Why Psych Sermons?
Why did I name my Substack Psych Sermons? I just thought that was a clever way to reference the two topics I will write about the most, psychology and Christianity. Perhaps some articles will be sermon-esque, but mostly I just want to write about things in psychology that are relevant to Christianity.
In my day job, I teach psychology, which often leads me to think about the ways in which concepts and studies from psychology can apply within a a Christian context. For example, this week I am teaching about conditioning and I discuss with my students how conditioning may inadvertently play a role in strengthening their faith, but also in weakening their faith. Eventually, I’ll probably write more about that here.
On the other hand, when I’m at church, reading the Bible or other Christian books, or see what Christians are talking about on social media, I often think about how it relates to psychology. For example, the Enneagram became popular among Christians several years ago so I started writing about and researching it because it’s ultimately a personality system.
Because I have already done a lot of professional work critiquing the Enneagram, I’ll write several articles about it here, especially early on, but don’t worry, that won’t be the only thing I talk about. Many sermon illustrations, spiritual growth advice, and evangelism methods, all draw on psychology and will be just some of the topics I touch on.
One thing I plan to do that I’m excited about is a journal club sub-series where I evaluate scientific journal articles that are somewhat relevant to Christianity in some way. I often hear people say things like “a study showed xyz” but they didn’t actually read the study or understand it. I want to make sure I’m understanding these claims myself and reading the original work is the best place to start. I’m particularly hoping that people will send requests for articles to evaluate so if you hear about a study that you want to know more about and discuss, let me know.