Positive Psychology, a New Interpretative Lens for Scripture

Abstract

A great gift of positive psychology to systematic and biblical theology is the challenge to apply a different, more positive lens to theological discussion and biblical interpretation. The notion of applying a particular lens to such academic endeavors is not new and indeed to acknowledge such an application is simply to be intellectually honest. Certainly since Augustine of Hippo, Western theology has, rightly or wrongly when examining Augustine himself, applied the lens of Genesis 3 to much biblical interpretation. Arguably Augustine himself placed as much emphasis on the fundamental divine gift that human beings are made in the image of God as he did on the events of Genesis 3 (Charry ET: God and the art of happiness/Ellen T. Charry. W.B. Eerdmans Pub., Grand Rapids, 2010, p. 51). Nonetheless, it has been Augustine’s interpretation of Genesis 3 through the lens of Romans 5, which has proved normative for much of Western Christian theology. As a side issue, it is interesting to note that the term “The Fall”, used extensively in the interpretation of Genesis 3 and much systematic theology when discussing the issue of salvation, does not appear in Genesis 3, Romans 5, nor anywhere else in the Bible.