designed by natural selection to solve problems that our ancestors faced during our species' evolutionary history.

Principle 3. Consciousness is just the tip of the iceberg; most of what goes on in your mind is hidden from you. As a result, your conscious experience can mislead you into thinking that our circuitry is simpler that it really is. Most problems that you experience as easy to solve are very difficult to solve -- they require very complicated neural circuitry.

Principle 4. Different neural circuits are specialized for solving different adaptive problems.

Principle 5. Our modern skulls house a stone age mind.

Where did that last one come from?

Alienology

2011-02-17T21:25:00.000-05:00

My son Daniel and I stumbled on this book today at Costco.

He understands now why Alienology for Christian Homeschool Students probably wouldn't be a big seller.

Just doesn't smell right.

2011-02-15T10:00:00.001-05:00

I'm registered for the GHEA Homeschool Conference, the Great Southeastern Homeschool Convention, and the Southeastern Homeschool Expo. I just wrote the description for my talk. It made me smile, and I am not prone to exuberance.

I wrote:

Why does poop stink? Evolutionary psychologists know why. In this funny and thought provoking session, Dr. Tim Rice explains why poop stinks, the “Astonishing Hypothesis,” and other examples of the worldview assumptions taught in college psychology today.

There is an excellent chance that your student will take psych 101. Did you know that psychology departments are home to some of the most anti-Christian intellectuals on college campuses? The professor is unlikely to nurture your child’s Christian worldview. He’ll probably ridicule it as unscientific, irrational, prudish, exploitive, controlling, inhibitive, oppressive, and naïve.

Modern psychology (not without exception) presumes atheism, humanism, moral relativism, and naturalistic evolution define the appropriate study of psychology. They do not. Your child is probably well prepared to refute the world’s philosophies, but in psychology, the philosophies are subtle, attractive, and difficult to recognize.

Prepare your students. Make sure they recognize when something just doesn’t smell right.

Indisputable

2011-02-10T11:16:00.000-05:00

A reader challenged me on a statement I made on HomeschoolPsych.com. Specifically the sentence;

“College-level psychology courses generally presume that atheism, evolution, and humanism are indisputable settled science.”

The reader cautioned against putting the words atheism, humanism, indisputable, and science in the same sentence. He made good points.

The snippet on the web site is taken from Homeschool Psych. It reads:

“This text asserted earlier that introductory psychology courses would challenge your Christian worldview. A major component of the challenge (or ridicule) will be epistemological in nature. Psychology professors may assert their worldview assumptions as settled science and ridicule yours as naïve and immature. Unfortunately, your Christian brothers and sisters may challenge your study of psychology as evidence of your spiritual immaturity while asserting that their particular Biblical exegesis is a God-ordained indisputable truth for the ages.”

It’s interesting that when I originally wrote “indisputable,” my tongue was in the other cheek.

I’ve been thinking about re-wording. Here are some drafts.

“Some college psychology professors teach that science has proven that the basic tenants of atheism and abiogenetic evolution are true. “

“College-level psychology courses generally presume that atheism, abiogenetic evolution, and humanism are indisputable settled fact.”

“College-level psychology courses generally presume that atheism, abiogenetic evolution, and humanism are true, and theism, intelligent design, and religious values are false.”

What do you think?

Says Who?

2011-02-09T19:28:00.004-05:00

I was asked today about my credentials (or lack thereof – depending on your perspective). What is my doctorate in, where did I go to school, and how many times have I been published in reputable scientific journals?

I majored in Psychology at the University of Georgia in the early 80s. I was there when UGA won the National Football Championship. I went there for four years, but didn’t graduate.

After Tina and I married, I completed my B.S. in Psychology at the University of Montana at Bozeman. It was known as Montana State University at the time.

In 2001 I received a Masters of Public Administration degree from Kennesaw State University in Georgia.

In 2007 I was awarded a Doctorate in Family Counseling at Amridge University. It was called Region’s University when I graduated and Southern Christian University when I enrolled. My emphasis was Professional Counseling. My dissertation was about Christian attitudes toward psychology. Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psychology 101, has roots in my dissertation.

I’m licensed by the State of Georgia as a professional counselor.

I have never been published in a scientific journal; reputable or otherwise.

Perceptual Ambiguity and Mother-in-laws.

2011-02-09T09:49:00.001-05:00

This 1888 image illustrates the concept of perceptual ambiguity. Read the text under the image. It says, "you see my wife, but where is my mother-in-law? I'd bet the guy who wrote that didn't have a wife or a mother-in-law.

Men are superior to women, they say.

2011-01-31T18:59:00.002-05:00

Richard Ruble of John Brown University wrote an article titled; How Introductory Psychology Textbooks Treat Religion.

Dr. Ruble reviewed twelve introductory psychology textbooks for their treatment of religion and matters of faith. Six texts were silent. The remaining made the following observations.

1. The main world religions teach that men are superior to women.
2. Some churches are more liberal than others.
3. The Bible does not teach evolution.
4. Roman Catholics have a lower suicide rate than Jews or Protestants.
5. An individual's belief system determines behavior.
6. Religious beliefs slowed down the development of scientific psychology.
7. Religious feelings in the Middle Ages led to a moral wickedness view of bizarre behavior
8. Auditory and visual hallucinations were important components of nascent religion.
9. The religious personality is a separate type.

Tim Rice Changed Her Facebook Profile

2011-01-31T07:28:00.002-05:00

It is true. I am a Facebook female.

I made the cyber gender swap so that I could see my Facebook ad campain. I am running one of the annoying little ads on the right banner of your Facebook page. You won’t see the ad unless you are a Christian female who likes homeschooling (a rich one). There are 2,182 of you out there (besides me). You know who you are.

Now that I am a Facebook female, I can see my cute ad and chat about it. OMG! There it is! LOL!

Tina was quite surprised at the change in our relationship. I should have warned her.

It's all their fault

2011-01-28T16:06:00.000-05:00

Class in child psychology in the home economics department at Iowa State College. Ames, Iowa. 1944

I looked up and the dog was covered in horse manure!

2011-01-25T10:27:00.000-05:00

Your beliefs about the nature of Man are fundamental to your worldview and your study of psychology. Are we the creation of a purposeful and relational God, or the product of evolutionary forces? Or both? Are we born “good?” Do we have a mind that is greater than the sum of our brain activity? Do we have a soul that survives the death of the body?

Your worldview of the nature of Man builds on your beliefs about God and the accuracy of the Bible. A Christian view of Man, or Biblical Anthropology, describes us as the purposeful creation of God, made in His image and likeness, and as sinners in rebellion against Him by nature and by choice. We were made from the dust of the earth and are part of the natural order. As such, we have much in common with the animals. We are born, we grow old, and our bodies eventually die. However, like God, we are spiritual beings. Unlike the animals, we have moral discernment, freedom to choose, and responsibility for our behavior. We experience guilt, grace, and love. We are relational beings. We have consciousness, a mind, and a soul.

Christians have an interesting debate about whether we are one, two, or three-part beings. As we will see in chapter 3, modern naturalistic psychology is united in its worldview. In that worldview, all mental life is nothing more than complex brain activity. There is no mind or soul.

Christians believe that Man is material, made from the dust of the earth. But we believe we are something more. The Bible in Genesis 1:26-26 and elsewhere is clear that there is something about us that makes us distinct from the animals. But what is the nature of our God-likeness?

God created us to be in relationship with Him. Dualism, the traditional Christian worldview, reasons that because God is spiritual (non-material), we must have a non-material nature in order to have that relationship. Dualists believe that our brains and our minds are distinct in essence, but operate in interaction. Some Christians have a trichotomous worldview, which describes Man in terms of body, mind, and soul. A Christian monist sees us as "one" in essence, as embodied souls in an irreducible unity of mind, body and soul.

It all has nothing to do with the dog. That's the chapter on Pavlov.

We are going to go right on trying to discredit you in the eyes of your children

2011-01-20T08:44:00.000-05:00

Philosopher Richard Rorty wrote,“I, like most Americans who teach humanities or social science in colleges and universities, try to arrange things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, religious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like our own ...”

“The fundamentalist parents of our fundamentalist students think that the entire American liberal establishment is engaged in a conspiracy. The parents have a point. Their point is that we liberal teachers no more feel in a symmetrical communication situation when we talk with bigots than do kindergarten teachers talking with their students ... When we American college teachers encounter religious fundamentalists, we do not consider the possibility of reformulating our own practices of justification so as to give more weight to the authority of the Christian scriptures. Instead, we do our best to convince these students of the benefits of secularization.”

“So we are going to go right on trying to discredit (your beliefs) in the eyes of your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly rather than discussable.”

If you have Creationists beliefs

2011-01-14T14:58:00.003-05:00

I found an online syllabus for a psychology class at a large state university. Here are some excerpts.

“This course includes detailed lectures and readings about emotionally charged topics such as sex, infidelity, rape, jealousy, violence, warfare, family conflict, mental illness, parasites, disease, genetic mutations, death, and birth.”

“If you are not comfortable watching videos and lectures that present graphic images of human violence, sexuality, and conflict, this is not the right course for you.”

“Also, this course may be personally challenging if you have a strong literal belief in the creation stories of the Old Testament, the Koran, the Hindu Rig-Veda and Upanishads, the Native American cultures, or other traditions.”

“If you have Creationist beliefs, you’ll have to make your own decision about whether this course is right for you.”

The Bottom Line

2011-01-14T13:41:00.000-05:00

The bottom line is this.

Beginning with Darwin’s Origin of Species, all sciences, including psychology, underwent a transformation. Scientific data were interpreted in ways to exclude supernatural beliefs and assumptions.

Psychology, once the study of the soul, became the study of the brain and behavior. Darwinian macro-evolution imposed itself on the Christian understanding of life (biology) and then tried to exclude anything Christian. Darwinian macro-evolution also imposed itself on the Christian understanding of Man (psychology) and then tried to exclude anything Christian.

It is logical that you purchase my book.

2011-01-12T08:55:00.002-05:00

1. There is an excellent chance that your child will take an introductory psychology course in college.

2. Psychology departments often are home to the most anti-Christian intellectuals on college campuses.

3. The psychology 101 professor is unlikely to nurture your child’s Christian worldview.

4. The material your student will study is generally atheistic, humanistic, and evolutionary.

5. Atheistic, humanistic, evolutionary reductionist monism is presented as settled scientific fact and embedded in major psychological theories.

6. Many Christian students are ill-prepared for modern psychology's worldview and they walk away from their faith in college.

7. There are many good books out there to teach a Christian worldview and there are many fine introductory psychology texts. But Homeschool Psych is the only one that brings the two together in a manner suitable for high school students (homeschooled or not!).

Order here!

Homeschool Psych will help prepare Christian homeschool students for Psych 101.

And then they're mine

2011-01-09T11:07:00.000-05:00

In an article titled The Real Agenda of Some College Professors R. Albert Mohler, Jr. writes,

"a significant number of professors are happy to have parents spend 18 years raising children, only to drop them off on the campus and head back home. These professors are confident that the four or so years of the college experience will be ample time to separate students from the beliefs, convictions, moral commitments, and faith of their parents."

Read the whole article here.

Is the Bible a Psychology Textbook?

2011-01-07T11:45:00.000-05:00

Textbook: A book used as a standard work for the study of a particular subject, usually one written specially for this purpose; a manual of instruction in any science or branch of study, esp. a work recognized as an authority.

Absolutely the Bible is a Psychology Textbook.

Psych in church

2011-01-07T08:43:00.000-05:00

The extent of psychology is not limited to the culture and academia. The influence of psychological theories about learning and child development, parenting practices, moral development, personality and self-esteem, problems of living, and more is widespread in the Christian church. Psychological insights influence sermons across the country and some pastors leave the pulpit for jobs in pastoral counseling or social work. Self-help books about recovery, addiction, relationships, parenting, and weight loss make up the bulk of the new Christian book titles. Often these books are based on psychological theories that are fundamentally inconsistent with a Christian worldview. You need to recognize when worldview assumptions are “Christianized” by sprinkling in a few Bible verses and mentioning Jesus. You must evaluate psychology at the worldview level (even when it is wrapped in Christian language) or you risk accepting accept ideas that are foundationally inconsistent with your Christian worldview.

New Introduction

2011-01-03T11:45:00.001-05:00

C.S. Lewis wrote, “While we are on the subject of science, let me digress for a moment. I believe that any Christian who is qualified to write a good popular book on any science may do much more good by that than by any directly apologetic work. The difficulty we are up against is this. We can make people (often) attend to the Christian point of view for half an hour or so; but the moment they have gone away from our lecture or laid down our article, they are plunged back into a world where the opposite position is taken for granted. Every newspaper, film, novel and text book under-mines our work. As long as that situation exists, widespread success is simply impossible. We must attack the enemy’s line of communication. What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects – with their Christianity latent. You can see this most easily if you look at it the other way round. Our Faith is not very likely to be shaken by any book on Hinduism. But if whenever we read an elementary book on Geology, Botany, Politics or Astronomy, we found that its implications were Hindu, that would shake us. It is not the books written in direct defense of Materialism that make the modern man a materialist; it is the materialistic assumptions in all the other books."

I agree with Dr. Lewis. It is the reason that I wrote High School Psychology: A Christian Perspective. There are many excellent works that explain a Christian Worldview and there are dozens of excellent introductory psychology texts. But there are very few introductory psychology texts that present psychology’s content from Christian perspective and none (to my knowledge) intended for high school students. The overarching objective for this text is to present psychology’s subject matter from a Christian perspective in a manner suitable for high school students. My overarching goal is to prepare Christian high school students to recognize and discern the worldview assumptions underlying the teaching in college-level psychology courses.

If you go to college, there is an excellent chance you will take an introductory (at least) psychology course. The material taught in introductory psychology courses WILL challenge your beliefs. College-level psychology courses generally presume that atheism, evolution, and humanism are indisputable. Psychology departments often are home to some of the more anti-Christian intellectuals on college campuses. Psychology professors have high levels of agnosticism and atheism and may attack your beliefs as unscientific, irrational, prudish, exploitive, controlling, inhibitive, oppressive, and naïve. Many psychology professors believe that Christianity is incompatible with sound mental health and that it contributes to human suffering.

Hopefully you are probably prepared to defend your beliefs, to define your worldview, and to refute behaviorism, humanism, and moral relativism (the core philosophical assumptions of modern psychology). In psychology classes however, the core assumptions are often subtle and difficult to recognize. Psychological philosophies are presented under the banner of “science.” Assumptions that are wholly inconsistent with your worldview are thoroughly embedded in most modern psychology courses, even at some Christian colleges and universities. Students need to be able to recognize and refute the anti-Christian and anti-scientific philosophies embedded in modern psychology. Failure to recognize anti-Christian assumptions embodied in psychological theories may lead Christian students to accept ideas that are inconsistent with a Christian worldview. Psychology courses, even in Christian colleges and universities, rarely distinguish philosophical assumptions from science.

In college you will face direct challenges from straightforward anti-Christian teaching and subtle challenges from anti-Christian assumptions embedded in otherwise benign subject matter. Many Christian students often walk away from their beliefs shortly after entering college. Failing to prepare for the subtle worldview challenges in otherwise benign material contributes to that falling away.

The goal for your study of psychology, just like your study of biology, theology, history, and every discipline, is to understand God’s creation and, in the words of Johannes Kepler, to “think God’s thoughts after him.” Instead of falling away in the face of university teaching, you have a duty to put forth a reasoned apologetic in every discipline, including psychology.

This text was written as rigorous college–level introductory course. In it you must think Christianly about psychology’s concepts, and more importantly, its underlying worldview assumptions. We will not shy-away from Christian criticisms of psychology or psychology’s criticisms of Christianity. We will explore the challenges you will face in college psychology but we will not accept that those challenges are justification for rejecting the entire academic discipline. Instead, this text suggests that the study of the soul, the mind, and behavior are right and proper and that perhaps you should bring your worldview with you and become part of the future intellectual leadership of psychology.

Editors needed

2010-12-31T10:36:00.000-05:00

I need your help if you're willing. I need editorial review. I am going to post sections of my new textbook at Homeschool Psych.

I'd appreciate any comments or suggestions.

I Intelligently Disagree

2010-12-16T08:38:00.001-05:00

In at least two prestigious Tier 1 Universities, Intro Psych is taught from a thoroughgoingly evolutionary perspective. The professors are excellent. They give fascinating descriptions of psychological phenomenon, but they explicitly interpret the phenomenon in the context of human evolution.

Dr. Bloom at Yale University described two foundational ideas of modern psychology.

#1 All mental life is the product of a material physical brain.

I can accept that from a scientist. After all, local imaging techniques have allowed scientists “see” the parts of the brain at work. Scientists have even been able to simulate feelings of closeness with God by stimulating precise brain areas. But Dr. Bloom takes a metaphysical next step by suggesting that therefore, there is no Mind, Soul, or Spirit separate from our physical brain.

I am unaware of one shred of scientific evidence to support his theory. I believe that I have a Mind that is separate from and inexorably (in this life) connected to my brain. I am unaware of one shred of scientific evidence to support my theory either.

#2 The second foundational idea of modern psychology, according to Dr. Bloom, is that our mental life has its origins in the (ever increasingly) less complex mental lives of our ancestors. Even our “highest” mental capacities are the result of variation and natural selection.

Suffice it to say, I intelligently disagree.

The stinkiness of poop.

2010-12-10T11:37:00.001-05:00

Does psychologist poop stink? If so, why?

I’m still listening to Professor Bloom’s lectures. He makes the case that evolution provides the best perspective from which to study psychology. Even the psychology of why poop stinks.

Dr. Bloom makes a fascinating and compelling argument for Dr. Francis Crick’s “astonishing hypothesis,” the theory that all human experience is nothing more than the result of electrical-chemical reactions in the brain.

Every thing about us, our senses, language, rationality, emotions, and the stinkiness of poop, evolved and serve to give us reproductive advantage.

It would be scary to openly support creationism in Dr. Bloom’s class. He makes the transition from renowned psychology professor to religious philosopher smoothly and with confidence.

It is getting deep.

I'm going in.

2010-12-09T08:24:00.001-05:00

I have been viewing taped introductory Psychology lectures by Dr. Paul Bloom. Dr. Bloom is Professor of Psychology at Yale University.

There are 20 lectures. The next four are noteworthy for their titles.

#9 Evolution, Emotion, and Reason: Love (Guest Lecture by Professor Peter Salovey)
#10 Evolution, Emotion, and Reason: Evolution and Rationality
#11 Evolution, Emotion, and Reason: Emotions, Part I
#12 Evolution, Emotion, and Reason: Emotions, Part II

I’m going in. If I don’t come back, send reinforcements.

Bah humbug

2010-12-08T06:23:00.000-05:00

Today the professor taught that the scientific consensus is that dualism is wrong. There is no "you" separable or separate from your body. There is no "you" separable from your brain. We are nothing more than what our brains do.

Bah humbug!

Is. Is not.

2010-12-07T14:30:00.000-05:00

Psychology is not a harmless academic discipline nor is it inherently anti-Christian.

Psychology is a potentially dangerous academic discipline because its modern expression is generally anti-Christian.

And don't come back.

2010-12-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

I remember inviting Bill to my church. Bill had schizophrenia. He was one of the first people with schizophrenia that I met at the mental health center.

I invited him to my church. Doing so might have gotten me fired, but that’s what we do, right? He came one Sunday, but he wouldn’t sit in my pew near the front. He wanted to sit in the back. A couple of times, when everyone else was quiet, I heard Bill giggle. He giggled a lot.

The next Monday in day treatment I thanked Bill for coming and invited him back. He said he wouldn’t come back. He told me that someone had told him that he needed to go somewhere else to church.

Bill hallucinated and he had delusions, but I believed him.

Spiders, snakes, and elevators

2010-12-04T13:13:00.001-05:00

I have been listening to Intro Psychology lectures by renowned professors at two prestigious top-tier universities. These are schools we’d love for our kids to be accepted for admission.

I learned today that talking to God is delusional. Believing that one can turn water into wine was an illustration of the delusions often accompanying mania.

I learned that phobias are a type of protective psychological response that has evolved and been passed down from our early ancestors.

Early humans, as the theory goes, who were frightened of spiders and snakes and elevators were more likely to survive and pass on their genes.

The Lunatic Asylum of the State of Georgia

2010-12-02T18:17:00.001-05:00

I stumbled onto the 1860 federal census of the Lunatic Asylum of the State of Georgia. The Lunatic Asylum was later known as the State Asylum for the Insane, the Georgia State Sanitarium, Milledgeville State Hospital, and now Central State Hospital.

The census begins with a note that reads “Dr. T.F. Greene, Physician of the Asylum refuses to give more than the initial letters of the names of the patients and is contrary to the rules of the institution.”

Good for Dr. Greene!

The census lists everyone who was in the asylum and notes their diagnosis. The diagnoses were Lunatic, Insane, Dwarf, Deaf, Dumb, and Idiot. It was a long list of names, 5 diagnoses. In my 15 years in the state mental health system, I met a couple idiots, but no one with that diagnosis.

Following the entry for patient M., there is a note that reads “These five with two others, also lunatics are of the same family.” As my friend David once said, genetics are all hereditary.

General Paralysis of the Insane

2010-12-02T11:19:00.000-05:00

Dementia Paralytica, or General Paralysis of the Insane (GPI), accounted for 13% of admissions to mental hospitals at the beginning of the 1900s. First described in 1798, the symptoms of GPI included loss of personality and memories, mania, poor judgment, apathy, violence, and convulsions. It was eventually fatal. Today GPI accounts for no admissions to mental hospitals. It has disappeared.

Wonder why?

The great seduction in preparation for the antichrist.

2010-11-29T10:41:00.003-05:00

I wrote previously that I would connect Jesus’ High Priestly prayer with Christian attitudes toward counseling psychology. That connection is the point for this post.

It wasn’t long after I started work at the community mental health center when a friend and I were talking about my new job. My friend asked “how can you be a Christian and work in this field?”

I did not understand the question.

I did not realize at that time that there were Christians who had serious objection to psychiatry specifically and psychology in general. I did not realize at the time that some had called counseling psychology “the great seduction in preparation for the antichrist.”

No kidding. Serious objections.

I did not understand that many Christians view the Bible as the sufficient and sole source of information for the care of minds. If the Bible is sufficient, to the exclusion of extra-biblical knowledge, then all non-biblical counseling is a dangerous substitute for biblical remedies. If the Bible is sufficient to deal with all problems of living, it is sufficient to deal with attention-deficit disorder, major depression, schizophrenia, and all the other problems of living that affect Christians and non Christians alike.

When I started my work at the community mental health center I did not understand how whacked-out much of psychiatry and psychology really was. All theories of personality (from which theories of treatment follow) are grounded in assumptions about the nature of Mankind. Many of the major theorists behind the theories of treatment (e.g. Freud, Jung, Maslow, Rogers) were clear that is was their intent to find scientific alternatives to Biblical remedies. None of the major theorists prescribed or practiced biblical spiritual discipline or a biblical moral life.

Many Christian clinicians integrate biblical remedies in their theoretical framework and prescribe medications conservatively, but it is not an easy fit.

When I started at the mental health center I did not realize how pervasive mental pain and suffering was. Pervasive in north Georgia and in its churches. I’ve met many sincere Christians who struggle with mental illness. I’ve met more than a few who hoped that medication would alleviate the consequences of bad living. In either case, it seems that few, at least here in north Georgia, turn to the church. Some, like the pastor’s wife, go to the community mental health center. Many go to their primary care physician. Most just deal with it; which brings me to Jesus’ prayer.

Whenever I hear Christians arguing about doctrinal fine points, I think of Jesus’ prayer that we be “one.” Whenever Christians argue about whether there is any such thing as Christian counseling, I am reminded that Jesus prayed that we would have unity. If we were unified about caring for one another when our minds hurt, we might put the community mental health centers out of business. I think that’s what Jesus would do.

Today if my friend asked how I can be a Christian and work in this field, I would tell her about the pastor’s wife and ask how she can be a Christian and not work with me.

She wasn't spiritual enough.

2010-11-19T09:52:00.001-05:00

She was one of the most nervous people I have ever met.

She wasn’t the "bad nerves" kind of nervous that usually brought patients to the mental health clinic. She was the "I just did something really bad and I’m afraid I’ll get caught" kind of nervous. She asked if there was a back door through which she could leave when the appointment was over. She had managed to not be seen going into a mental health clinic. She was terrified that someone would see her leaving.

You see, no one knew she was there. Her husband the pastor didn’t know she was there. The deacons’ wives didn’t know and the ladies in the WMU didn’t know that she was going to a mental health center. She had been depressed, terribly depressed for a very long time, but as a good pastor’s wife she dressed up and smiled pretty every Sunday and Wednesday. She sang in the choir, cooked casseroles, and taught Sunday school while she thought about killing herself. She hadn’t told anyone.

I asked her why. She said she was a pastor’s wife and people would think she wasn’t spiritual enough. She was probably right.

If a stinky dirty drunk sinner’s house burns, Christians are right there with food, clothes, and shelter. No questions asked. If a typhoon destroys a Muslim village, we’re there. But if a pastor’s wife is depressed and thinking about killing herself…do we even want to hear about it?

The pastor's wife never came back to the clinic. I see her around town sometimes. Her nice clothes and pretty smile make me sad and angry. While Christians argue about whether it is proper to incorporate secular counseling techniques, pastors wives suffer alone and in silence.

What does this have to do with high school psychology from a Christian perspective? Plenty.

Debate, argument, and (sometimes) name-calling

2010-11-18T12:33:00.003-05:00

Epworth Georgia doesn’t have a gas station, grocery store, or even a Starbucks, but it does have a great little used bookstore (http://www.higdonsbookstore.com/). If you are in Epworth, check it out.

While in Higdon's last week I found and bought 3 classics. Two were written by Jay Adams (The Christian Counselor’s Manual and Competent to Counsel) and one by Martin & Deidre Bobgan (The Psychological Way/The Spiritual Way).

Dr. Adams and the Bobgans are standard bearers for “Biblical counseling.”

In The Christian Counselor’s Manual Dr. Adams writes, “There are, in the Scriptures, only three specified sources of personal problems in living: demonic activity (principally possession), personal sin, and organic illness. These three are interrelated. All options are covered under these heads, leaving no room for a fourth: non-organic mental illness. There is, therefore, no place in a biblical scheme for the psychiatrist as separate practitioner.”

In contrast, Christianpsychiatry.com writes of “Christian counseling;”

Christians are not perfect. Christians can get sick just like anyone else. Christians have emotional and spiritual problems just like everyone else. Chemical imbalances strike the brains of Christians just like they strike others. Even the heroes of the Bible occasionally fell prey to anxiety, depression or grave spiritual problems.

If you are a Christian suffering from intense spiritual or emotional problems, you have all the hope in the world! With God's help, Christians are treatable with excellent results in almost every case. The goal of christianpsychiatry.com is to assist you in finding a qualified Christian Psychiatrist, Psychologist, Therapist or Counselor near your home.

“Biblical” counseling is to “Christian” counseling as Barack Obama is to George Bush. They’re both presidents and politicians, but the agreement stops there. Biblical counselors and Christian counselors are Christians and counselors, but the agreement stops there.

When I read the debate, argument, and (sometimes) name-calling between Biblical and Christian counselors over the causes and cures for mental suffering, I am reminded of three things. I am reminded of Jesus’ high priestly prayer. I am reminded that psychiatry and psychology are not synonymous. I am reminded of the pastor’s wife who came for counseling at the community mental health center.

I will write about each of those remembrances in my next posts.

Don't forget the algebra!

2010-11-15T10:18:00.006-05:00

In a blog post dated March 17, 2010 at http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/love-in-time-homeschooling/201003/short-term-homeschooling-why-bother, Dr. Laura Brodie writes, "The word 'homeschooling' makes some people cringe. They envision a fundamentalist Christian Mom teaching creationism at the kitchen table, or a counter-culture bohemian, making tie-dye shirts and ignoring algebra."

Hey honey, don't forget the algebra!

www.tinastiedye.com

Room with a (world) view

2010-11-12T00:19:00.002-05:00

Everyone has a worldview.

Yours includes your beliefs about God. God exists or He does not. Your worldview includes whether you believe in God, what you believe about God (His character), and the extent to which He influences your life. A Christian worldview holds that there is one true God who is personal, loving, just, infinite, self-revealing, all-powerful, all-knowing, ever present, self-existent, sovereign, and eternal.

Your worldview includes your beliefs about Mankind. We are inherently “good” or we are not. We are the purposeful creation of God or we are not. A Christian worldview sees Mankind as created in the likeness and image of God and as sinners in rebellion against God by nature and by choice.

Your worldview includes your beliefs about right and wrong; whether there are absolute rules governing human behavior. A Christian worldview recognizes the moral absolutes described in Scripture and lived by Jesus.

Your worldview includes your beliefs about the nature of knowledge. The scientific method is the only way we can “know” anything or it is not. A Christian worldview holds that God reveals Himself in creation (nature), the Bible, and supremely in His Son. A Christian worldview sees the universe operating in accordance with orderly natural laws but allows for supernatural intervention.

Your worldview includes your beliefs about the causes of and cures for mental suffering. Pain, suffering, and guilt have meaning and purpose or are unfortunate circumstances to be avoided at all costs. A Christian worldview holds that through pain we are refined and made more Christ-like. The Christian worldview believes that redemption and restoration make us “whole” but that “wholeness” does not necessarily equal ease and comfort.

Your worldview does not include your beliefs about college football. Some things are obvious. Go Dawgs!

Of course you can. But should you?

2010-11-09T00:43:00.001-05:00

I was asked once "can I teach psychology using a secular text supplemented with worldview material?" Of course you can, but should you?

C.S. Lewis wrote, “While we are on the subject of science, let me digress for a moment. I believe that any Christian who is qualified to write a good popular book on any science may do much more good by that than by any directly apologetic work. The difficulty we are up against is this. We can make people (often) attend to the Christian point of view for half an hour or so; but the moment they have gone away from our lecture or laid down our article, they are plunged back into a world where the opposite position is taken for granted. Every newspaper, film, novel and text book under-mines our work. As long as that situation exists, widespread success is simply impossible. We must attack the enemy’s line of communication. What we want is not more little books about Christianity, but more little books by Christians on other subjects – with their Christianity latent. You can see this most easily if you look at it the other way round. Our Faith is not very likely to be shaken by any book on Hinduism. But if whenever we read an elementary book on Geology, Botany, Politics or Astronomy, we found that its implications were Hindu, that would shake us. It is not the books written in direct defense of Materialism that make the modern man a materialist; it is the materialistic assumptions in all the other books."

Pieces and Parts

2010-11-07T09:29:00.000-05:00

Biblical anthropology is that part of theology dealing with the nature of Mankind. The foundation of Biblical anthropology and, by extension, the foundation of a Christian approach to the study of psychology is that, on the one hand, Mankind was created by a loving God in His image. On the other hand, Mankind was made from the dust of the earth and is part of the “natural” order. We are both God-like and animal-like. Physically, we are like the animals. We are born, we grow old, and our bodies eventually die. However, like God, we are spiritual beings. As such, a comprehensive psychological description of the nature of Mankind must recognize our God-likeness. Though created in the image of God, the fall changed us. We are all sinners by birth and by choice; restored and renewed in salvation and sanctification. Unlike the animals, we have moral discernment, freedom to choose, and responsibility for our behavior. We are relational beings. We are more than products of conditioning, unmet needs, chemical imbalances, and traumas. We are not autonomous, we are more than the sum of our parts, and more than complex machines in closed cause-and-effect systems.

Truth

2010-11-05T20:25:00.002-04:00

Truth is not merely a personal preference. It is objective and absolute and can be diligently searched out.

Psychology is much more than counseling

2010-11-04T10:35:00.000-04:00

The debate between thoughtful Christians about the causes of and cures for mental pain is very interesting. Because counseling psychology comes so close to the heart of the Gospel message, the debate sometimes gets ugly. I have noticed something about the Christian community that I think is related to the sometimes-vitriolic nature of the debate.

Find a homeschool curriculum seller’s catalog or website. Look for a text to teach intro psych. You probably will not find one (other than Homeschool Psych). I think one reason is that when Christians hear the word “psychology” they equate it with personality theory, Sigmund Freud, and psychotherapy. I wonder if, because Christians get so “fired up” about counseling psychology and equate counseling psychology with the entire discipline, many Christians decide they wouldn’t touch the entire subject with a 10 foot pole.

Psychology is much more than counseling. Psychology is about the brain, behavior, perception, motivation, learning, memory, thought, personality, and more. We’re caught in a downward spiral. Without Christian thought leaders in psychology (in the broad sense) we are inadequately represented in psychology in the more narrow counseling sense. In the meantime, the study of the wonders of the human brain is left to non-Christians

Professor Boring

2010-11-02T09:41:00.000-04:00

At UGA in 1983 I took a History of Psychology course. The text for the course was E.G. Boring’s “A History of Experimental Psychology” (1929). Professor Boring, no kidding. It was, and still is, a definitive history.

In one of my many moves over the years, I lost it. While writing Homeschool Psych I really needed it. My beautiful wife found a copy and bought it for me.

Thanks, honey.

Over the top?

2010-10-28T09:46:00.000-04:00

Read Matthew 22:37. What does it mean to love the Lord your God with all your heart? What does it mean to love the Lord with all your mind? What is the nature of your “heart?” What is the nature of your “mind?” Does loving the Lord with our mind include a duty to humbly investigate God’s creation? Does the duty to humbly investigate God’s creation extend to His grandest creation: Mankind? Does that duty extend to Mankind’s mind? If so, one could argue that Christians have a duty to study psychology. If Christ is Lord of all, He is Lord of theology, education, biology, homeschooling, and psychology.

Criticism

2010-10-19T12:30:00.001-04:00

I found a blog entry about Homeschool Psych at http://www.odonnellweb.com/?p=3953

The blogger wrote:

Apparently, Christian homeschoolers need special help preparing to deal with the shattering of their world view when forced to take Psych 101 in college. So of course there is somebody willing to sell gullible fundies a textbook and curriculum. Note that when he says “be prepared” he means be indoctrinated deeply enough that you will get through the course without learning anything that will damage your precious world view.

His approach seems to be modeled on the tactics of the Intelligent Design quacks in that he encourages Christians to embrace psychology and make it fit into a Christian world view. The idea that maybe, just maybe the scientists are right and the world view is wrong never enters the conversation.

If you aren’t willing to embrace both side of an argument you are wasting your time because you won’t learn anything. Maybe that is the point? Is Psych 101 at the typical college so powerful that it could wipe out 18 years of brainwashing? I went to an engineering school. We didn’t have to take Psych 101

My reply:

Hi Chris. I’m Dr. Tim. I wrote Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psychology 101. Thanks for taking the time to visit my site and share your thoughts.

You make an excellent point when you write "If you aren't willing to embrace both sides of an argument you are wasting your time because you won't learn anything." I tried hard in the book to explain where modern psychology and a Christian worldview intersect. Worldviews are matters of faith not science. I think everyone needs to understand how worldviews influence the interpretation of scientific data (especially in the social sciences).

I expect my students to wrestle with scientific data that appears to conflict with a Christian worldview. Nobody likes a "gullible" fundie. I like my fundies to be thoughtful and well-informed.

2010-10-15T20:51:00.000-04:00

One of the first college courses I took was Psych 101. I was not prepared for the worldview assumptions underlying modern psychology. The professor challenged & ridiculed everything I held dear. I, like many young Christians, “walked away” from my faith shortly after starting college. I do not want your student’s first exposure to psychology to be Psych 101 in college.

I believe parents should prepare students to approach psychology from a Christian perspective. That is why I wrote Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psychology 101 - Dr. Tim Rice

Melissa's review of Homeschool Psych

2010-05-28T19:26:00.000-04:00

Dr. Timothy Rice’s psychology textbook, Homeschool Psych, which is written from a Christian perspective, is exactly the curriculum Christian high school students need before they leave home and attend college. Aimed at homeschooled students, Dr. Rice’s book does a wonderful job covering all the material needed for an introduction to psychology text book. The goal of the course, as stated in the subtitle, is to prepare Christian homeschool students for Psychology 101. As the teens learn about psychology, they are being prepared to resist the brainwashing of college psychology professors. Dr. Rice includes assignments and additional research sources in the text in order to encourage students to explore beyond what was covered in the thirteen chapter book. Throughout the entire book it is clear that Dr. Rice filters all his psychological knowledge through his obviously Christian worldview. As a result, students using Homeschool Psych will be first exposed to psychology from a Christian perspective. In the introduction, Dr. Rice stated that, “Whatever you believe about psychology, the time to address academic psychology is BEFORE leaving home to go to college.” Dr. Rice is completely correct in this statement and his textbook is the best way for homeschooling families to prepare their children for college psychology.

2010-05-16T15:28:00.001-04:00

Psychology is complex and multi-faceted. Psychology is also one of the more controversial subjects among Christians today. In Homeschool Psych I ask students to think about psychology’s history, subject matter, philosophies, and controversies through a Christian worldview. In this book students to decide for themselves psychology has a place alongside biology, chemistry, and physics in their education and to decide how psychology fits (if it fits at all) with their worldview.

What do you believe?

2010-05-13T07:40:00.000-04:00

What do you believe about God?
What do you believe about the nature of Mankind?
What do you believe about the nature of knowledge?
What do you believe about the nature of right and wrong?
What do you believe about the causes of and cures for mental suffering?

It's Time

2010-05-10T20:12:00.001-04:00

It's time and I'm ready. It's time to write an introductory psychology course for a broader population. Christian high school students.

It's time.

New Review at Rainbow Resource Center

2009-07-10T19:25:00.002-04:00

Megan wrote a review of Homeschool Psych for Rainbow Resource. It's at http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Homeschool+Psych%3A+Preparing+Christian+Homeschool+Students+for+Psych+101/042513/1247267340-795327

She writes "the author argues that Christians should familiarize themselves with psychology, know what is taught, and be prepared to know why they believe what they believe." As the author, I can say she's right on!

I Googled myself

2009-04-15T19:31:00.001-04:00

I "Googled" Homeschool Psych tonight. It made me smile. Lots of people have read it my book, recommended it to others, and written nice things about it.

Someone at homeschoolingtogether.com wrote:

" Rice offers a thoughtful explanation of the Christian worldview."

That's a very nice comment.

No one has said it stinks. That's good too.

Big problem

2009-01-20T06:22:00.000-05:00

Most students’ first exposure to psychology will be in an introductory course in college. I think that’s a big problem; especially for homeschoolers. Buy my book and find out why and what to do about it.

Psycho-babbles: Dummies

2009-01-11T21:35:00.001-05:00

I’ll be paying for my graduate studies for a long, long time. After seeing the list of self-help titles from Wiley Publishing (http://www.dummies.com/store/Self-Help-Relationships.html), I feel like a real dummy. Think I’ll order a few for the waiting room.

Addiction & Recovery For Dummies.

Anger Management For Dummies.

Anxiety & Depression For Dummies.

Bipolar Disorder For Dummies.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies.

Depression For Dummies.

Grieving For Dummies.

Happiness For Dummies.

Hypnotherapy For Dummies.

Making Marriage Work For Dummies.

Meditation For Dummies.

Neuro-linguistic Programming for Dummies.

Psycho-babbles: I can't get no....

2009-01-09T20:27:00.001-05:00

An international research organization has concluded that organized people live longer. I'm toast.

Psycho-babbles: Here’s looking at you.

2009-01-08T19:14:00.001-05:00

Some researchers did a study. They showed participants photographs of couples in their first year of marriage and of the same couples after 25 years of marriage. They concluded that people who live with each other for 25 years actually develop similar facial features.

Poor Tina.

Psycho-babbles: 1 in 5 people

2009-01-06T19:23:00.001-05:00

I read a study today that says nearly one in five adults suffers from a psychiatric disorder such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or social anxiety disorder.

I have 26 new Facebook friends. You do the math.

Psycho-babbles: New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-05T23:13:00.004-05:00

A mental health organization has written that deciding to make New Year’s resolutions could actually do you more harm than good. They urged people not to feel they must start 2009 full of resolutions for self improvement. The article suggests that resolutions which focused on physical imperfections, such as losing weight, created a negative self image and led to feelings of hopelessness, failure, and inadequacy.

I resolve to make no more resolutions.

Matthew 22:37

2008-10-16T16:43:00.000-04:00

Read Matthew 22:37. What does it mean to love the Lord your God with all your heart? What does it mean to love the Lord with all your mind? What is the nature of your “heart?” What is the nature of your “mind?” Does loving the Lord with our mind include a duty to humbly investigate God’s creation? Does the duty to humbly investigate God’s creation extend to His grandest creation: Mankind? Does that duty extend to Mankind’s mind? If so, one could argue that Christians have a duty to study psychology. If Christ is Lord of all, He is Lord of theology, education, biology, homeschooling, and psychology.

2008-10-10T14:23:00.001-04:00

The study of the soul, the mind, and behavior are right and proper for Christians. Christian students should join the contemporary psychological conversation and become part of the future intellectual leadership in psychology.

Unsympathetic Psychology Professor Problems

2008-07-28T14:44:00.001-04:00

University level instruction in modern psychology is generally atheistic and humanistic. Psychology departments often are home to the most anti-Christian intellectuals on college campuses. As a group, psychology professors have high levels of agnosticism, skepticism, and atheism. The psychology professor is unlikely to be sympathetic to your Christian worldview and may attack your faith as unscientific, irrational, prudish, exploitive, controlling, inhibitive, oppressive, and naïve. Many in psychology suggest that Christianity is incompatible with sound mental health and that the Christian faith contributes more to human suffering than to its alleviation.

2008-07-15T14:41:00.001-04:00

Christian students are often ill prepared to confront the criticisms of Christianity and the anti-Christian worldview presented by modern psychology. The material taught in introductory psychology courses WILL challenge your worldview.

Prepare Your Students

2008-06-23T09:57:00.001-04:00

If your student goes to college, there is an excellent chance he/she will take an introductory (at least) psychology course. Psychology is one of the most controversial and divisive academic subjects among Christians today. Some Christians accept psychology wholesale, some reject it entirely, and some wrestle with which aspects to accept and which to reject. Some Christians view psychology as an important academic discipline, consistent with a Christian worldview, and worthy of study. Others view psychology as an idolatrous and ungodly rival religion. Some describe it as “psychobabble,” “psycho-heresy,” and the most deadly form of modernism to ever confront the Church. Whatever you believe about psychology, I encourage you to address academic psychology BEFORE your student leaves home to go to college.

Worldview

2008-06-12T09:53:00.003-04:00

In introductory psychology classes, core worldview assumptions are often subtle and difficult to recognize. Psychology’s worldview assumptions are presented under the banner of “science” and are often subtle and difficult to recognize. Failure to recognize anti-Christian assumptions embodied in a psychological theories may lead Christian students to accept ideas that are inconsistent with a Christian worldview.

What About Homeschool Psych?

2008-05-01T09:17:00.004-04:00

Lynn Hogan, former editor of The Homeschooler’s Notebook:

Psychology has been one subject that has often intimidated homeschooling parents. Those who are Christians often are concerned that there is no room for their faith in the study of psychology. Many of us have worried about what is going to happen to our children when they go to college and are faced with needing to take a psychology course. Dr. Tim Rice’s curriculum HOMESCHOOL PSYCH: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students for Psychology 101 takes a lot of the worry and confusion out of preparing your student for College Psychology.

One thing that Christians are often accused of is ignoring accepted research methods and empirical data. This curriculum accepts the value of Biblical and supernatural knowledge, but does not consider empirical research as having no value. That’s the kind of balance shown throughout the curriculum. The author believes a Christian worldview recognizes the value of “putting ideas to the test”. It is a wonderful balance of the science and the Scriptures.

The curriculum itself is detailed and includes twelve in-depth chapters. Each chapter includes assignments that include definitions, writing assignments, researching assignments with specific websites or topics, and scripture readings. Dr. Rice does not just explain things well (always a plus), but he also lets your student do his own research to see how and why the conclusions mentioned are correct. The curriculum is PRACTICAL, covering such topics as Modern Psychology, biological components of psychology, drugs, personality tests and so very much more.

This is definitely a high school level course. The vocabulary is mature and Dr. Rice wants your student to see what the world’s view is and what a Christian Worldview is and how they differ. This requires a level of maturity that many students will not reach until upper high school levels.

I’m impressed with the program and wish it had been around when my children were growing up. Without having the tools to know specifically the things they would be taught in their first psychology class, I was at a disadvantage when the questions started coming up during that freshman year of college. This curriculum would have equipped both my children and myself to have an appropriate answer.

Lynn Hogan is the former editor of The Homeschooler’s Notebook. Lynn homeschooled both of her children through high school. They have each graduated from college and are successful in their fields. Lynn still gives workshops on homeschooling topics for support groups and conventions. She can be reached at lynn.hogan@gmail.com

R.O.C.K. Solid

2008-05-01T07:26:00.000-04:00

I am honored that R.O.C.K. Solid has chosen to include Homeschool Psych among their fine "featured products." offerings. Here are R.O.C.K. Solid's comments from their web site (www.rocksolidinc.com)

"Are they ready for it? Can they look under the banner of “science” taught in a classroom and defend their Christian faith with surety? Can you? Have your students prepared for the dangers of modern psychology and provide them with a framework in which they can study the wonders of the soul, the mind, the brain, and behavior through a Christian worldview, while they are still in high school" "Even if your high schooler is not planning on attending college, I suggest that you review this for their high school studies. It is the only resource available to the home school family that not only addresses issues they will face in the required college course, PSYCH 101, but also addresses what they will face outside the class room, i.e., discussions at the local coffee shop, sunday school classes, or the water cooler at work. Presented in a well-designed text book format with a workbook, quizzes, and answer keys."

Just for fun?

2008-04-30T22:41:00.000-04:00

I received an email asking if Homeschool Psych would be good reading material for a 8th or 9th grader. Here is my reply: I think my book is good reading material, but I think that most 8th and 9th grader's time would be better spent on "core" academic subjects and really good literature. There's really nothing in my book that a bright 9th grader can't understand, but I think it's better to wait till closer to graduation.