Theistic Psychology: 
The Scientific Knowledge of God
Extracted from the Correspondential sense
of Sacred Scripture

Section 1.0 The Psychology of God -- Overview of Basic Topics

Theistic psychology is the scientific study of God as revealed in the correspondential sense of Sacred Scripture.

Sacred Scripture is Divine Speech that descends through the discrete layers of the human mind -- spiritual mind, rational mind, and natural mind. (See the Layers Diagram). The content or meaning of Divine Speech itself is infinite and incomprehensible to human beings who have finite minds. However, the human mind is constructed as a biological receptor organ for receiving spiritual heat and spiritual light substances that exist eternally in the mental world of the human race. These spiritual substances are not material in nature, like matter or energy in time and space, or like natural light and heat from the physical sun or star. Instead, spiritual heat and light substances stream out from the Spiritual Sun, which is not in the physical world of time but in the spiritual world of eternity.

The spiritual world of eternity is the world that is not in time and space. It cannot be detected by physical measuring instruments designed to detect physical matter or energy only, and nothing else.

If you hold off with the negative bias in science, which requires physical measurement, you can use your mental observation ability to empirically observe the existence and reality of the world of eternity. Eternity is always, so it must also be now, right? Our observational experience of eternity now is through our mental life -- which is very very familiar to every human being! Hence eternity is already familiar to everybody. It is not something new or unknown. It is even more familiar to us than the world of time and physical matter.

Most people and scientists today believe that our mental life is in the brain, which is physical in time. Hence this would mean that our mental life is physical. This theory or principle is known as reductionism in science. In other words, the mental of eternity gets reduced to the chemical world of neurons in the physical brain. According to this theoretical reductionism, mental life or consciousness of self and world, is said not to really exist. Only the electro-chemical action of the brain is really real. But this hypothesis is incorrect, as is fully proven in theistic psychology.

The reality is that our mental life is not in this world but in the mental world. Our sensations, thoughts, and feelings are not physical operations but mental. Mental operations are not measurable physically since they are not in the physical world. When we are born we are born into eternity and each of us is immortal. For awhile we are dual citizens, living in two worlds simultaneously that are precisely interconnected by cause-effect laws of correspondences (to be explained later). We have temporary membership in a horizontal community in time on earth through a physical body. We also have permanent membership in a vertical community in eternity in the mental world of humanity. 

We live our temporary existence in the physical body on earth, and this is tied to our immortal existence in the spiritual body in eternity. For instance, as you are reading this, your physical senses and brain, control your eye movements, as well as the analysis of the linguistic information in each word, sentence, and paragraph. So now the brain has translated the visual information into a neural pattern of electro-chemical firings. That's it. That's as far as the brain can go. The brain is physical in time-space, but the meaning of the sentences is not physical, but mental.

This is worth repeating: the words on the screen or page are physical, but their meaning is mental. Nothing of the mental can exist in the physical. These two are separate in existence, but tied in function. Your physical body in time-space is tied by function to your mental body in eternity. The two must work together until your death. This means separation from the physical world of time and space. Without a physical body, the mental body now is free in its own existence. This is the afterlife of eternity. It never ends. What life is like in eternity will be discussed.

The conscious mental life we now have is only a potion of our mental life. This portion is called the natural mind. But we also have a spiritual mind. We become conscious in this spiritual mind when we die. Once we are conscious in the spiritual mind we can see everybody else who is already in that mental state. This is how people can meet friends and family that had passed on before them. The process of dying is actually called resuscitation. Approximately 30 hours after death of the physical body, we awaken in full consciousness in our spiritual mind, and this continues forever. These facts were observed many times in detail by Swedenborg who is the first and only modern scientist in the history of science who was able to be conscious in his spiritual mind several years prior to his death. Theistic psychology is based on the laws of correspondences that Swedenborg observed by living in both worlds simultaneously for 27 years. These are the same correspondences in which Sacred Scripture is written.

For a brief biography of Swedenborg and his place in the world today, see this interview:
Williams-Hogan, Jane K. (2006). From Swedenborg to the New Church: Interview. Religioscope. Available at: http://religion.info/english/interviews/article_247.shtml 

So if our science is going to be logical and rational we are going to acknowledge the full and independent existence of the mental world of humanity, which is outside the physical world of time-space-matter, and not part of it. This other world that is not in time or space is called the mental world of eternity. You are extremely familiar with the mental world of eternity. You are in it every minute of the day. You are in it right now. And so am I. And so is everyone you know, and every human being -- by definition. But our conscious awareness only extends to the natural part of the mental world. We are conscious of whatever comes to us through the senses and the brain. So we appear to ourselves subjectively to live entirely in that world which is made of ideas based on the physical senses. So all of our conscious mental life is filled with ideas from the natural world -- tastes, smells, objects, environment, cities, ocean, sky, moon, etc. Our ideas based on these objects make up our conscious meanings and understandings, so much so, that we are able to deny that there is a mental world that is not made of these natural objects.

But once we are resuscitated, a few hours after death, we are conscious in our spiritual mind which has sensory organs of its own that are capable of detecting spiritual things, mental things. So we can actually see others who are also in the spiritual mind, and we can talk and have relationships just like we do now. In order to interact with each other in the mental world of eternity people project what they have with them from the natural mind. People's thoughts and feelings create the surrounding environment, just as they do in dreams. What you dream about and what happens depends on your feelings, emotions, and memories. This is what also happens in the afterlife of eternity, which is the mental world of which we are unconscious while we are still tied to the physical body.

The moment we are born we start our immortal life through the spiritual or mental body in eternity. Whatever we do all day long we have sensations, thoughts, and feelings. These are actual operations in our mental organs located in our spiritual body in eternity. In theistic psychology the spiritual body is called the mental body, and the spiritual world is called the mental world of eternity. Note also that the spiritual world is called by many people the afterlife. They do not realize that the afterlife is the mental world of eternity. How? Because our spiritual or mental body grows from birth to adulthood along with our physical body. But then our physical body begins to age while the mental body does not age. How? Because the mental body is made of spiritual substances from the Spiritual Sun (heat and light), as stated above, and the physical body is made of the material substances from the physical sun. All things physical are temporary and subject to aging laws, while all things spiritual or mental are permanent, immortal.

So in order to understand how there can be a science of God, or a science of immortality and eternity, you need to construct in your understanding the concept of "substantive dualism," as will be explained. Substantive dualism contrasts with materialistic monism, which denies -- without proving -- the existence or reality of God, eternity, or the mental world. Since no scientific proof is given for this denial, it is called the negative bias in science. The reason it is called a "bias" is because it does not prove the denial, just makes the assertion. And the reason it is called "negative" is because its methodology consists of denying the existence of a phenomenon that cannot been proven by physical measurement.

So you can see that it is not rational to want to prove the reality of phenomena in eternity through physical measurements. This is irrational and contrary to logic.

Physical measurements apply only to physical phenomena, never to mental phenomena. It is irrational to think that sensations, thoughts, and feelings can be measured by physical measurements. Only brain activity can be measured by physical measures. Mental activity cannot be measured by physical measures. As a result materialistic psychology finds itself denying the reality of people's sensations, thoughts and feelings. Since you have been schooled in the negative bias in science, you are probably thinking right now that your thoughts and feelings are your brain neurons firing electrical and chemical matter. Right?

Historically this view is called reductionism in psychology. It reduces the existence of mental operations -- sensations, thoughts and feelings -- to electrical and chemical robotonics. Neuroscience of the brain has therefore become biological robotonics. The human part, which is the mental part, has been eliminated. Here is how reductionism is practiced today in science and technology presentations:

From:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=434968&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

What's on your mind? A machine can tell us

by Fiona Macrae - 9th February 2007

It is the stuff of science fiction - a gizmo capable of reading people's minds, revealing their most private thoughts.

Now, that fiction has become reality with scientists devising a way to accurately predict what someone is going to do.

Using sophisticated scanners and computer programmes, they have worked out how the brain lights up when making different plans - a breakthrough that effectively allows the reading of people's minds.

Still in its infancy, the technique could one day be used to ease the lives of the paralysed by giving them better control over the movement of prosthetic limbs.

It could also be used to enable people to operate computers and PlayStations by thought alone and, echoing the plot of the film Minority Report, even allow police to arrest criminals before they break the law.

Professor John-Dylan Haynes (CORR), who started the research while working at University College London, said: "Until now, no one has been able to show whether it might be possible to read a persons' intentions from their brain activity.

"We wanted to know if you could read intentions while they were still covert - known only to the subject."

To find out if this was possible, the scientists asked a group of volunteers to prepare to do some mental arithmetic.

The eight men and women were told to choose to perform an addition or subtraction - but not to tell the scientists their choice.

While they were thinking about whether to add or subtract, but had not started to do any sums, their brains were scanned using a high-tech version of the MRI scanners used every day in our hospitals to detect brain tumours.

After a few seconds, the volunteers were the numbers needed for the calculations and their brains were scanned again while they added or subtracted and came up with an answer.

Comparison of the scans revealed that different clusters of brain cells are involved in thinking about doing something and actually doing it.

When we think about something, cells towards the very front of the brain light up.

However, when we actually start to act on our plans - for instance by doing a mental calculation - the activity shifts slightly further back.

Crucially, the scans also showed that different brain cells are involved in thinking about doing different things.

With the help of a complex computer programme, the scientists were able to pinpoint the pattern of brain cells that light up when we're thinking about adding up and cells that come to life when we're planning to subtract.

Using these patterns, they were able to work out whether the person would add or subtract the numbers - and get it right more than 70 per cent of the time, the journal Current Biology reports.

Prof Haynes, who completed the research after moving to the Max Planck Institute in Germany says the breakthrough could one day lead to the creation of a mind-reading machine small enough to fit inside a baseball cap.

He said: "We know that information is there and now we have to find novel, smaller, cheaper devices.

"It is imperative we develop these machines because we know there is something in the brain we can really put to use.

"A brain scanner in a baseball cap would be the perfect version."

Such technology would, however, bring with it a host of ethical issues, with people being concerned about their deepest secrets being made public.

7 people have commented on this story so far. Tell us what you think below.

Here's a sample of the latest comments published. You can click view all to read all comments that readers have sent in.

From here its just a small step to be able implant thoughts of your choosing. At last British scientists might be able to get some research funding out of Nu Labour.- N. Glew, Luton

My wife can read my mind anytime! Why do they need a machine?
- George Fairweather, Seaham County Durham

Oh dear, political correctness controls our speech and, indirectly, our thoughts. In the, not too distant, future our thoughts can be read - and woe betide those who are 'wrong-thinking'. Best to get into the habit of politically correct thinking, or perhaps, not thinking at all. Our education system and dumbed-down media are beginning to facilitate that for the up and coming generation. - Gc, Harrogate, UK

From:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/technology/technology.html?in_article_id=434968&in_page_id=1766&ito=1490

Exercise:
Reread the science news story and see if you can find the reductionistic fallacy in it.
Hint:
Contrast what actually is measured (brain waves) and what thoughts the person is thinking (general inference about readiness to act vs. specific information on thoughts or feelings). Note also how the comments of the readers involve the reductionist fallacy.

The scientific thinking on dualism is now changing through theistic psychology. The dual world of physical time and mental eternity is being introduced in psychology through the positive bias in science. It is called "bias" because it does not prove by physical measurement the existence of God and the afterlife. Let's face it: neither the negative bias in science (i.e., denying God's scientific reality), nor the positive bias in science (i.e., affirming the scientific reality of God) , can be proven by physical measurements.

Once we enter the approach in psychology called substantive dualism in science, we begin to employ the techniques and methodology developed in the positive bias science. God is assumed to be real and so is Sacred Scripture as Divine Speech. From these two -- God's reality and Sacred Scripture as Divine Speech -- we derive an effective and valid methodology for the scientific investigation of God. Divine Speech issues from God's thoughts and feelings in a similar way that human speech issues from our thoughts and feelings. Remember that in this methodology all mental phenomena are also real, but not in time, and not involving physical matter. What then?

Spiritual substances from the Spiritual Sun. Or: Mental substances from the Spiritual Sun. Sensations, thoughts, and feelings are operations of our sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective organs in the spiritual body. Right now, in this very instant, your visual sensations from reading this are not in the brain but in your sensorimotor organ located in your mental body, which is located in eternity, since your birth. You do all your sensing, thinking, and feeling in that mental body or spiritual body born in eternity and connected by correspondence to your physical body. God, being the Divine Human from eternity, in whom infinite things make one, employs His affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor organs to create the dual universe from the substances in Himself.

What are these substances (raw materials) that come out of God's affective, cognitive, and sensorimotor organs?

You already know the answer: when Swedenborg be became conscious of his highest affective organ (called the celestial mind), he saw other people who were also there, living as immortals in a spiritual or mental paradise in eternity. You too, every human being, can raise your existence to higher and higher levels in your mind, until you exist in your celestial mind in eternity. Everyone there, including Swedenborg, was able to see visually the Spiritual Sun shining in the mental sky oh eternal conjugial heaven. And amidst the Spiritual Sun -- which was exceedingly bright yet did not blind the eye -- we can see the Divine Human Himself. This is the final proof that a rational person needs in order to be one hundred percent certain of God's reality.

In our highest mental organs we can visually see spiritual light and heat pouring out of the Spiritual Sun. These spiritual substances streaming out of the Spiritual Sun create an atmosphere we can call mental ether. We know this about the natural sun from which this planet originates, which is a middle sized star among billions of other stars in our galaxy. Each star creates a gravitational field or space of physical ether, in a way that corresponds to the Spiritual Sun, which creates a mental ether out of the substances issuing from God's affective and cognitive organs.

But what is spiritual heat?

The word "heat" is commonly used in materialistic science, as you know from physics, chemistry, or meteorology. And in medicine the word "temperature" is used for measuring body heat. In this natural sense "heat" is physical, as is temperature and motion. But "spiritual heat" is not physical. It is mental. Since God is omnipotent and loving, whatever issues from His affective organ is called Divine Good or Divine Love (these two mean the same spiritually). So spiritual heat is love substance (or good as substance), and spiritual light is truth substance (or rationality as substance).

Reread the last bolded sentence: it is the central key to unlock your comprehension of theistic psychology and substantive dualism in science.

Spiritual substance in the mental world of eternity refers to the spiritual light and heat streaming from the Spiritual Sun and permeating the totality of the mental world, just as physical substance or matter refers to the light and heat streaming from the physical sun and permeating all space and planets. Every object in the physical world is made of physical substances (chemical elements) from the natural sun, just as every object in the mental world is made of spiritual substances (good and truth in infinite variety) from the Spiritual Sun. The Spiritual Sun is the visible aura that appears brightly around the head of God Divine Human. This Spiritual Sun surrounding God's head was seen many times by Swedenborg when he was made conscious in the upper heavenly layers of his mind (see the Layers Diagram).  All the people who lived in that layer of the mental world were also able to see God and the surrounding Spiritual Sun. So the spiritual goods and truths that issue from God's Mind appear to human beings visually as a Spiritual Sun. You too will see this Spiritual Sun that surrounds God the Divine Human, when you ascend to your heavenly layers after the second death (see Section xx).

You can see now that God the Divine Human did not create the dual universe out of nothing (a non-scientific notion), but out of Divine Speech, that is, out of substances of good and substances of truth issuing from God's affective and cognitive organs of His Divine Human Mind..

As you already know we are born into eternity with our spiritual body or mind. The substances out of which our mental organs are constructed are the substances that issue from the Spiritual Sun in endless variety. Every newborn is unique even though it is constructed out of spiritual heat and light from the Spiritual Sun. Every newborn's mental body (or "spiritual body") contains a sensorimotor organ, a cognitive organ, and an affective organ (see Section xx). These organs are arranged in several levels called discrete degrees (see Section xx). The highest level of operation of our affective and cognitive organs is called the celestial-rational mind. A discrete degree below this we have affective and cognitive organs at an intermediate level of excellence called the spiritual-rational mind. And at the lowest discrete level of operations of the affective and cognitive organs, we have the natural-rational and natural-sensuous mind. Every human being possesses these same three levels and organs.

Note this very important observation: it seems to us that we are in a private world by ourselves when we are thinking and experiencing feelings. Right? But this is an appearance or illusion. Theistic psychology shows that the human race has only one mental world, only one spiritual world of the afterlife. Everyone is born into the same mental world of eternity that is created around the Spiritual Sun by the substances of good and truth. And everyone wakes up after death in the same afterlife of eternity. Thus there is only one mental world.

Once a human being is born into the immortality of eternity, the mental organs function as receptor organs for the spiritual heat -- into the affective organ, and for spiritual light -- into the cognitive organ. In other words, spiritual heat or good in substance, constructs the affective organ at birth, and then keeps it alive and operating by the continuous or ceaseless inflow of spiritual heat or good in substance. The same for the cognitive organ and spiritual light or truth substance.

Now you can see that Divine Speech from God's mind issues into the mental world of humanity and enters every mental organ of every human being, at the top of the mind called the celestial level of affective and cognitive organs.

Of course we are not conscious of the celestial and spiritual mind while we are conscious in our natural mind, and tied to the physical body by correspondence. However, even though we are not conscious of these mental operations triggered by the inflow of good and truth substances into our celestial-spiritual mind, nevertheless we are influenced by it in our conscious natural mind through the laws of correspondences, as will be made clear later.

When Divine Speech, containing good and truth substances, descends to the natural mind of a chosen prophet prepared by God for this purpose, he is able to write it down in a natural language, and what he writes down is called Sacred Scripture. Note carefully that other people are not conscious of this Divine Speech, though it is also present in their mind, not just in the mind of the prophet. It's just that the prophet is given limited temporary consciousness in the spiritual mind and in the natural mind, long enough to be able to write it down in a natural language. Note also that the prophet is not aware that the sentences he writes down are only correspondences to Divine Speech in his mind.

It's only since the Writings Sacred Scripture were provided through Swedenborg that science can now know about the hidden correspondences in Sacred Scripture.

Sacred Scripture is the method used in theistic psychology to discover the hidden layers of information contained in Divine Speech. These hidden layers were not available to scientific study until the 18th century author Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) discovered the laws of correspondences that govern the joint operation of natural phenomena in time (Sacred Scripture written down in a natural language), and spiritual phenomena in eternity (Divine Speech entering the celestial mind). This relationship in theistic psychology is called substantive dualism in science. Swedenborg discovered that there is only one mental world for the human race, and this human mental world is the afterlife of eternity.

We are born into eternity as dual citizens, the physical body being in the natural world and the mental body, or mind, being in the afterlife world of eternity. Swedenborg discovered that every person undergoes a mental resuscitation process about 30 hours after separation from the physical connection through death. We then exist consciously in our spiritual mind, which until resuscitation, was operative but unconscious. Shortly after resuscitation, the natural mind becomes unconscious.

Swedenborg also discovered that there was a functional connection between every verse in Sacred Scripture with a particular type of mental state in the human race. He was thus able to empirically map out the correspondences between the words and phrases of Sacred Scripture with mental states. By using the functional connection between the body organs and the mental organs, Swedenborg demonstrated that Sacred Scripture has layers of meaning expressed in correspondences. Knowledge of these correspondences allows us to extract the scientific facts and principles about God that are hidden within the literal sense of Sacred Scripture. See the Layers Diagram.

When the hidden layers of meaning in Sacred Scripture are accessed through the correspondences that have been revealed, we discover what God wants to talk to us about, what information God wants us to know. The results so far, amply demonstrated in the Writings of Swedenborg, show that God wants to talk to humanity about Himself in relation to us. God wants to instruct us concerning mental anatomy, theistic psychology, and how He manages the universe and why.

Theistic psychology is the psychology of God.

As psychologists we have two approaches to investigating the psychology of God. One way is to define God as a belief, and then investigating what people believe in. In non-theistic negative bias psychology this methodology is known as the "psychology of religion." You can see logically that this is not an investigation of God but an investigation of what people believe. Since God is not a scientific concept or reality in non-theistic psychology, it is only possible to investigate people's beliefs and attitudes and behaviors, but not God. The other approach is to define God as a reality in itself, not just a belief or fantasy. Investigating God is logically possible only if you assume that God could be a reality. Then you can investigate it is, or is not.

But if you deny that God exists (the negative bias in science), then you can only investigate what people say and believe and do. Hence not God Himself. The only way that God can be investigated scientifically is (a) to grant that God might exist (positive bias in science), and (b) to use the method of correspondences in Sacred Scripture (not physical measurement).

In relation to God, theistic psychology takes the positive bias interpretation in science. This is the same as saying that God is a significant and traceable influence on human behavior.

The psychology of God is the study of how all human behavior is an outcome of how people react to God, both consciously and unconsciously. Since God is omnipotent and manages all phenomena, He also manages the minds of people, both of the positive bias in science and of the negative bias in science. Nevertheless there is an enormous difference in the quality of life in eternity of those who are resuscitated into the positive bias mentality vs. those who are resuscitated in the negative bias mentality. Swedenborg empirically determined this by observation of thousands of cases he could observe in his dual consciousness, natural and spiritual.

Until age 57 Swedenborg, then a well known personality in Sweden, had consciousness only in his natural mind, like all of us. Then suddenly he gained consciousness in his spiritual mind as well. For the next 27 years until his death, he was leading a life of dual citizenship, being able to interact with those already in the afterlife and conscious in their spiritual mind, as well as those in the physical world where he kept up his busy schedule as government mining engineer, publisher of scientific journals, and member of the Swedish legislative body. He published his observations and findings, which amount to about 30 volumes in English translation. They are called collectively "the Writings of Swedenborg." In theistic psychology they are called "the Writings Sacred Scripture."

In the course of studying theistic psychology you will learn about the psychobiology of God which describes the anatomy and physiology of the mental organs. This is a necessary methodological focus for theistic psychology that describes the details of how God is a significant and traceable influence on human behavior. From the scientific perspective it is not sufficient to merely believe that God affects people's lives. As a science, theistic psychology has to rationally demonstrate and empirically illustrate the mechanisms that God uses to influence human behavior. In the positive bias approach in science, God is real, and therefore there must be a scientific answer to how God exerts influence upon human behavior. This answer needs to be investigated. It cannot be investigated in non-theistic psychology, which continues to remain in the negative bias mentality of science, denying that God, revelation, and Divine Speech as Sacred Scripture have a scientific reality. When God and Sacred Scripture are denied as real phenomena, then research on God is not allowed either. As already indicated, research about people's beliefs and attitudes about God is not research about God.

The psychology of God provides answers regarding where God is in our mind, how He gets there, why we don't see Him, what He is doing there, how we are best to handle this situation, what potential benefits are there, and related issues and puzzles.

The following discussion provides an overview of theistic psychology. You will notice that the same sub-topic appears in different places more than once or twice. The reason is that this is such a new topic for most people that it helps to have the same issue handled more than once and in a different context. In this way you will be learning more than facts, but also a thinking register. For instance if you are very good at something, whatever it is, you are an "expert" at that thing relative to many other people. When two "experts" get together they can talk "shop" with each other, and others may get the feeling that they don't understand what's being discussed. In addition, experts can solve problems others cannot. This is because they are able to reason things out from experience and reflection.

This more powerful (expert) way of thinking about something is called a specialized thinking register. You will learn to think rationally and scientifically about God. You will practice applying scientific and rational thinking to God.  Hence the apparent repetitions of topics throughout theistic psychology is not redundant information to be skipped, but opportunities to build facts into principles, and these into an expert thinking register about God.

Every human being has God in the mind. This reality is the rational and empirical basis of defining God as a scientific concept. Since God is immortal, our conjunction with God from birth, makes us also immortal. Since God intervenes and interacts with everything we intend, reason, and do, it is for scientific research to investigate how this interaction takes place in every human being.

Every human being has heaven and hell in the mind, from birth, as part of the inherited human mental anatomy.  Heaven is a mental state in eternity that is operational within the affective organ of our spiritual mind (see Section xx). This operation exists within the human virtues. All individuals who operate within the consciousness, intention, effort, and love of virtues, develop this affective organ so that after separation from the physical world, they exist in that state of eternity called heaven (see Section xx).

Every human being has hell in the mind, from birth and inherited mental anatomy of the natural mind. Hell is a state in eternity that is operational within the affective organ of our natural-sensuous mind (see Section xx). This operation exists within the human vices. All individuals who operate within the consciousness, intention, effort, and love of vices, develop this affective organ so that after separation from the physical world, they exist in that state of eternity called hell (see Section xx).

From the religious perspective, based on the plain literal meaning of Sacred Scripture, heaven is being with God in eternity as a reward we earned for being faithful in our religion while we were on earth. And hell, is a Divine punishment or an inevitable negative consequence, of living a life of "sin", which is contrary to religion.

From the scientific perspective of theistic psychology, based on the hidden correspondential meaning of Sacred Scripture, both heaven and hell are mental states that are operational within our mental organs, and these are already in eternity from birth (see Section xx). As observed by Swedenborg, people make their own choices regarding where they exist in the conscious afterlife of eternity (see Section xx). The choices they make are according to their loves -- what they like most, what they are most enchanted with, what they are unwilling to give up no matter what. This is what pulls them to live their immortal existence either within human virtues (heaven), or within human vices (hell). In terms of Swedenborg's observations of samples of human beings entering the afterlife in the eighteenth century, more people from this earth chose to be in their vices, than in their virtues!

Unfortunately, the people who choose hell become progressively worse and live a sub-human life devoid of orderliness, intelligence and happiness. This is a built in endless degradation of the operations of the natural-sensuous mind that is unwilling to be governed by the rational mind. In contrast, people who choose to live in their virtues are happy, married to their soul mate, intelligent, decent, and beautiful, and they grow in these traits endlessly to eternity. This is a built in elevation of the operations of the spiritual-rational mind (see Section xx).

Topic 1. The Negative Bias in Science vs. the Positive Bias in Science

Science exists in two different orientations called the negative bias in science and the positive bias in science (see Section xx). The negative bias in science denies that anything exists except that which is natural, and constructed out of physical matter in time and space. For instance, thoughts and feelings are defined as nothing more than electrical and chemical activity in the brain cells and their "emergent" properties. The negative bias in science denies the existence of God, of life after death, of Divine revelation, of consciousness as real, of a spiritual world in eternity outside time and space, of the possibility that anyone can communicate with people who have already departed from this world through death of the physical body. The denial of all of this by materialistic science follows automatically from the denial of anything outside time, space, and energy. This denial is called the negative bias orientation or paradigm in science.

It is called a bias because this position has never been proven by science. It is a mutually chosen premise, an unproven assumption, an agreement by scientists among each other to exclude anything from science that isn't material in time and space. This methodological position is sometimes called "materialism" or "materialistic monism." This is the attitude and orientation that you have been exposed to in your science and psychology courses throughout education. "God and science don't mix" -- we were told and taught. "It's unscientific to talk about God in science" is another popular persuasion. So we were not told that denying God in science is a negative bias in science. We were told that denying God in science is scientific.

It makes a big difference whether school children are told one or whether they are told the other. Telling us that God in science is unscientific goes deeper into our persuasion than telling us that God in science is denied by assumption and agreement not by proof. More resistance to the idea of God in science is created in our mind when we are told it is unscientific, rather than there is an unproven agreement in science to exclude God. Clearly there is an element of ideology in science rather than rationality. The negative bias in science agreement methodologically excludes the writings of any scientist who includes God in their theoretical explanation.

An example of systematic exclusion from science is the work of Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772), whose writings have been excluded from being even mentioned in history of psychology textbooks and handbooks, despite the fact that Swedenborg wrote the first textbook of psychology called Rational Psychology (1742) in which you can find the major topics of psychology in the 20th century, including the focus on the brain and its functions. For instance, Swedenborg was the first scientist to propose that the anatomical and physiological evidence indicates that the left brain specializes in cognitive operations, while the right brain in affective operations (see Section xx). Swedenborg was the first known modern scientist whose theories were explicitly theistic.

The positive bias orientation in science -- also unproven, hence a bias --  is that God exists, that reality consists of two worlds, one natural in physical time and space, the other spiritual or mental, outside time and space. The spiritual world of eternity is also called the afterlife. What is critically different in this orientation is the recognition that thoughts and feelings are not electro-chemical operations in the neurons of the brain since thoughts and feelings are non-material substances, while the brain contains only material substances or matter. Material substances of the physical brain are in the time-space world, while mental substances and operations -- thoughts and feelings --  are in the mind or in the world of eternity (not in the time-space world ). This is the fundamental difference that you must try to understand right from the start of your study of theistic psychology.

Why is the spiritual world of eternity and afterlife = the mental world?

Isn't the mental world right here and now in my mind? The mental world of my thoughts and feelings are alive in me right now. So why are you calling thoughts and feelings as operations in eternity? How can the spiritual world be the same as my mental world? If our eternity is in the mental world, is it really an objective place we can go to after we die? Etc. Etc. These are all the questions that may be crowding your mind. All of them will be answered in your mind when you begin to form a cumulative and coherent account of its various pieces and how they are integrated with each other. Diagrams will be given to help you in this task.

Until the 19th century, scientists accepted the positive bias in science, including the founders of modern science -- Galileo, Newton, Darwin. By the end of the 19th century and onward with the 20th, the negative bias in science became prevalent. Nevertheless the positive bias in science continued strong with scientists who were familiar with the Writings of the Swedish scientist Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772). In contemporary psychology the positive bias in science based on Swedenborg's Writings continues with the new field of theistic psychology, created by Dr. Leon James, Professor of Psychology at the University of Hawaii (see the online work Theistic Psychology at www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/theistic )

Look at this news story: http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g6vLZj4hBdG1G_1NBqX6s8DMbCIg

Belief in God 'childish,' Jews not chosen people: Einstein letter

LONDON (AFP) — Albert Einstein described belief in God as "childish superstition" and said Jews were not the chosen people, in a letter to be sold in London this week, an auctioneer said Tuesday.
The father of relativity, whose previously known views on religion have been more ambivalent and fuelled much discussion, made the comments in response to a philosopher in 1954.
As a Jew himself, Einstein said he had a great affinity with Jewish people but said they "have no different quality for me than all other people".
"The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish.
"No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this," he wrote in the letter written on January 3, 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, cited by The Guardian newspaper.
The German-language letter is being sold Thursday by Bloomsbury Auctions in Mayfair after being in a private collection for more than 50 years, said the auction house's managing director Rupert Powell.
In it, the renowned scientist, who declined an invitation to become Israel's second president, rejected the idea that the Jews are God's chosen people.
"For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions," he said.
"And the Jewish people to whom I gladly belong and with whose mentality I have a deep affinity have no different quality for me than all other people."
And he added: "As far as my experience goes, they are no better than other human groups, although they are protected from the worst cancers by a lack of power. Otherwise I cannot see anything 'chosen' about them."
Previously the great scientist's comments on religion -- such as "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" -- have been the subject of much debate, used notably to back up arguments in favour of faith.
Powell said the letter being sold this week gave a clear reflection of Einstein's real thoughts on the subject. "He's fairly unequivocal as to what he's saying. There's no beating about the bush," he told AFP.

The American Psychological Association (APA) oversees and sets standards for doctoral training programs in all accredited clinical psychology departments and schools in the United States. In the past few years there has been a greater recognition that "theistic psychotherapy" is a desirable and necessary development in clinical psychology. An example is the APA Psychotherapy Training Videos program intended for mental health professionals. One training video for clinical psychologists approved by the APA is the following:

The information below is displayed at:  http://www.apa.org/videos/4310716.html

Theistic Integrative Psychology shows an approach for incorporating belief in God into therapy. An important aspect of this therapy is the assumption that spirituality and faith are central to many people's lives, and therefore therapists should be open to including religious beliefs in their work with clients.

In this session, Dr. P. Scott Richards works with a 60-year-old African American woman who was recently diagnosed with diabetes. He first seeks to understand how she is handling this news and the accompanying thoughts about her mortality and then looks at how her spiritual beliefs are both helping and hindering her process of coping.

This approach is distinguished from most therapeutic models in that its primary worldview is that God and spirituality often play an important role in people's lives: The starting point for Dr. Richard's theistic integrative approach is theistic, as opposed to the naturalistic or atheistic starting point for other models in psychotherapy.

This approach is distinguished from most therapeutic models in that its primary worldview is that God and spirituality often play an important role in people's lives: The starting point for Dr. Richard's theistic integrative approach is theistic, as opposed to the naturalistic or atheistic starting point for other models in psychotherapy.

This is an integrative approach in which many psychotherapeutic approaches may be incorporated, including person-centered and cognitive approaches, depending on which may be most suitable for the client. Tailoring the therapy to the individual client while also being open to the role of God in the client's life will result in more effective therapy. Assessment includes questions about religious beliefs and affiliations as well as more typical questions to assess mood and psychological traits.

To use this approach, a psychologist need not adhere to traditional religious beliefs, although having respect for and some understanding of spiritual worldviews is helpful. A therapist who is not a believer might look at this approach as a way to treat religious clients in a culturally sensitive way. Whether the therapist believes in God or not, the most important thing to remember when allowing religious belief to enter therapy is that the therapist must never impose his or her own beliefs on the client. The goal of this therapy is to look for how the client's beliefs might help (or hinder) the journey to psychological healing.

To learn more about this approach, Dr. Richards recommends continuing education classes as well as reading literature on theistic integrative psychology.

P. Scott Richards received his PhD in counseling psychology in 1988 from the University of Minnesota. He has been a faculty member at Brigham Young University since 1990 and is a professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education.

He is coauthor of the first and second editions of A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy (American Psychological Association [APA], 2005); coeditor of the Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity (APA, 2000), and the Casebook for a Spiritual Strategy in Counseling and Psychotherapy (APA, 2004).

He was given the Dissertation of the Year Award in 1990 from APA Division 5 (Evaluation, Measurement, and Statistics). In 1999, he was awarded the William C. Bier Award from APA Division 36 (Psychology of Religion). He is a fellow of Division 36, served as secretary of the division from 2000 to 2003, and is currently president of the division. Dr. Richards is a licensed psychologist and maintains a small private psychotherapy practice at the Center for Change in Orem, Utah.

Richards, P. S. (2005). Theistic integrative psychotherapy. In L. Sperry & E. P. Shafranske (Eds.), Spiritually oriented psychotherapy (pp. 259–286). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Richards, P. S., & Bergin, A. E. (Eds.). (2000). Handbook of psychotherapy and religious diversity. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Richards, P. S., & Bergin, A. E. (Eds.). (2004). Casebook for a spiritual strategy in counseling and psychotherapy. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Richards, P. S., & Bergin, A. E. (2005). A spiritual strategy for counseling and psychotherapy (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

APA Videos

• Addressing Issues of Spirituality and Religion in Psychotherapy
  Edward P. Shafranske

• Christian Counseling
  Mark R. McMinn

• Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression
  Zindel V. Segal

• Mindfulness for Addiction Problems
  G. Alan Marlatt

• Spiritual Awareness Psychotherapy
  Lisa J. Miller

APA Books

• Casebook for a Spiritual Strategy in Counseling and Psychotherapy
  Edited by P. Scott Richards and Allen E. Bergin

• Handbook of Psychotherapy and Religious Diversity
  Edited by P. Scott Richards and Allen E. Bergin

• Integrating Spirituality Into Treatment: Resources for Practitioners
  Edited by William R. Miller

• Judeo-Christian Perspectives on Psychology: Human Nature, Motivation, and Change
  Edited by William R. Miller and Harold D. Delaney

• Religion and Clinical Practice of Psychotherapy
  Edited by Edward P. Shafranske

• A Spiritual Strategy for Counseling and Psychotherapy, Second Edition
  P. Scott Richards and Allen E. Bergin

• Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapy
  Edited by Len Sperry and Edward P. Shafranske

© 2007 American Psychological Association

The above information is displayed at:  http://www.apa.org/videos/4310716.html

I am presenting this information to show that the science of psychology is moving in a new direction which allows it to discuss God as a real person with whom the individual has a real relationship. This is not the same as saying that the therapist is to accept God as scientific reality, but only that the client is allowed to discuss God with the therapist as a legitimate, even healthy relationship in daily life. Before this we have a contrastive attitude for more than 100 years in psychology during which God was categorized as a non-existent entity people invented as a crutch (Freud) and to whom they prayed by superstition or delusion (Skinner). This new attitude by the scientifically conscious American Psychological Association is remarkable whose importance has not yet been fully grasped by the profession.

It is easy to falsely dismiss the significance of this new perspective for the reason that the therapist does not have to believe in God, but only to accept the legitimacy of the client's relationship to God. Hence nothing has really changed in the science of psychology. However this is missing something important. Even if licensed therapists don't have to accept the reality of God, nevertheless they must act like and talk like God is a real person!

I repeat this most important new perspective in the science of psychology: Henceforth licensed therapists in the United States must acquire the ability to administer mental health services that address God as a real person.

This fundamentally changes the monolithic atheistic supremacy that has dictated the negative bias materialism in psychology for the past 100 years.

Freud and Skinner are no longer around to fight against this new direction in psychology. Even so, theistic psychology still remains outside the boundaries even for the new direction in theistic psychotherapy. The reason is that the Swedenborg Reports are not considered relevant or necessary, and hence absolutely nothing is known empirically about the mental world of eternity and afterlife. Theistic psychology accepts these reports as scientifically valid. The rational and methodological justification for this orientation follows.

Here is the foundation principle for the existence of theistic psychology, as stated in the Writings of Swedenborg:

AC 2568. It has been said above in this chapter that doctrine would become null and void if the rational were consulted (n. 2516, 2538); and that it was not consulted (n. 2519, 2531). But here it is said that the doctrine of faith was enriched with goods and truths both rational and natural. At first view these statements appear as if they were adverse and contrary to each other; and yet are not so. How the case was with the Lord, has been stated; but how it is with man, remains to be told.

[2] As regards man it is one thing to regard the doctrine of faith from rational things, and altogether another to regard rational things from the doctrine of faith. To regard the doctrine of faith from rational things is not to believe in the Word, or in the doctrine thence derived, until one is persuaded from rational things that it is so; whereas to regard rational things from the doctrine of faith is first to believe in the Word, or in the doctrine therefrom, and then to confirm the same by rational things. The former is inverted order, and results in nothing being believed; whereas the latter is genuine order, and causes the man to believe the better. It is the former that is here meant by its being said that Abimelech should die because of the woman; by which is signified that the doctrine of faith would become null and void if the rational were consulted (n. 2516, 2538); but the latter is meant by its being said that Abimelech gave flock and herd, and menservants and maidservants; by which is signified that the doctrine of faith was enriched with rational and natural goods and truths.

[3] These things are much treated of in the Word in its internal sense, especially where Asshur and Egypt are spoken of; for the reason that while the doctrine of faith is regarded from rational things, that is, while a man does not believe until he is persuaded from them that it is so, it then not only becomes null and void, but whatever is contained in it is also denied; whereas when rational things are regarded from the doctrine of faith, that is, when a man believes the Word, and afterwards the same things are confirmed by rational things, the doctrine is then living and whatever is contained in it is affirmed.

[4] There are therefore two principles; one of which leads to all folly and insanity, and the other to all intelligence and wisdom. The former principle is to deny all things, or to say in the heart that we cannot believe them until we are convinced by what we can apprehend, or perceive by the senses; this is the principle that leads to all folly and insanity, and is to be called the negative principle. The other principle is to affirm the things which are of doctrine from the Word, or to think and believe within ourselves that they are true because the Lord has said them: this is the principle that leads to all intelligence and wisdom, and is to be called the affirmative principle.

[5] The more they who think from the negative principle consult things rational, the more they consult memory-knowledges, and the more they consult things philosophical, the more do they cast and precipitate themselves into darkness, until at last they deny all things. The causes of this are, that no one can apprehend higher things from lower ones, that is, spiritual and celestial things, still less Divine things, from lower ones, because they transcend all understanding, and moreover everything is then involved in negatives from that principle. On the other hand, they who think from an affirmative principle can confirm themselves by whatever things rational, by whatever memory-knowledges, and whatever things philosophic they have at command; for all these are to them things confirmatory, and give them a fuller idea of the matter.

[6] Moreover there are some who are in doubt before they deny, and there are some who are in doubt before they affirm. They who are in doubt before they deny are they who incline to a life of evil; and when this life carries them away, then insofar as they think of the matters in question they deny them. But they who are in doubt before they affirm are they who incline to a life of good; and when they suffer themselves to be bent to this by the Lord, then insofar as they think about those things so far they affirm. As this subject is further treated of in the verses which follow,. it is permitted of the Lord's Divine mercy to illustrate them more fully there (see n. 2588).
(AC 2568)

In other words, we can assume the negative bias in science when we examine the proposal that God exists and that upon death we enter the afterlife of eternity. Since the negative bias proof requires physical measurement it is not possible to apply this method to God or the afterlife. Therefore to exclude God or the afterlife as real requires a bias. This negative bias says that what is not physical is not real. The reason it is called a bias is that non-physical things could exist or be real, yet the negative bias would deny it, hence deny what is true and real. But there is an important tradition in science that recognizes that science has two components, one called empirical, the other called rational.

In non-theistic psychology empirical refers to physical measurement. In theistic psychology empirical means sensory observation, which can be either physical or mental. In all science theory and explanation goes beyond empirical data. This is why scientific theories are almost always wrong, even though they appear correct when proposed. Later research however, and further developments in science, eventually abandon all the old theories and propose new ones, which a little later, will also be abandoned. So science proceeds by scientific theories that are continually abandoned as wrong when they were at first accepted as correct. How can this process proceed and have a good outcome?

The answer is that all theories and all data in science must be structured to be logical, consistent, and rational. In non-theistic psychology this has been achieved so far only in ideal and not yet in reality. For the most part, scientific theories in non-theistic psychology do not agree with each other regarding what the facts, how they ought to be explained, and what to do about it. In general research in non-theistic psychology proceeds within highly specialized fields and only a few psychologists acknowledge and are part of that field and its research. Others reject much of the research that one group considers real. This confusing state of non-theistic psychology will continue until the entire field becomes fully rational, which means integrated into a whole, instead of into parts that do not recognize each other. In theistic psychology research and knowledge development start with the positive bias regarding God and Sacred Scripture. So it is a top down science, departing from Sacred Scripture understood in correspondences, and deducing all the principles from it through the positive bias in science. Each principle is then empirically applied and verified through observation. Hence theistic psychology is a fully integrated and rational science.

I have been teaching theistic psychology to college students who are majoring in psychology and are being prepared for professional and graduate school. The most difficult issue in their mind regarding the scientific status of the Swedenborg Reports is that his observations are not replicable by other scientists.  They were taught that science means proof that can be replicated by other scientists. The students also report that the friends and family with whom they discuss the Swedenborg Reports, also are bothered by this one issue, saying, Why should you believe this man from the 18th century who says he talked to the dead? And how many others have also claimed this? Etc.

But the fact is that no one in the history of science, philosophy, psychology, theology, literature has ever claimed to have been dual citizens for decades, and no one in the history of literature has discussed or described what Swedenborg observed and explained. So the dismissive idea of Why should I believe him -- does not apply here at all. Here we have a unique situation in science and history and it deserves its own rational and impartial assessment.

The replicability issue is actually not a critical one in this case. Everyone will be able to replicate and verify what Swedenborg describes. This occurs 30 hours after death, when we are awakened through the process of resuscitation and begin our life of eternity in our spiritual mind (see Section xx). At that point everyone can verify the accuracy of the Swedenborg Reports. The fact that no one can so until after resuscitation is not critical in this case as long as the following eight scientific and rational assessment criteria are applied.

Can it be demonstrated to scientists and students that the Swedenborg Reports contain observation and theory fully characterized by:

1. consistency

2. completeness

3. rationality

4. abstract or mechanistic explanatory mechanisms

5. ability to account for more of the known possibilities

6. ability to generate verifiable predictions

7. ability to provide greater control of self and environment

8. consistency with universal human values.

The answer is Yes for all eight assessment criteria. For this reason, the issue of delayed replicability is not critical. There are other examples in science that are accepted as one time events that cannot be replicated, and there are also examples in science where replication is even theoretically impossible. There are no other books, theories, systems, or records in human history and literature that meet the above eight assessment criteria.

Exercise:

If you are interested in pursuing the logical issue of introducing God in science, study the following electronic discussion on the logic of proving the negative in science, at:
http://archive.internalspace.co.uk/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b=cc,v=display,m=1098071640,s=all
Summarize the various points that are made. Review them and see what you agree with. Does this give you a better idea of what proof in science really is? What is your conclusion regarding the positive bias in science, as proposed in theistic psychology?

    1.0.1.1   Substantive Dualism: We Are Born Dual Citizens

The basic premises of the positive bias in science are

• substantive dualism (see Section xx)

• theism or the acknowledgment of God as Creator and Manager (see Section xx)

• revelations of scientific knowledge through Sacred Scripture (see Section xx)

Science studies all of reality. If anything is part of reality, science tries to investigate it and to understand it rationally. The positive bias in science says that God is part of reality, and therefore, science is going to try to investigate God as a scientific concept.

The negative bias in science says that God is not part of reality, hence there is no point even trying to investigate something that does not exist, or does not actually influence the outcome of events and phenomena.

Sometimes people try to take up an in between position, saying that God does exist, but this cannot be investigated by science. God is just a matter of personal faith or belief. This idea arbitrarily, with no proof or evidence, limits what science is. The alternative view is to say that science tries to investigate all reality. So, if God is actually part of reality, science should try to investigate God as a possible scientific fact.

This is similar to the situation where scientists have proposed the idea that there are other intelligent beings on the planets in vast space who might be trying to communicate with us by radio waves from outer space. So these scientists acquired research funds from the federal government to build large radio telescopes and transmitters that can receive possible messages from outer space by an alien civilization. Other scientists ridiculed the idea, saying that there is no evidence whatsoever that intelligent  beings exist elsewhere but on earth, and there is much evidence to suggest that the evolution of life cannot repeat itself in more than one place. There is a negative bias in science towards the idea of aliens, and scientists holding that bias would not investigate the existence of aliens in outer space. They cite many scientific reasons to show that this idea is a pipe dream, not a scientific hypothesis. You can see the positive and negative bias clashing in science regarding life on other planets.

But you need to realize that the positive bias in science for the existen