On Hospitality in Christianity and Psychology
[by Peter Hampson, Head of Department of Psychology, University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor Hampson is our blogger for the month of November, and this is his final post]  Travel, they say, broadens the mind, and a mind-expanding, recent trip to the US allowed me to share ideas with leading figures in Christianity’s engagement with psychology, through meeting representatives of both Christian psychological and integrationist perspectives.  It seems opportune, therefore, to use this, the last of my current blogs, partly as a public thank-you to my hosts, and to reflect on the continuum of approaches to secular psychology by Christian psychologists and

Habitus: Toward a Worked Example in Theology-Psychology Dialogue
[by Peter Hampson, Head of Department of Psychology, University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor Hampson is our blogger for the month of November, and this is his fourth post]  Positive psychology has opened up possibilities far more congenial than hitherto for the development Christian psychology.  Among these is the rediscovery of the virtues.  In positive psychology, there is, however, a tendency to think of virtues as ‘character traits’, and, when adults are assessed psychometrically, virtues may well show up as relatively stable characteristics.  While this can be a helpful way to proceed, perhaps we should not foreclose on other possibilities.  It

Levels of Engagement in Christian Psychology: Theology and Psychology - 2
[by Peter Hampson, Head of Department of Psychology, University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor Hampson is our blogger for the month of November, and this is his third post] In what ways might philosophy and philosophical theology inform and assist Christian Psychology?  Last time, I briefly mentioned my debt to Alasdair MacIntyre’s intellectual journey. MacIntyre’s work has helped me understand that rational discourse between intellectual traditions is possible in a way that allows escape from the limitations of both a ‘one-size-fits-all’ modernist rationality, and an equally unsatisfactory to my mind, postmodern, narrative relativism. A

Levels of Engagement in Christian Psychology: Psychology and Theology (1)
[by Peter Hampson, Head of Department of Psychology, University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor Hampson is our blogger for the month of November, and this is his second post]  In my last posting I began to suggest that there are two levels of engagement within the CP project.  At the strategic level, the Christian narrative positions psychology hermeneutically, by providing an overarching, meaningful, God-given and Christ-centered framework; within this, at the tactical level, there is space for useful truth-seeking, dialectical engagement between theology, philosophy and psychology. Both levels of engagement are presumably guided by the Spirit.  In line wit

Am I a Christian Psychologist?
[by Peter Hampson, Head of Department of Psychology, University of the West of England, Bristol. Professor Hampson is our blogger for the month of November, and this is his first post] It is flattering, timely and a touch embarrassing to be asked to write a blog for the Society for Christian Psychology.  Flattering, because I was highly impressed by Eric Johnson’s seminal article in the recent issue of Edification (focusing on ‘Catholic Psychology’) outlining a philosophy of science for Christian psychology (CP), and by Christian Brugger’s and other’s pieces. I contacted Eric and was quickly i