The Logic of the Body: Retrieving Theological Psychology

THE LOGIC OF THE BODY: Retrieving Theological Psychology by Matthew A. LaPine. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2020. 363 pages. Paperback; $26.99. ISBN: 9781683594253. *In this book, the author seeks a theological and biblical response to contemporary neuropsychology, stemming from a need for more effective pastoral care and faith-based counseling.1 LaPine seeks to address a perceived gap between a theological understanding of human agency, and current neuroscience and psychology that leaves pastors and faith-based counselors under-equipped to meet the real mental health and counseling needs they encounter. Although the ultimate purpose is to provide much-needed support for applied pastoral or counseling care, the book is written as a theological reflection to inform a practitioner's theology of practice. *Anchored in the Reformed tradition, LaPine provides an overview of pre-Reformation and Reformed 'theological history in relation to the historical evolution of the field of psychology. Given the scope of these fields, the task of a thorough theology of psychology would take volumes. As a classical Reformed theologian, LaPine uses almost four hundred pages to narrow down the conversation to the theological basis for emotions and neurobiology, specifically through the relationship between the body and mind or spirit. The relationship of will, emotion, biology, spirit, and soul forms the core pieces of this book, around which the chapters revolve. *In his introduction, LaPine presents his "straw man" conflict: the rich spiritual position of faith, against "the modern, reductionist tendency to explain our emotional life exclusively in terms of brain function" (p. xix). At the same time as he points to a distance between (secular) psychology and theology, LaPine also highlights two opposing streams of theology: one that makes the spirit or the spiritual superior to the body or biology, and one that does not. LaPine shows that neuro'psychology values the body and integrates it with the biological facts of emotion and volition (will), whereas mainstream Reformed theology does not, valuing the spiritual in primacy. LaPine notes that this dualism leaves Reformed counselors and pastors without a theology for a more holistic account of human psychology. He states that the Reformed mainstream shows a "lack of psychological nuance" (p. 4), leading to "emotional volunteerism," or the position that people have moral culpability for emotions. In other words, an experience like anxiety becomes a moral sin, to be addressed by prescriptive spiritual re-orientation. The risk here is either a moralistic approach to mental health and human pain, or else abandonment of theology in an attempt to align counseling to contemporary psychological science in practice. Both these options undercut holistic care by undervaluing or ignoring either the body or spirit respectively. *LaPine argues, rightly in my view, that "sufferers simply cannot repent and believe their way out of anxiety" (p. 36); this begs a need for a more robust and nuanced theology, particularly given the current scientific evidence for the neurobiology of emotion. LaPine describes what he calls a "tiered psychology," for which he finds a better grounding in Thomistic theology. The first three chapters of the book are dedicated to a history of theological attempts to account for psychology, in dialogue with the medical scientific understandings of those times. Chapter four explores the theology of Calvin, covering roots in theology for the current Reformed mainstream demotion of the body, as well as nuances of interpretation that LaPine sees as evidence of threads of Reformed theology that instead carried on the earlier holism. In chapter five, he continues the history of Reformed theology in respect of the debate of the seat of the soul, the place of the will, and the 'question of the influence of the body's impulses on moral or cognitive control. *The overall picture in this historical review is of an emerging dualism and hierarchy in which reason is morally obligated to control the inherently sinful impulses of the "flesh." Chapters six to nine alternate between explorations of natural law, science, and biblical reference to show that a more biblical and authentic (to Calvinism) theology comes closer to Thomas Aquinas's views, as well as to contemporary neuroscience (accepting psycho-emotional struggle as a human phenomenon without inherent moral culpability). *LaPine's Reformed-style writing (dense discussion with heavy footnotes, discussion spiraling around the same theme in different ways for several hundred pages) is admirable for its integrity. He has done his homework on both theological history and many aspects of psychology and neuroscience. As well, he is addressing very important issues in the context of a history of inadequacy in faith-based responses to mental health and counseling across Christian denominations. LaPine's work fills a critical gap at a timely moment in history, when the church needs a better response to human needs, and practitioners need tools for a more robust theology of practice. *At the same time, the author's deep dives into highly technical theological language and footnoted minutiae make a commitment to reading the whole book difficult for anyone who is unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the dense writing style of Reformed theology. There are also inconsistencies in the central arguments. For example, LaPine's opening section pits faith approaches against biological materialism as the current mainstream view, but draws on nonmaterialist views and resources in other areas without acknowledging that materialism is only one among the current views, many of which are more inclusive of spirituality. Materialist determinism is more confined to the medical model, which governs only a fraction of the practice of counseling psychology, most of which has embraced either existential, psychodynamic, or humanistic approaches. *LaPine does an interesting job of trying to pry Reformed theology from a particular tradition of Reformed thought, showing this particular tradition to be just one among many options consistent with core Reformed commitments. The book, however, can't quite get unstuck from its initial strategy of attaching its arguments to highly specific and selective theological and psychological parameters. A therapist or pastor wishing to better anchor their counseling approach in their theology might do well to select from the range of neuropsychotherapeutic theories and approaches in the dialogue between their theology and psychology, rather than start with defining the task as a conversation with materialist determinism. *The theological treatment sometimes loses "the forest for the trees." The discussion of interpretive nuances in Jesus's embodied experience of anguish in Matthew 26 (chap. 7) is a nugget. LaPine's arguments ground the issues well in scripture and in the heart of the Christian faith (the life and death of Jesus), as well as in its roots of Jewish understanding. Nonetheless, the reader loses track of the key salient points in the main theology chapters that lay out the "chess pieces" of the debate--Aquinas (chap. 2), Calvin (chap. 4), Reformed tradition (chaps. 7-8)--after slogging through the tangents and lengthy footnotes. Shortening the book by 200 pages would have been a worthwhile editorial exercise and would also have made the book comprehensible to more readers. *LaPine's neuropsychology discussion sometimes gives an impression of romping loosely through a broad field that never shakes the overgeneralized straw-man role set at the beginning, despite some interesting and pertinent references (such as Panksepp's emotional systems). It is difficult to see the precise connection between the theology and contemporary psychology, despite the enduring relevance of the central debate about moral choice, spirituality, and emotional health. Nevertheless, professionals with psychology training will find interesting points and connections. LaPine's book is a worthwhile exercise in wrestling with one's beliefs about the interactions between body, mind, and soul, and with the place of human agency in mental health and moral life. For this, the book provokes a discussion that is much needed. The book is a worthwhile resource for any faith-based Christian (any denomination) student of counseling or chaplaincy, or for clergy or divinity students who want to take their responsibility for counseling and pastoral care seriously. The cost of the book is very reasonable, and well worth it for the segments a reader may find most useful. As well, the questions addressed (relationship of spirit/soul and body, moral choice vs. mental health) are central to the task of counseling. The church is long overdue for supporting practitioners toward a theology of practice in counseling psychology that integrates current science. *Generally, I give the book a thumb's up. I recommend it for therapists, though those who haven't read theology in a while, will find it hard slogging. I also recommend it for counseling and psychology training in faith-based institutions because LaPine addresses many of the core issues and difficult questions of agency and moral responsibility. The structure of the book could provide a nice framework for a course on topics such as the history of "theology of psychology," development of a theology of practice, or theories of change in pastoral counseling. Readers, however, do need to supplement the contemporary psychology references with further reading for a first-hand understanding of the nuances of the field, rather than relying on LaPine's brief and oversimplified summaries. *Note *1This book is available through the ASA Virtual Bookstore at: https://convention.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=THE+LOGIC+OF+THE+BODY%3A+Retrieving+Theological+Psychology&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav