Eric Johnson is to be commended for his interest in expanding the reach of inquiry into the whole human being. He is also to be commended for crafting a wide- ranging, provocative, and original piece of work, one that seeks to break new ground in the discipline of psychology. The main question I wish to raise in the pages to follow is whether he has gone far enough in his efforts.
Johnson's article is about many things e so many, in fact, that I couldn't help but wonder at times what its center of gravity really is. I think I know, actually. On my reading, its central purpose is clearest in the final portion of the article, when he explores the idea of the imago dei. But it takes a good long while, and any number of twists and turns, for him to arrive there. Why might this be? More specifically, why take the detour of exploring the concept of personality in order to get there? Before proceeding further, let me hazard a guess: What Johnson seems to be working toward, most of all, is a psychology that not only “allows” theo- logical thinking into its scope but is truly informed by it. Not surprisingly, there appears to be some hesitation about moving in this direction too forthrightly. Most psycholo- gists, including the theoretically- and philosophically- inclined, remain quite squeamish about such moves, their own commitments to naturalism, whether wittingly or unwittingly made, serving essentially as default assump- tions. Seen from one angle, Johnson is doing little more than offering a spirited plea for pluralism, for casting into question these default assumptions and, in the name of “equal time,” offering some other ones as worthy compet- itors. Seen from another angle, however, Johnson is point- ing toward a quite different image of the human being than the one that has been enshrined in the discipline since its inception, one that bears the spark of the divine within it. Is this a legitimate move to make within the confines of ac- ademic psychology?