A Psychology of Christianity

The following is a brief outline of a psychology of Christianity. More specifically, it focuses on presenting psychological interpretations of some major themes in Christian theology, spirituality, and symbolism.

I want to share a few things before getting into the outline by way of introduction. First, the following is not meant to be a reductionistic interpretation that excludes other levels of interpretation. It is simply meant to highlight some of the psychological significance I see in major themes of Christianity. I approach this as an exploratory exercise seeking consilience, not a reductionistic exercise seeking exclusive or final answers. So the following outline is not meant to suggest Christianity is “nothing but” something in your head or to “explain away” other levels of interpretation.

Second, the following outline assumes that analytical conceptualizations which view psychology, theology, spirituality, and mysticism as discrete domains that are completely separate are misleading and wrong. Rather, the following outline is based on the assumption that psychology, theology, spirituality, and mysticism are distinct yet overlapping, which is why I seek to explore areas of consilience.

Third, I want to stress my primary concern is not with addressing questions of theological or philosophical metaphysics given my limited focus. Readers can each decide their own metaphysics for themselves.

Overall, this essay suggests there is a psychological story of development running…