Psychology Nerd Guest Post by Dr. Tim Rice

I found Tim Rice's  site one day and was intrigued with his perspective and his textbook. I asked Dr. Rice if  he would  write a guest post for Ohio Homeschool Assessments, and he graciously agreed to.  Please welcome him!  PS At the end of the post there is a special discount code for his text.  

Psychology Nerd Guest Post 

I’m biased. I admit it. I have a strong favorable bias toward psychology. You might call me a psychology nerd. I love psychology and I think every Christian high school student should study it. I’ve made a career of teaching psychology from a Christian worldview perspective.

You may be biased, too. You may have taken psychology in college and encountered professors who believed that the Christian worldview had no place – who ridiculed Christianity as unscientific, irrational, or silly. You may think teaching psychology, and doing it from a Christian perspective, is difficult or not important.

Teaching psychology’s subject matter is not difficult. There are many inexpensive (or free) resources to help students learn the content.  Bringing your Christian worldview to class is easy too. You can do it. It means simply to help students understand and interpret psychology’s subject matter via a vis what the Bible says.

Psychology is often defined narrowly – the study of the brain and behavior. Some people think psychology is all about mental illness, counseling, and psychiatric medications, but psychology is much more. A Christian approach to psychology begins with the belief that we are created in God’s image and likeness. Psychology is the study of God’s grandest creation – you – your joys, sorrows, memories, ambitions, identity, personality, will, morality, development, and more. It’s the study of your heart, soul, and mind. As such, the Bible has lots to say about psychology.

In every psychology class students learn about psychology’s major schools-of-thought – behaviorism, Freudian psychodynamic psychology, humanistic psychology, and evolutionary psychology. Each is a type of worldview that makes specific claims about human nature – what it means to be human. When we compare psychology’s worldviews to the Bible, we see that the Christian worldview is not silly. It is the most logical, internally consistent, and meaningful framework for understanding everything, including psychology.

I’m biased. I love psychology. I believe that every topic points toward God. We need not be intimidated by psychology. We should prepare our students to boldly bring their Christian worldview to psychology college.

Besides, psychology is an easy A.

If you use the code "Becky" at Dr. Rice's Store you can receive 10% off your purchase!  There is an especially good deal on the book and workbook currently!   I own them both.  :-)  

Dr. Rice is the author of Psychology: A Christian Perspective, High School Edition and Homeschool Psych: Preparing Christian Homeschool Students of Psych 101 and other works. He has introduced thousands of students to psychology from a Christian perspective through his textbooks and in his live online classes. Tim and his wife Tina are 26 year veterans of homeschooling. You can reach Dr. Rice at www.homeschoolpsychology.com