Question 1:

Report 2:
My Understanding of Theistic Psychology
By Sheena Haberlin
Instructions for this report are at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/459-g24-report2.htm

I am answering Questions 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6

Section A: My Own Summary of the Selections

Symbiosis- This is the connection of the affective organ and the cognitive organ. In other words, it is the coordination of our physical body and our rational thinking in our mind working together as one.

Substantive dualism- The ability to live in eternity throughout the spiritual mind, one can live through eternity because he or she is able to move on from death of the physical body into eternal life in the spiritual world outside of time and space. Swedenborg was able to live a life of dual citizenship which is the ability to move through both worlds without death of the physical body, he was given this opportunity to be able to give us this information of divine speech to help enlighten us.

The Mind's Three Discrete Degrees- This is the understanding that there is a degree of relationships within one event. Each event contains three within its self these are called celestial source, spiritual cause, and natural effect.

God's Omnipotence and the As-of-Self Free Will- that God is omnipotent and all powerful; yet he allows us to have the freedom to think what we want and to choose the actions we covet. At the same time God is in harmony with us, he is managing our actions without us knowing this.

Section B: My Answers to the Five Questions

"The Question I am answering is Question 1"

(a) Explain in your own words how you understand the phrase "mental biology" in theistic psychology. What makes theistic psychology "mental" and what makes it "biological"? You will need to include several related concepts to give an adequate explanation: e.g., evolution of consciousness, discrete degrees, and substantive dualism. You will need to explain these related terms as well before the whole is comprehensible. Is it important for a theory in psychology to be biological?

(b) Diagram A in Section 6.3.1.1.1 is a portrayal of mental biology. Explain what elements of the diagram are useful for you, bringing out new aspects you haven't thought of yet. And what elements are problematic for you and why: Is the idea too vague? Does it contradict something you believe?

Answers to Question 1:

(a) Mental biology is a complicated term; one must understand “mental” and “biology” separately to rationalize the two as a whole. According to Theistic Psychology, as human beings we are given the affective organ and the cognitive organ. The affective organ consists of our rational abilities, therefore this is where one is given the ability or will to use our physical/”biological” body in the natural world. The cognitive organ is made up of our rational intelligence; our rational intelligence is out “mental” ability to use our mind to understand, make decisions and to rationalize our thoughts. Without one of these organs we are not capable of the simple and complex abilities we possess as human beings. The connection of the two working together in coalition is called Symbiosis.

(b) Diagram A in Section 6.3.1.1.1 seems complicated when looking at it for the first time because it has so many unfamiliar terms. However, once you understand the concepts within the diagram it comes together smoothly. The left side represents Divine Love which is our free will and our physical abilities. The right side represents Rationality; this is our mind’s ability to use our physical abilities to accomplish the actions that we intend upon. Our Rationality also allows us to understand divine truth, which is our only way to true enlightenment.

"The Question I am answering is Question 2"

(a) Explain how you understand the concepts of heaven and hell in theistic psychology. How does it relate to your ideas about this prior to the course? Has there been a change in your attitude or knowledge?

(b) Discuss how you relate to the concept of the economics of immortality.

(c) Explain your idea of what is the vertical community to which we are connected. How is this related to heaven and hell? How is this concept in theistic psychology different from what psychologists think of "delusions" when talking about "spirits"? What needs to change in psychology before the idea of the vertical community can be presented as a method of therapy?

Answers to Question 2:

(a) According to Theistic Psychology, heaven and hell are what we make of it in our minds. In our second death we get to choose whether we want to be in heaven or hell. However, it is a lot more complicated than just that. We cannot choose against our ruling love (good or evil). Whatever our true love is and has been will control our fate. For example, if the individual is a good person he will live a wonderful and beautiful life of eternity in heaven full of light and happiness. On the other hand, if the individual is selfish and unable to let go of our inherited evils he will forever live in hell as a monster dwelling in a dark empty cave.

Before taking Theistic Psychology, the idea of a spiritual world where spiritual minds are the dominant feature and importance in eternity never occurred to me. I always believed that there was a heaven and hell and that they are both on opposite sides of the spectrum. I never had a confident idea or faith of what either of those worlds consisted of; however, they were more along the lines of the Christian belief rather than the explanation given in Theistic Psychology.

(b) Economics of immortality basically state that the Divine Psychologist understands us individually as either good or evil. He knows whether or not our actions are for love and truth rather than evil. We cannot rationalize in our minds that evil traits can be balanced our by good traits, our true inner selves and intentions are what really matter. In relation to heaven and hell, the economics of immortality (what our true love is) will be the determining factor of whether or not we will live in the heaven of our minds or the hell of our minds.

(c) According to Theistic Psychology, the vertical community is made up of five different minds. These are called the minds of celestial angels, the minds of spiritual angels, the minds of natural angels, the minds of earthlings, and the minds of the devils. The higher you are on the spectrum the closer you are to God and the more “heavenly” you are.

These minds have nothing to do with delusions; they are merely the separate entities of life in the natural world and the spiritual world. Each of these are needed to complete life in eternity.

Psychologists need to look at this from a scientific standpoint. Without realizing that this is a legitimate science, there are very few psychologists that would use this as a method of therapy. However, that does not mean that it is not a good source of information to be used for therapy. It is very likely that many people would benefit from Swedenborg’s sacred scripture if only they could understand it as a science rather than a religion. Once again, understanding the sacred scripture rationally is the best way to be enlightened and truly understand its meaning.

"The Question I am answering is Question 4"

(a) What is the perspective of theistic psychology provides on Sacred Scripture?

(b) How is it related to Divine Speech?

(d) Give some illustrations of Sacred Scripture and show how they are to be interpreted from the perspective of theistic psychology.

Answers to Question 4:

(a) Theistic psychology uses Sacred Scripture as a basis of understanding through spiritual-rational concepts of Divine Speech. Theistic psychology provides a good way of understanding Sacred Scripture. It gives students an understanding of religion from a scientific stand point. This is important for people to see because some people who are not religious may find it interesting and there upon reading it and understanding it find faith in it.

(b) Most people read Sacred Scripture and take it for the literal sense; however, divine Speech is the true understanding of the meaning of Sacred Scripture. Corporeal-sensuous correspondences, natural-rational correspondences, spiritual-natural correspondences are the three different ways of understanding it. Corporeal-sensuous correspondences are the literal sense, natural-rational correspondences are understanding it through Sacred Scripture, and spiritual-natural correspondences are understanding it through Theistic Psychology.

(c) Correspondences are the ability to understand and rationalize the Divine Truth of Sacred Scripture. This involves true enlightenment in a being to be able to rationalize what Divine Speech actually means.

(d) One illustration I can think of that can be interpreted through the perspective of theistic psychology is the story of Adam and Eve. According to Sacred Scripture, Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden because the serpent enticed Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. This is the literal sense; however, looking at this from the theistic psychology perspective one may see this as the serpent being the man and his persuasion and the forbidden fruit represents the purity of the woman.

"The Question I am answering is Question 5"

(a) What is the relation between mind and the spiritual world?

(b) How does theistic psychology show their relation?

(d) Why should people be concerned about the afterlife?

(e) What is the "vertical community" and why should people focus on their "dual citizenship"?

Answers to Question 5:

(a) The mind is the spirit and the spirit is the essence of the spiritual world. The mind is born to end up in the spiritual world of eternity and without the mind there is no spiritual world. After the human dies in the natural world, the individual (also known as the mind) moves on to the spiritual world. In dual citizenship (such as the experience that Swedenborg based his writings on), the mind is able to enter the spiritual world and return back to the natural world.

(b) Theistic psychology shows that the mind and spiritual world are connected through its very explanation of why one dies in the natural world. According to theistic psychology, one dies in the natural world when their character is no longer capable of regeneration or character reformation. When one is no longer able to become a better human being by overcoming the innate evil temptations that have been given to us the person is no longer of use in the natural world and dies to be resuscitated into the spiritual world. In the spiritual world the mind either chooses to go on to the heaven of their mind or the hell of their mind, this is determined by the life that they led while in the natural world.

(c) The Human mind is immortal because the human mind is a separate entity from the physical body. When the physical body dies (because the human mind is no longer capable of character reformation) the mind moves on into the spiritual world of eternity.

(d) The afterlife is where the person will spend eternity. If a person is not concerned about their afterlife they will most likely make many mistakes and let their inherited evil traits guide them. This will result in a life of eternity in hell. If one wants to live in heaven, they must use character reformation to ensure a good afterlife.

(e) The vertical community is a way of looking at the different areas of the spiritual and natural world. One chooses where one will live for the rest of eternity after death by the choice he makes throughout his life. By focusing on dual citizenship, one must realize that there is a spiritual world and that their afterlife depends upon the actions they decide to make during their life in the natural world.

"The Question I am answering is Question 6"

(a) Discuss the concept of the "as-of self."

(b) Why is it difficult for people to accept his idea?

(d) Is human freedom compatible with the concept of God's omnipotence?

(e) How do you react to this concept? Can you accept it? Does it make a difference whether you accept it or not?

Answers to Question 6:

(a) God is omnipotent and controls everything in the world, the only thing we have control over is our free will in our affective organ and this is because he has chosen to give us free will. Without free-will we would not be human.

(b) Most people have a hard time accepting the “as-of self” concept because they do not like to tolerate the idea that there is someone above us that controls our every thought and action. This idea would encourage them to believe that they are not in control of their own destiny and most people would rather reject the idea than to accept it. Another reason why people have a difficult time accepting this as true is because they feel that if God is omnipotent, then why does he allow evil to exist and instead make life full of love and happiness.

(c) No, it implies that we cooperate with God; however, we have control over our affective organ because he allows us to have control over it. He understands that we are capable of both good and evil and we are the ones to make the choice of going to the hell of our minds or the heaven of our minds.

(d) Human freedom is the free will that God has given us upon his interest of divine love for human beings. At any moment God is capable of taking that freedom away from us. Therefore, God’s omnipotence is just what it implies He is all powerful. We as humans are not in anyway compatible with God, other than that we are capable of divine love and truth because of Him.

(e) I fully accept the as-of self concept to be true. It is a very rational idea that Swedenborg has explained through his writings from his observations as a dual citizen. However, if one does not want to accept it, it does not make any difference.

Section C: My Analysis of Prior Generations in the Generational Curriculum

(i) Discuss how they felt:

Most of the students seemed feel that they were enlightened by reading about theistic psychology because it gave them a better understanding of religion. Theistic psychology gave them a true understanding rather than just accepting afterlife and God because they were raised to believe it. I believe this because while reading Laina Beard’s report2 when she wrote; “I have thought that all of these religious beliefs and people supporting them are crazy to have “blind faith.” If something were to be so eternally true and right, how could it not have a rational explanation. I found that in Theistic Psychology.” You can find Laina Beard’s report2 from generation22 at http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/459s2005/beard/459-g22-report2.htm.

(ii) What they thought:

Some of the students thought that they learned a lot from this class and that it is useful for them to become a better person throughout the use of character reformation. One of the students said that she now knows she must make the right decisions to spend her afterlife in the heaven of her mind. Melissa Alcover from generation23 wrote; “I learned that there is more life than this natural earth and there is more to look forward to after our physical death. It gave me more to look forward to.” I think that this is a good outcome of theistic psychology. You can find Melissa Alcover’s report2 at http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/459f2005/alcover/alcover-459-g23-report2.htm.

(iii) What they concluded:

I agree with one of the student (named Nina Sacks from G23) when she wrote this “learning about these concepts in theistic psychology only further validated what I already thought”. Her report2 can be found at this address http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/459f2005/sacks/sacks-459-g23-report2.htm. She seemed to be genuinely enthusiastic about the course and what she learned in it.

(iv) How their insights apply to you:

Upon reading other students’ reports, I felt that most of them seemed to be intelligent enough to understand Theistic Psychology. They seemed to be satisfied with the readings and the content of theistic psychology in general as a whole. I think it applies to me because I am a fellow student who can analyze my thoughts by looking at their thoughts. By doing so, I feel that although they understand the concept I am not certain whether or not all of them believe it to the same extent as the next student. Each person hold’s their own beliefs and this is a good example of why there are different levels of correspondences.

Section D: My Advice to Future Generations

The best advice that I can give to future generations is to take on the positive bias. Without the positive bias it is impossible to comprehend any of the information and the point of Theistic Psychology is to understand it rationally and then make the decision of whether or not you want to believe it (not the other way around).

My Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/459s2006/xx/xx-home.htm

G24 Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy24/classhome-g24.htm