Concerning the Places where Behavioral Science Meets Theology & Spirituality

Concerning the Places where Behavioral Science Meets Theology & Spirituality

By Anthony Maranise, Obl.S.B.

Course-correction is often a good and necessary thing. It allows us to right past wrongs, set new directions, and make genuine progress. Yet seasoned pilots, sailors, explorers, and scientists will readily admit that over-correction carries its own dangers and unintended consequences.

This is my core concern with the vital and growing intersection of theology, spirituality, and behavioral science. I celebrate the clear advances: no longer are people burned as witches on mere suspicion, and mental health professionals now insist on careful assessment rather than rushing into dramatic exorcisms. These developments reflect greater humanity, morality, and societal benefit.

At the same time, I affirm without hesitation that evil, the Evil One, and his ancient schemes remain as real today as in biblical times. Spiritual warfare has not diminished since Lucifer’s rebellion, the Fall, and the entrance of sin into the world. Christ’s victory has indeed shattered sin’s eternal hold and conquered death, yet God still permits the devil a limited power to deceive. Hell is not empty.

My worry is not that mental health and psychiatric advances are harmful; I believe they are largely good. My concern is the risk of over-correction. In our well-intentioned push for more sophisticated forms of care, we may have swung too far in the opposite direction—especially in an age quick to “explain God away” and, with Him, anything supernatural.

The atrocities of the witch trials and hasty attributions of the past (including tragic cases like that of Anneliese Michel in 1976) were wrong and should never be repeated. But intellectual honesty demands that we acknowledge the opposite error as well. The devil is called “the father of lies” and a master deceiver by Christ Himself.

Is it not perfectly in keeping with his nature to convince the modern world that he no longer infests, obsesses, oppresses, or possesses human beings—and that every strange case must therefore have a purely psychological explanation?

Extreme care is required. Not every strange episode is demonic. Yet not every condition we quickly label with a diagnosis has a solely human origin. We must discern with wisdom and sensitivity, remembering the words of St. Thomas Aquinas: “Love takes up where knowledge leaves off” (while never forgetting that “God is Love” [1 John 4:8]).

In short, good intentions alone are not enough. The road to unintended harm can be paved with them. True progress will come only when we remain open to both the best of behavioral science and the full reality of the spiritual realm.