Human Defensiveness: The Third Way

In this article, David Powlison discusses the issue of human defensiveness. Powlison begins with a discussion of defensiveness as understood by Sigmund Freud and his ego defense mechanisms in addition to the contemporary behaviorist Albert Bandura. He then moves into a discussion of the idea from a biblical worldview. Powlison lists common psychological defense mechanisms and then moves into a biblical analysis of this framework. He concludes that Scripture offers a far more rich understanding of humanity than any psychological theory.