In 1593, Copernicus shook the beliefs of the Church and the world. He suggested that the sun, not the earth, was the center of our solar system. As a result, he was accused of blasphemy by the church and of error by the scientific community of his day. Of course, he was later vindicated, and we view our solar system today as heliocentric or sun-centered.

As astronomy ultimately corrected the erroneous teachings of Ptolemy in 1989, psychology stands in need of a similar correction. We view man from our own limited perspective, not God's unlimited one. As a result, we have be- come like the barber who attempts to cut his own hair. Despite his skill, he needs the help of one with a more distant perspective. During the past  100 years, psychologists have occasionally caught glimpses of ''the truth.'' On the other hand, we have also erred from ''the truth'' because we have largely rejected the works of the ''ultimate psychologist,'' Jesus Christ.

Psychoanalytic theory (Freud, Erikson) says that our basic inborn human nature, or ''id'' is evil. Similarly, the Old Testament does insist that we are indeed born in sin and shaped in iniquity (Psalms 51:5). The New Testament confirms that we certainly have all sinned and have fallen short of God's glory (Romans 3:23).

Psychoanalytic Theory suggests that the solution to man's pre- dicament is for him to save himself (by developing on ego) and/or for society to socialize him to be good (by developing a Super Ego). On the contrary, the Bible teaches us that we cannot, nor can society, save ourselves from our sinful nature. Only if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in our hearts that God has raised us from the dead, can we be saved (Romans 10:9).

Humanistic psychology (Rogers, Maslow) proposes that mankind is good. Again, we can find support in the Old Testament for such a claim. Genesis 1:27 reminds us that God created man in His image. Also, in the New Testament, Christ teaches that not until we become as little children, shall we enter the Kingdom of God (Matt. 18:3).

Humanism ultimately suffers from a problem of inverted priorities. Humanists say that we must satisfy biological needs (for example, hunger), first, followed by the psycho-social security, self-esteem) and finally the spiritual (self-actualization . Dr. Luke ,(12:29-31) admonishes us not to seek meat nor drink, but to seek the kingdom of God first. Our loving heavenly Father will provide the rest.

Humanists also stress the critical importance of an adequate self-esteem. First, as Christians, we should possess an abundant degree of self-worth due to our identity as adopted brothers and sisters of Christ Jesus (Matt. 1 2:50; Romans 8-14-17), not by trusting in some vague, misguided notion of social evolution, Secondly, Paul warns us not to think more highly of ourselves than we ought (Romans 12:3), while most Humanists fail to recognize an upper limit to healthy self-esteem.

Learning theory (Watson, Skin- ner) skirts the issue of man's essential nature by proposing that he is born neither good nor evil, but neutral. This theory can be traced back to the philosophy of John Locke who saw each of us born with a tabula  rasa or ''blank slate.'' This approach assumes that it is the environment which shapes us to good or evil, not some basic inner nature.

The Word does speak of the importance of environment.   Deuteronomy 67-9 instructs us to establish an climate in which children are exposed to spiritual truth at all times as well as in all places. Ephesians 6-4 further commands that we bring up children in the nurture and ad- monition of the Lord. Proverbs 22:6 promises that if we will train up a child in the way that he should go that when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Learning theory wrongly assumes, however, that we can change human behavior to the good through behavior modification and social learning procedures. These processes are influential, but they are not going to influence any- one toward ultimate good without the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit behind them (Psalms 127:1; Zechariah 4:6).

If our goal in psychology is to improve the quality of life on this planet, how can we possibly do so apart from the mind of God? (Isaiah 26:3; Romans 11:34, 12:2). James also (1:8, 4:8) warns us against being double-minded.

Others say that psychology is becoming more physiological or body-oriented. If so, then let us remember that the body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in us, which we have of God, and we are not our own (I Cor. 6-19).

The eclectics say that no single approach to the study of psychology is the answer. They contend that the combination of all areas is the only way for psychology to avoid going off on some tangent or extreme.

Conclusion:
Christ-Centered Psychology.
A system which combines a number of areas of partial truth/partial error cannot possibly give us a true understanding of human nature. Until psychology accepts the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit, it will continue to be tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. If we would speak the truth in love and grow up into Him in all things (Eph. 4:14, 1 5), we might just achieve a truly unified theory of psychology which would grow and contribute to the edification of believers and psychologists alike.

A final warning! Should anyone try to build a knowledge system of human behavior without Christ at the heart, consider the following: ''Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ'' (Col. 2-18). Psychology, needs Christ a lot more than Christ needs psychology.

Wolf is a member of the Friendly Holiness Pentecostal  Free Will Baptist Church and teaches Psychology at Sampson Community College.