It is because psychology, as religion, is concerned with the consideration of the human condition that it is a subject that not only intrigues but also troubles Christians. The concerns are that religious experience will be rationalized and therefore discredited from a scientific viewpoint. The authors take issue with the fact that science is necessarily atheistic and secular, arguing rather that ‘believing that both the natural and biblical data reveal God’s truth, we can allow scientific and theological perspectives to challenge and inform each other’.

The two authors are both professors of psychology and also evangelical Christians. During the study of their subject they have come across various tensions between psychology and religion. At times they feel that psychology may in fact illuminate their Christian experience, while at other times their Christian experience leads them to reject certain contemporary psychological viewpoints. They have used their own experiences to write a book which is aimed primarily at students embarking for the first time on a course of psychology. Their obvious concern is that such students should be open to the challenges which psychology poses, but should also realize that however objective a science may claim to be, it is nevertheless influenced in a subtle way by its practitioners’ own preferences and beliefs—their ‘hidden values and assumptions’.

The book is divided into a total of 16 parts, with 30 chapters altogether. The headings of the chapters are chosen to resemble an introductory psychology text. The issues dealt with range from the biological bases of behaviour through to the various psychological functions such as memory, emotion and thinking, and then on to psychological disorders and their treatment, social psychology and finally psychology of religion. In such a wide-ranging book consisting of only 200 or so pages, it is inevitable that coverage of some topics is superficial. There is a guide to further reading at the end of each chapter, however, although this is mostly composed of Christian critiques rather than psychological works. There are some disappointing omissions. In particular, there is no real critique of scientific methodology or of the interpretation of data. The various schools of psychological thought are not fully explained and psycho-dynamic explanations are not considered at all.

The book will, however, provide a stimulus to further reading and is particularly strong on arguing for a non-apologetic approach to Christianity. The authors’ thesis is that events can be both intelligible in natural terms, and also have spiritual meaning at the same time. Natural explanations do not discount spiritual understanding. Although this book is not likely to have wide appeal, it could certainly be recommended to evangelical Christians apprehensive at the thought of entering into the study of psychology for the first time.

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