INTEGRATION AT ANOTHER LEVEL.

Worthington, Everett L., Jr.

INTEGRATION AT ANOTHER LEVEL

Jeeves, M. & Brown, L. S. (2009).

Neuroscience, psychology, and religion: Illusions, delusions, and realities about human nature. West Conshohocken, PA: Templeton Foundation Press. Paper. 160 pp. $17.95. ISBN 978-1-59947-147-1.

Malcolm Jeeves, CBE, FRSE, is an Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland). He was formerly the President of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is founder of the Department of Psychology at St. Andrews University. His research interests include both cognitive and neuropsychology.

Warren S. Brown, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology at Fuller Theological Seminary. He is Director of the Lee Edward Travis Research Institute at Fuller Theological Seminary, and he also holds a position as a member of the UCLA Brain Research Institute.

For most of the readers of the Journal of Psychology and Theology, the integration of psychology and theology involves the field of psychotherapy as seen through a lens of theologically conservative evangelical Christianity. Early writings by Collins (1972), Crabb (1975, 1978), and Carter and Narramore (1979) and other practitioners of integration tended to bring four perspectives to bear on the way that people talked about theology and psychotherapy. One approach considers nothing but Scripture. It disavows any substantive contribution that psychology can make. (Today, few people would argue that psychology can make zero contribution, but advocates of nothing-but-like approaches might rely primarily on Scripture as interpreted through a theologically conservative lens.) In a second approach, psychology and theology are thought to have little or no contact with each other. They exist on parallel tracks and typically have little interaction because they explain phenomena from different viewpoints, ask different questions, and provide different types of answers from different presuppositional platforms. Third, Crabb (1977) referred to other approaches as resembling tossed salad, in which psychology and theology are mixed but not systematically. Rather, truths can be drawn helter-skelter from both psychology and theology. Neither seems to have priority over the other. The fourth approach was characterized by Crabb as spoiling the Egyptians, in which the worldview of conservative evangelical Christian theology is taken as authoritative and psychotherapists are encouraged to use the "treasures" that are consistent with that theology from the Egyptians (who are psychologists). Psychological science is, in effect, "filtered" through a particular theological system. Of course, there have been a variety of updates since then (for example, see Johnson & Jones, 2000).

The book Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion, by Jeeves and Brown, is a book within the Templeton Science and Religion series, edited by J. Wentzel van Huyssteen and Khalil Chamcham. In the introduction to the series, van Huyssteen and Chamcham suggest that four approaches characterize the broader dialogue between science and religion-broader than Christian theology and psychotherapy. They characterize these approaches as four types of doorways into the relationship between science and religion. The first two center around conflict or separation between scientific and religious worldviews. The next two doorways, however, are aimed at interaction or harmony between science and religion. The objective of the series is for scientists of various disciplines to address the interaction between science and religion from the point of view of harmony. That is, authors are charged with describing the possibilities by which science and religion can live harmoniously together.

Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion is a book about psychology and, in particular, neuroscientific aspects of psychology and religion. Although Jeeves and Brown are both committed Christians, they approach the book with a larger view in mind than integrating psychology and especially neuroscience with Christian theology. Most of their religious assumptions in the book are certainly consistent with Christianity. Their approach to religion is reminiscent of some of the writings of C. S. Lewis, in particular the Abolition of Man (Lewis, 1944). The Abolition of Man describes that the great truths of Christianity are also the great truths of almost all other religions. Lewis' assumption is that God created the world and created religion. Religion has become twisted in many of the details, but in many broad concepts, which C. S. Lewis calls the Tao, the nature of religion is the same across the various religions. For instance, all religions posit a sense of moral right and wrong and of good and bad. The essence of good is reasonably consistent from religion to religion. For most religions, there is a strong sense of the sacred and a tendency to worship. In most religions, there is a Supreme Being that Christians call God.

Let me begin my evaluation and summary of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion with my bottom-line recommendation. I think every person interested in integration of Christian theology and psychotherapy should read this book. This is an excellent book. It provides a sense of broader perspective that most of us within the integration movement in psychotherapy do not have--talking more about psychology than about therapy. In particular it describes how neuroscience and psychology today are practiced by neuroscientists. It does so within the context of understanding the history of the dialogue between science and religion.

This book is mostly concerned with what makes up human nature in relationship with divine nature. There is a draw on theology by van Huyssteen (2006), who observes that the imago dei is understood from three points of view, which he calls substantive, functional, and relational points of view. Alert readers of JPT will recognize the similarity between van Huyssteen's theology and the approach to integration of psychotherapy by Mark McMinn and Clark Campbell in their book, Integrative Psychotherapy (McMinn & Campbell, 2007, InterVarsity Press Academic). McMinn and Campbell note that the imago dei is the fundamental starting point for creating their integrative psychotherapy, and they observe that there are three levels that form the basis of integrative psychotherapy. The functional is the most surface aspect of the imago dei, and functional disruption of behavior or symptoms of the client are usually dealt with first. The second level of intervention with a client is at the structural level, which involves cognitive and environmental structures beneath the functional symptoms. Those structures are usually dealt with second. At the deepest level is the relational level, in particular the relationship between God and the person. Attachment to God is often important in the lives of clients. The observations about human nature in Jeeves and Brown's book on human nature parallel the observations by van Huyssteen and by McMinn and Campbell.

Many of the readers of JPT may not arrive at the same conclusions about integration of psychological science and religion as do Jeeves and Brown, although many of the readers will. Jeeves and Brown understand psychology and religion to be addressing the same topics, but at different levels. These levels sometimes interact with each other and parallel information can come from both religious theology and psychology. Unlike the "spoiling the Egyptians" or "filter" model, in which psychological science is filtered through a theological lens, there is not in Jeeves and Brown's view, a hard-and-fast rule that a particular theology always takes precedence over a conclusion derived from psychological science. That will likely be the sticking point that some people will have with the integration done by Jeeves and Brown.

However, the approach that Jeeves and Brown take is quite sophisticated in understanding psychology and drawing from a vast amount of psychological knowledge. In many ways, the integration that they do exceeds in scope the integration of theology and psychotherapy. They draw heavily from neuroscience and modern experimental psychology. Brain physiology is dealt with accessibly and clearly, but in a way that those who understand brain physiology and function can appreciate as accurate and not "dumbed down." Thus, I believe the book is an excellent, thoughtful integration that one cannot read without gaining a wide breadth of understanding about psychology and also how psychology and theology might fit together harmoniously. The strength of this book is clearly tilted toward psychological instead of theological information.

In Chapter 1 the authors review the current status of psychological neuroscience and how neuroscience (more generally than mere psychological neuroscience) relates to religion. The first chapter surveys the two biggest debates in the development of neuroscience, which surround (a) the nature of neuropsychology and (b) its influence on thought and behavior. Evolutionary psychology provides a meta-theoretical approach to psychology, but Jeeves and Brown discuss whether one needs to consider neuroscience from an evolutionary point of view. The authors also preview the remainder of the book, arguing that they are not interested in furthering a warfare metaphor between science and religion. Rather they are more interested in putting forth a way of understanding human nature that allows neuroscience, psychology, and religion to contribute together to an emerging and emergent understanding of the mind and the brain.

In Chapter 2, the authors explore metaphors of warfare versus partnership between science and religion. The authors trace the evolution of the science-religion dialogue as it relates to psychology. They provide a broader overview of this historical context than we often see in integration writing, referencing people like William James, Edwin G. Starbuck, Freud, Jung, Gordon Allport, Skinner, and Roger Sperry.

In Chapter 3, the history of phrenology is discussed. Phrenology is in disrepute today. The idea that one could feel the bumps on a person's skull and discern the person's personality makes little sense to modern psychologists. So we scratch our scalp pensively and tend to look down our noses at phrenology. However, phrenology was a major approach to understanding personality throughout the 19th century. It was the scientific way of understanding personality. Even many Christians accepted phrenology. Phrenology was only discredited at the beginning of the 20th century. Jeeves and Brown suggest that phrenology is a past analogy to brain scanning today. Jeeves and Brown argue that practitioners of each have sought to find the "God spot" in the brain. Serious scientists today have looked for areas that "light up" (or show increased blood flow indicating more activity) when people pray or meditate. Jeeves and Brown criticize this point of view as being simplistic. They do not believe that there is likely to be a single spot that would be associated with spiritual experience. They suggest that four lessons can be learned from phrenology and applied today to brain scanning. (a) Joseph Gall, the originator of phrenology, failed to undertake experiments to test his conclusions. Rather he relied on basic observations without subjecting them to causal psychological experimentation, (b) Gall's work quickly devolved into reductionism, in which bumps were equated with their personality. Today, often brain images or activity in certain brain centers arc reductionistically equated with spiritual experience, (c) Gall's work on the physical findings of phrenology was limited when attempting to draw theological conclusions. Jeeves and Brown observe today similar limitations, (d) There was a hidden assumption in Gall's work--that the material brain limits the will. Thus, even today we might assume that, if the "God spot" lights up, then we know that the person is having spiritual experiences. This is an oversimplification.

In Chapter 4, Jeeves and Brown draw on their long expertise as neuroscientists to describe understandably how the brain actually functions. They draw eight principles that describe how the brain operates. For example, (a) action loops are pathways by which the brain operates physiologically, (b) Action loops, however, are not simple causes of behavior. Instead, action loops are nested in a hierarchy of other action loops that are intertwined with sensory motor and higher reasoning, (c) The same types of action loops can be stimulated by what they call "offline action simulation" (p. 43). That means that thinking or imagining can stimulate the same type of physical experiences as performing the actual action online can generate, (d) There are support systems for higher reasoning. These particularly occur in the limbic system and involve the areas of the inner brain such as the hippocampus (which is highly involved in memory), the amygdala (which is highly involved in the processing of emotion), and the limbic cortex (which gives significance to emotional experience), (e) Some areas have localized functions. However, this is not simple. Other areas can possibly pick up some of the functions that are typically performed by the usual areas of the brain. (f) Both genetic blueprints and self-organization of the brain are responsible for what portions of the brain are used for particular experiences, (g) The brain is involved in learning. There is not a simple way that the brain is involved in learning. The hippocampus solidifies memories and helps learning to be more permanent but the cortex is involved in storing the memories. Finally, (h) consciousness is a uniquely human experience. Jeeves and Brown are highly influenced by neuroscientist Gerald Edelman, who has written often about consciousness. Throughout the book, they draw on Edelman's theorizing about consciousness.

In Chapter 5, the authors take up how mind and brain are linked together. They believe that the human experience may not be limited to just brain functioning with mind as a derivative phenomenon. Nor does mind exist apart from brain. If the brain is destroyed then the mind is also destroyed. It is important then to think in Christian theology about the importance that has been traditionally placed on the resurrection of the body. The resurrection of the body resurrects the mind and brain together. A variety of psychological evidence is presented to show how mind and brain are linked. The authors draw from facial perception and memory, autism, moral behavior, personality, primatology, and even diet.

In Chapter 6, Jeeves and Brown describe the human animal, as revealed through evolutionary psychology. They examine how language develops and the limits of non-human primate communications. However, they also note that there are some similarities of human and non-human primate communication. They examine theory of mind (i.e., some level of understanding that a creature other than oneself has cognition) and how animals develop a sense of theory of mind. But they do note that the development of both language and mind are limited in primates. Usually, non-human primates can develop only about to the level of a two to three year old human. In recent years, the discovery of mirror neurons in animals and humans have shown how people (and non-human primates) copy other behaviors that they see. The real difference between non-human primates and human primates, however, is not just the level of development of mental functioning, but it is the social intelligence of humans. In particular, humans have a deeply social mind, which evolutionary psychologists believe is necessary for humans to be able to process the complexity of social interaction within a society. Dealing with many people with multiple agendas requires more brain capacity than the typical limited non-human primate, even as it lives in a socially interactive troupe of animals. In the end of Chapter 6, Jeeves and Brown wrestle with the differences between humans and non-human primates. There seems to be a quantum leap between the two species--a discontinuity in their development. The authors wrestle with discerning the meaning of that difference.

In Chapter 7, the authors look in detail at the neuroscience of religiousness. The tour through the literature is begun by looking at cases, such as hallucinogenic drugs and temporal lobe epilepsy. The authors examine how those experiences sometimes produce religious-like or spiritual-like experiences. Jeeves and Brown review the research of a variety of neuroscientists who have studied religiousness and brain functioning. The reader will be enlightened and excited about the work that has been done. Much effort is spent at looking at moral decision-making and how moral decision-making occurs in the brain. And social neuroscience looks at the functioning of the brain and consciousness in a social world.

In Chapter 8, on science, religion, and human nature, the apex of the book is reached. The authors synthesize the concept of human nature that emerges from brain science. This draws on the theorizing of scientists such as Sir John Eccles, Gerald Edelman, Roger Sperry, and Sir Roger Penrose. In putting together neuroscience and human nature, determining causality is not simple. This is Jeeves and Brown's point throughout the entire book. Causality is multilevel. It is a result of bottom-up processing, building complex thought processes from simple building blocks, but is often interwoven with top-down processing in which concepts drive development. The authors come to look at the human as unique from animals and as having, in particular, social and religious natures that are different from nonhuman primates. They analyze human nature in terms of the levels of substantive, functional, and relational ways of examining imago dei. They thus close the circle we noted at the beginning, and add depth to McMinn and Campbell's theorizing, which is about integrative Christian psychotherapy.

In the final chapter, they pause and provide a view back through history but also a sense of what might be on the horizon. They describe spirituality as something being invoked more frequently within conversations in academia, the clinic, and the general public discourse. Yet, spirituality is often a nebulous term that has meaning much like in Alice in Wonderland--it means what the writer wants it to mean.

The book Neuroscience, Psychology, and Religion is an excellent overview of cognitive neuroscience and physiological neuroscience in light of religion and spirituality. There are a number of important issues that are not dealt with. For example, the authors point the book to the difference between non-human primates and humans, but the authors never once mentioned computers. That might seem a strange critique in a book about human nature. However, the line between what a computer can do and what a human can do is much more blurred than the line between non-human primates and human primates. For example, we now know that chess was often thought to be something that computers could never beat humans at. Yet in the last decade, chess programs have defeated soundly the greatest chess grandmasters in the world. Futurist and inventor Ray Kurzweil, in his book Singularity Is Near, speculates about a silicone-based humanity, in which micro-computer chips can be created with vastly superior amounts of information to the human brain. The chips might then be put into the human brain. The possibility of inserting such chips that can be accessed by neurons blends together electronic capabilities with human thought. Kurzweil believes such technology could soon create what he calls a singularity--a discontinuity or a step-function--in human development. What would this mean for the human and human nature? What would this mean for people's relationship with God? Certainly intellectual capacity is not a good indication of spirituality, but massively different cognitive capabilities certainly will affect relationships with people. It will likely affect relationships with God. So, what about human-computer interactions? That is an unanswered question that could serve as a good jumping off point for Jeeves and Brown's next book about human nature.

REFERENCES

Carter, J. & Narramore, B. (1979). The integration of psychology and theology. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Collins, G. (1972). Effective counseling. Carol Stream, IL: Creation House.

Crabb, L. J., Jr. (1975). Basic principles of biblical counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Crabb, L. J., Jr. (1977). Effective biblical counseling. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.

Johnson, E. L. & Jones, S. L. (Eds.). (2000). Psychology and Christianity. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

Kurzweil, R. (2006). The singularity is near: When humans transcend biology. New York: Penguin.

Lewis, C. S. (1944). The abolition of man: Reflections on education with special reference to the teaching of English in the upper forms of schools. New York: HarperCollins (HarperOne).

McMinn, M. R. & Campbell, C. D. (2007). Integrative psychotherapy: Toward a comprehensive Christian approach. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press Academic.

Van Huyssteen. J. W. (2006). Alone in the world? Human uniqueness in science and theology. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans.

Reviewed by EVERETT L. WORTHINGTON, JR., Ph.D.

Reviewers For This Issue

EVERETT L. WORTHINGTON, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University, where he has been on the faculty since 1978. He is also a licensed Clinical Psychologist in Virginia. He has published 17 books and over 150 articles and scholarly chapters, mostly on forgiveness, marriage, and family topics. His most recent book is A just forgiveness: Responsible healing without excusing injustice (Intervarsity Press, 2009).