SCIENCE AND SPIRIT

Come October I will be free to begin my dissertation in earnest. Of course, I have been mulling over possible topics and friends are starting to ask what I have in mind.

I haven't talked to any of my professors formally, but here's what has my interest right now:

I would like to appropriate what social scientists have learned in recent years about habit formation and apply it to spiritual formation within the church.

It seems to me that at least the modern American church is lacking in discipline and that our lack of seriousness about prayer and Bible study and fasting is a genuine hinderance to the depth of our faith and the effectiveness of our work.

Some part of that neglect of the disciplines - and I don't know how much - is due to a perceived weakness of the human will and ignorance of how the brain is wired for habit formation. Much has been discovered in even the last decade which, if properly applied, could greatly increase the odds of a believer's success in starting and maintaining spiritual disciplines.

One hurdle in this pursuit is fascinating to me: I have had at least two thoughtful Christians warn me that believers may be put off by pairing what the Bible has to say about spiritual formation with what science has to say about human psychology. 

This is interesting to me. It does seem to me that many believers are skeptical of "science" in general these days. (And often for good reason. I hate being told "Trust the science!" as if science is a settled thing.) But it also seems like psychology is held in particular suspicion.

For example, if I wrote a Christian book on treating your body as the temple of God and included scientific data about best practices for exercise and diet, I don't think anyone would think to question the legitimacy of citing the science. It would be welcomed and expected. 

But for some reason, to speak of psychological data when discussing spiritual formation raises red flags. 

Why would that be? 

(This is a serious question and I welcome feedback. I may need to address this matter even in my proposal before the real work begins.)