Between the first and fourth centuries, while the Roman empire was at its zenith and beginning to disintegrate, Christianity became the dominant religion. For this reason, the pagan philosophers were being replaced as leaders by a new group: The Patrists, or fathers of the Church. While the Church fathers were busy defending the faith, they could not help but have some influence from the philosophers at the time. This is not to say that they accepted everything that the pagan philosophers had to say. On the contrary, whatever contradicted clear Christian teaching they rejected, and whatever affirmed Christian teaching they received. As a result, the early Christian fathers could be said to have been considered protopsychologists to a certain extent. When I say this, what I mean is that they had some philosophic ideas that influenced early psychology before psychology came onto the scene as a science. I know that this sounds strange to read, especially for those who have never heard this before. Before you write me off as a lunatic, however, please hear me out. In this blog, I will carefully explain how the early Church fathers had some ideas that influenced early Psychology. The source that I get my information from comes from a book titled "The Story of Psychology" written by Morton Hunt. After you finish reading this blog, there will be a link at the bottom of this page to the book on Amazon. I highly recommend that you check it out because it is well worth the read. For the sake of this blog, the Church fathers I shall be focusing on are Tertullian, Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas because they are the most well-known to have had the most influence on Church history.
Tertullian:
He lived from 160-230 AD and he was the son of a Roman centurion while growing up in Carthage. His education was in law before going to Rome and becoming a jurist. By his mid-thirties, he came to know the Lord and renounced pagan pleasures. He was in a constant rage over how the pagans mistreated the Christians and even coined the saying, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church". So, what was his contribution to Psychology? Well, to begin with, he was well-versed in the psychology of his time and even fought against whatever went against the Church's beliefs, but he accepted whatever affirmed the Church's beliefs. For instance, because of his Christian beliefs, he rejected the philosophy of Plato concerning the soul. He says,
"When we acknowledge that the soul originates in the breath of God, it follows that we attribute a beginning to it. Plato refuses to assign this to it; he will have the soul unborn and unmade. We, however, from the very fact of its having had a beginning, as well as from the nature thereof, teach that it had both birth and creation... The opinion of the philosopher is overthrown by the authority of prophecy"
Here, he is clearly saying that since we accept that the human soul has a beginning, and thus, is created, we are obligated to reject Plato's philosophy of the soul. The reason for this is that Plato thought that the soul is eternal, which is in direct contradiction to the Holy Scriptures. According to Genesis 2:7,
"...then the Lord God formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature"
Once God breathed His breath into humans, that is when the soul is created. It is for this reason that we cannot accept the concept of an eternal soul.
Although Tertullian disagreed with philosophers concerning an eternal soul, he agreed with them in some sense that the soul is corporeal and connected to bodily functions. He says,
"The soul certainly sympathizes with the body and shares in its pain whenever it is injured by bruises, and wounds, and sores; the body, too, suffers with the soul and is united to it whenever the soul is afflicted with anxiety, distress, or love, testifying to its shame and fears by its own blushes and paleness. The soul, therefore, is proved to be corporeal from this inter-communion of susceptibility"
As you can see, Tertullian believed that the soul and body were intertwined together. When the soul suffers or is excited, the body suffers or is excited. When the body suffers or is excited, the soul suffers or is excited. In other words, whatever happens to either the body or soul, the opposite is affected.
Augustine:
He was alive in 354-430 AD and was born in Tagaste, which is a town in the Roman province of Numidia. His mother knew the Lord, while his father was a pagan. His early years were met with luxury, but it was soon fading away because of barbarians invading the outlying parts of the Empire. At the age of thirty-two, at the behest of his mother, he sent his concubine away and waited for his fiancee to come of age. One day, while he was weeping, he ran to a garden and heard a voice saying, "Take up and read, take up and read". He, then, picked up a Bible and opened it to a random page. The words he read were from The Apostle Paul, which said,
"Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not make provision for the flesh, in concupiscence"
From that moment on, he devoted himself to the Lord and gave up his desire to be married. He threw himself into study and was later baptized by Bishop Ambrose. So, what was his contribution to early Psychology? Like Tertullian, Augustine accepted science where it affirms Scripture, but denied science where it contradicted Scripture. He actually did have a lot to say concerning psychology, but he did not treat it systematically. He believed that the soul or mind can be influenced by the condition of the body and that the body can influence the soul or mind. He also used psychology to explain the Trinity. For instance, he said,
"Since these three, memory, reason, and will, are not three lives but one life, nor three minds but one mind, it follows that they are not three substances but one substance...These three are one, in that they are one life, one life, one essence"
What he is essentially saying is that since we are made in the Imago Dei, our minds are made up in a trinitarian sense of memory, reason, and will. He compares that to the Holy Trinity. He also dealt with psychology in a more naturalistic sense. For instance, he said,
"I enter the fields and roomy chamber of memory, wherein are the treasures of countless images imported into it from all manner of things by the senses"
Thomas Aquinas:
He was born in 1225 AD to the Count of Aquino and a descendant of the Norman princes of Sicily. At the age of five, his father sent him away to live and study at Benedict Abbey at Monte Cassino. However, he left at the age of fourteen and was known as a confirmed scholar and ascetic. Five years later, he became a Dominican monk. As a result, his mother instigated his brothers to kidnap him and lock him in a room until he decided to no longer be a monk. However, when this proved to be fruitless, his mother relented. So, how did he contribute to Psychology? His psychology was largely influenced by the philosopher Aristotle, although it was couched in his own terminology. Aquinas divides the "psyche" into three different categories: the vegetative, the sentient, and the rational. The vegetative state was its autonomic physical functions. The sentient state was the perception, appetite, and locomotive. And the rational state was the memory, intellect, and reason. He later offers reasons for saying that reason is "more noble and more sublime" in its nature, and then he says that reason determines what is good. He says,
"When the desired object is superior to the soul in which its nature is understood by reason, then the will is superior to reason... it is better to love God than merely to know God, and conversely it is better to understand corporeal things than to love them...through love, we cleave to God, who is transcendently raised above the soul; in this instance, the will is superior to reason"
As you can clearly see from these three foundational Fathers of the Christian faith, psychology (in its most primitive state) had great influence in their theological works, and conversely, they had great influence on early psychology as well. I hope that this blog gives you a greater appreciation for the study of Psychology because if Psychology was good enough for the early Church fathers, then it should be good enough for any modern-day Christian. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
The Story of Psychology by Morton Hunt
Tertullian:
He lived from 160-230 AD and he was the son of a Roman centurion while growing up in Carthage. His education was in law before going to Rome and becoming a jurist. By his mid-thirties, he came to know the Lord and renounced pagan pleasures. He was in a constant rage over how the pagans mistreated the Christians and even coined the saying, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church". So, what was his contribution to Psychology? Well, to begin with, he was well-versed in the psychology of his time and even fought against whatever went against the Church's beliefs, but he accepted whatever affirmed the Church's beliefs. For instance, because of his Christian beliefs, he rejected the philosophy of Plato concerning the soul. He says,
"When we acknowledge that the soul originates in the breath of God, it follows that we attribute a beginning to it. Plato refuses to assign this to it; he will have the soul unborn and unmade. We, however, from the very fact of its having had a beginning, as well as from the nature thereof, teach that it had both birth and creation... The opinion of the philosopher is overthrown by the authority of prophecy"
Here, he is clearly saying that since we accept that the human soul has a beginning, and thus, is created, we are obligated to reject Plato's philosophy of the soul. The reason for this is that Plato thought that the soul is eternal, which is in direct contradiction to the Holy Scriptures. According to Genesis 2:7,
"...then the Lord God formed the man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature"
Once God breathed His breath into humans, that is when the soul is created. It is for this reason that we cannot accept the concept of an eternal soul.
Although Tertullian disagreed with philosophers concerning an eternal soul, he agreed with them in some sense that the soul is corporeal and connected to bodily functions. He says,
"The soul certainly sympathizes with the body and shares in its pain whenever it is injured by bruises, and wounds, and sores; the body, too, suffers with the soul and is united to it whenever the soul is afflicted with anxiety, distress, or love, testifying to its shame and fears by its own blushes and paleness. The soul, therefore, is proved to be corporeal from this inter-communion of susceptibility"
As you can see, Tertullian believed that the soul and body were intertwined together. When the soul suffers or is excited, the body suffers or is excited. When the body suffers or is excited, the soul suffers or is excited. In other words, whatever happens to either the body or soul, the opposite is affected.
Augustine:
He was alive in 354-430 AD and was born in Tagaste, which is a town in the Roman province of Numidia. His mother knew the Lord, while his father was a pagan. His early years were met with luxury, but it was soon fading away because of barbarians invading the outlying parts of the Empire. At the age of thirty-two, at the behest of his mother, he sent his concubine away and waited for his fiancee to come of age. One day, while he was weeping, he ran to a garden and heard a voice saying, "Take up and read, take up and read". He, then, picked up a Bible and opened it to a random page. The words he read were from The Apostle Paul, which said,
"Not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying: but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not make provision for the flesh, in concupiscence"
From that moment on, he devoted himself to the Lord and gave up his desire to be married. He threw himself into study and was later baptized by Bishop Ambrose. So, what was his contribution to early Psychology? Like Tertullian, Augustine accepted science where it affirms Scripture, but denied science where it contradicted Scripture. He actually did have a lot to say concerning psychology, but he did not treat it systematically. He believed that the soul or mind can be influenced by the condition of the body and that the body can influence the soul or mind. He also used psychology to explain the Trinity. For instance, he said,
"Since these three, memory, reason, and will, are not three lives but one life, nor three minds but one mind, it follows that they are not three substances but one substance...These three are one, in that they are one life, one life, one essence"
What he is essentially saying is that since we are made in the Imago Dei, our minds are made up in a trinitarian sense of memory, reason, and will. He compares that to the Holy Trinity. He also dealt with psychology in a more naturalistic sense. For instance, he said,
"I enter the fields and roomy chamber of memory, wherein are the treasures of countless images imported into it from all manner of things by the senses"
Thomas Aquinas:
He was born in 1225 AD to the Count of Aquino and a descendant of the Norman princes of Sicily. At the age of five, his father sent him away to live and study at Benedict Abbey at Monte Cassino. However, he left at the age of fourteen and was known as a confirmed scholar and ascetic. Five years later, he became a Dominican monk. As a result, his mother instigated his brothers to kidnap him and lock him in a room until he decided to no longer be a monk. However, when this proved to be fruitless, his mother relented. So, how did he contribute to Psychology? His psychology was largely influenced by the philosopher Aristotle, although it was couched in his own terminology. Aquinas divides the "psyche" into three different categories: the vegetative, the sentient, and the rational. The vegetative state was its autonomic physical functions. The sentient state was the perception, appetite, and locomotive. And the rational state was the memory, intellect, and reason. He later offers reasons for saying that reason is "more noble and more sublime" in its nature, and then he says that reason determines what is good. He says,
"When the desired object is superior to the soul in which its nature is understood by reason, then the will is superior to reason... it is better to love God than merely to know God, and conversely it is better to understand corporeal things than to love them...through love, we cleave to God, who is transcendently raised above the soul; in this instance, the will is superior to reason"
As you can clearly see from these three foundational Fathers of the Christian faith, psychology (in its most primitive state) had great influence in their theological works, and conversely, they had great influence on early psychology as well. I hope that this blog gives you a greater appreciation for the study of Psychology because if Psychology was good enough for the early Church fathers, then it should be good enough for any modern-day Christian. Thank you very much for taking the time to read this blog and may the grace of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the Christ-Centered Mental Health Ministry Website
The Story of Psychology by Morton Hunt
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