| Biography | |
|---|---|
 Prof. J. Harold Ellens University of Michigan, USA |
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| Title: Science, Religion, and Health: The Interface | |
| Abstract: The science of psychology and the study of spirituality are inherently linked. They are two names for the function of the human psyche. They constitute two different modes of revealing the dynamics of the human spirit. Unless the scientist in each field of psychology and spirituality takes seriously the light the other science can shed upon the scholar's own discipline, the scholar is not serious about that own discipline. The two sciences intersect and illumine each other at four discreet levels: theory development, research methodology, data collection, and clinical application. Each discipline has its own domain of inquiry, its own universe of discourse, its own definitions and boundaries, its own philosophical assumptions, its own mandate, and its own field of interpretation. The two disciplines have the same object of study, the living human person. They intersect and illumine each other at the four distinct levels in the anthropology that is forming and function at that level. Within that anthropology forming and functioning at each level the two sciences illumine each other specifically in the personality theory that is developing or prevailing at that level. Psychology and spirituality need each other to fashion a full orbed science and understanding of the world of the human psyche. | |
| Biography: Classical Greco-Roman Scholar 1950 to date. Philosopher and Philosophy Professor 1956 to date. Institute for Antiquity and Christianity of the Claremont Graduate School: Advisory Board Member, Former President, Research Scholar/Lecturer, 1980 to 2002. Research Scholar: University of Michigan Department of Near Eastern Studies, 1990 to 2009. Theologian and Pastor, Emeritus: Christian Reformed Church (25 years - 5 congregations) and Presbyterian Church (USA) (25 years - 8 congregations) Professor of Philosophy and Psychology (20 years), Oakland University, Calvin Seminary and Princeton Theological Seminary, Retired. Professor of Philosophy and Communication Arts at Oakland Community College, Adjunct, 10 years. U.S. Army Colonel, (37 years: 10 Active, 27 Reserves) ACM, MSM [4], LOM, Retired Private Practice Psychotherapist (1965 to date). Executive Director: Christian Association for Psychological Studies International (1974-90), Emeritus. Founding Editor and Editor in Chief: Journal of Psychology and Christianity (1975-90), Emeritus. | |
