Document: Willem J. Ouweneel, Heart and Soul: A Christian View of Psychology (Jordan Station, ON.: Paideia Press, 2008).

Excerpt: Quite a number of people come into contact with a psychologist at some time or other. During childhood they may have had to take a psychological test, perhaps at school; or perhaps they took such a test later in life during a medical examination for military service, or when applying for a certain position. There are also people who have made the acquaintance of an industrial psychologist or have been treated by a so-called clinical psychologist when they were undergoing psychological problems. But in all these examples we’re talking only about applied psychology. There are also many psychologists who engage in scientific research. Ordinarily, the public is largely unaware of their work. These psychologists study such matters as emotions and sense perception (sight, sound, smell, taste) and learning processes and creativity and mental disorders and intelligence and instincts. From this list we can see that psychologists are involved with a tremendous range of problems, and it is very difficult to spell out just what all those problems have in common. Or perhaps I could put the question as follows: In all of that research, what could we identify as the psychological?

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Heart and Soul – A Christian View of Psychology – W.J. Ouweneel.pdf