Science, Religion, and Health

Psychology and theology interface at four levels: theory development, research process, data collection, and clinical operation. At each level they connect in the model of humanness (anthropology) forming and functioning there; and in that model of humanness it is in personality theory that psychology illumes theology and that psychology illumines theology. A theologian who does not take full advantage of the way psychology illumines theology is not serious about the work of theology. A psychologist who does not take full advantage of the way theology illumines psychology is not serious about the field and practice of psychology. Science, Religion, and Health explains in readable style how that interface and mutual illumination works, and why it is crucial for Christian psychotherapists and pastors.

""The human's search for meaning is the focus of theological and psychological research. Each discipline enriches the other. Few experts are better trained and experienced in helping theology and psychology become mutually beneficial than Professor Dr. Harold Ellens. Science and religion enhance our search for a healthy and meaningful life.""
--James H. Charlesworth, Director and Editor, Princeton Dead Sea Scrolls Project; George L. Collord Professor of New Testament Language and Literature, Princeton Theological Seminary


J. Harold Ellens holds a PhD in clinical psychology from Wayne State University and a PhD in Second Temple Judaism and Christian Origins from the University of Michigan. He has served fifteen congregations in his sixty years of ministry. Ellens maintained a church-based private psychotherapy practice from 1965 to 2016, served thirty-seven years as an active-duty and reserve-forces army chaplain, retired as an army colonel, and published many volumes, mostly on the interface of psychology and spirituality.