It would be unwise to consider the psychology of motivation without setting that study within the wider context of psychological inquiry. But what do we see when we consider that context? An honest survey of contemporary psychology reveals that despite an extensive depth and breadth of scientific studies, there has been a palpable neglect of the spiritual. Such an unfortunate omission has resulted in the promotion of a skewed understanding of persons, that profoundly diminishes their humanity and inevitably results in a distorted understanding of motivation. For any psychology that disregards the spirit, spiritual experience, and Christian revelation becomes reductionistic explaining human persons only in terms of biological, behavioural, cognitive, or social processes while neglecting questions of meaning, transcendence, moral responsibility, and humanity’s relationship with God. How can we properly understand motivation if we neglect to acknowledge some of its most powerful drivers?

We are not alone in making this observation. Others who have attempted to ‘paint a more accurate picture’ of human psychology include Viktor E. Frankl (1905–1997) who contended that the “will-to-meaning” and the spiritual dimension are essential to understanding human flourishing and psychopathology, warning that psychologies which ignore this dimension fail to address fundamental existential needs. Paul C. Vitz (b. 1935) argued that much modern psychology functions as a secular substitute for religion, fostering an excessive focus on the autonomous self while neglecting objective moral and spiritual realities. Similarly, Christian psychologists such as Gary R. Collins (1934–2019) and Robert C. Roberts (b. 1942) have maintained that psychological theories detached from Christian revelation cannot fully account for the deepest dimensions of personhood, including sin, grace, forgiveness, vocation, and spiritual transformation. From this perspective, psychology is most complete when empirical investigation is integrated with an understanding of human beings as spiritual creatures created for relationship with God, rather than being interpreted solely through naturalistic categories.

Every indication is that the time for a renaissance of Christian psychology is long overdue. Not only will a truly scientific psychology reject any selective observation of data for a full and radically honest enquiry into human experience and behaviour, but it will also reflect a comprehensive understanding of epistemology inclusive of divine revelation. In fact, it may be argued that in an age of proliferating theories about the human mind, it is imperative that psychology, the study of human experience and behaviour, be grounded in a revelatory epistemology in which the active contemplation of Christ becomes the orienting centre for understanding the person, illuminating both our deepest wounds and our highest possibilities.

When psychological science is shaped by the Judeo-Christian tradition and the theological narrative of Scripture, its theories are anchored in a vision of humanity created, fallen, and redeemed, and its research is guided by a hope-filled realism that neither sentimentalises suffering nor reduces the person to mechanistic processes. Such a Christ-shaped psychology holds inestimable value: personally, it nurtures authentic wellbeing by integrating spiritual formation with emotional and cognitive growth, and socially, it cultivates communities marked by compassion, justice, and the restoration of relationships. This vision has been advanced by key contributors such as Paul C. Vitz (1976, 1994), Stanton L. Jones (1991), Eric L. Johnson (2007), and Dallas Willard (2002), whose work continues to inspire a discipline rooted not merely in observation but in divine revelation.