Last Update 01/12/08

This is a diagram of The Natures of Mankind Psychology (NMP) - specifically The Christian Nature. You can also see The Natures of Mankind Psychology (NMP) diagram for The Non-Christian Nature by using the Google Book Search feature on this web site's Home Page and search for the book Natures of Mankind Psychology. When the book is displayed by Google, go to pages 85 and 86. You can also see these two diagrams on the inside Title Page of the book Natures of Mankind Psychology.

For decades, psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors, philosophers, personality theorists, and sociological theorists have been searching for their HOLY GRAIL: the psychological model that explains all human behavior. This holy grail is found in the New Testament and is explained by the psychological model called The Natures of Mankind Psychology (NMP).

God has revealed to us everything we need to know about human behavior. The two diagrams in the book Natures of Mankind Psychology, represents all of the information we need to know about human behavior. They represent the dynamics of the non-Christian and the Christian nature. Together, the diagrams illustrate the dynamics of all human behavior.

THE COMPONENTS (Forces)

A component is a force in a Christian's life. Webster defines force as: an efficacious (to produce a desired result) power; power to influence, affect, or control.

The Natures of Mankind Psychology diagrams take a somewhat linear approach to describing the component dynamics of human behavior; however, the actual dynamics among the components (forces) are far more complicated. God has created each human as a unique, wondrous, and magnificent being. Afterall, He created us in His own image.

The diagrams include both the internal and external forces (see below) that influence human behavior. Since humans are not closed systems, both internal and external forces must be included to complete the dynamics of human behavior.

The Natures of Mankind Psychology diagram on this page is simply a visual representation of a Christian's personal world and the external world. As you will see shortly, a person's Personal World is contained in the mind. The External World is everything outside the mind. The NMP diagrams explain your personal world, how you fit into the external world, and how you function as a Christian. As you study the NMP, you will learn how God designed you to function in partnership with Him by overlapping your personal world with the external world, and ultimately with God's Real World. God's Real World is everything God created plus the external world and all the personal worlds of all the people who have ever lived. The diagram will to help you organize and understand the components (forces) - the many parts of the diagram.

NOTE: The components of The Natures of Mankind Psychology diagram are numbered 1 - 14 and divided into two sections: The Internal Forces and The External Forces. As you read about the forces below, you can look back at the diagram and see where each force is located in relation to all the other forces.

Many people, in their personal worlds, do not understand the forces that influence how they act, feel, and think. They believe that the forces that influence their feelings, thoughts, and behaviors are completely out of their control. Since they do not understand the forces that influence or control others and themselves, they do not know how to achieve victory over those forces. However, it is possible to learn how to be victorious. Become acquainted with the identity and purpose of the NMP components (forces) so you can master those forces in your personal world and become victorious in your spiritual war. Are you ready? Here we go!

Jerold and Linda Reed created The Natures of Mankind Psychology (NMP) model to help you intervene and change your personal world. NMP will help you to identify, examine, and understand the forces in your personal world. It will help you to identify misconceptions about the forces and to replace those misconceptions with the truth. It will help you evaluate what you believe and determine what is true or false based on New Testament teachings. You can use NMP to help you to change what you believe about your (1) relationship with God, (2) divine nature, (3) relationships with the external world, and (4) relationships with all the other forces in your life.

The Natures of Mankind Psychology Model will help you understand the forces in your personal world and in the external world, the interaction among the forces, and how to respond, intervene, change, and/or control the forces so you can experience the process of sanctification: becoming Christ-like. Sanctification is a life-long process leading to holiness and righteousness. It is a process that requires change; change to your personal world; change to your mind; change to your beliefs.

You may not be experiencing transformation or your journey to become Christ-like may be unsatisfactory. If so, your must realize that until you change what you believe, until you change your personal world, you are destined to continue to act, feel, and think as you do today.

INTERNAL FORCES:

The Internal Forces include the (1) Belief System, (2) 6-step Mental Process, (3) Feeling Thinking-pattern, (4) Random Thoughts, (5) Divine Presence, (6) Divine Nature, (7) Basic Needs, and (8) Dead "Old Self".

All of the Internal Forces are located in THE MIND. In the NMP Diagram above, the Mind is represented by the large oval. The mind is actually your Personal World. Remember, your Personal World is not the External World nor is it God's Real World.

Since NMP is based on the New Testament and since the New Testament is written in koine Greek, let's look at some of the Greek words that have been translated MIND or functions of the MIND.

THEREFORE, the New Testament uses Greek words that have been translated MIND and/or a variety of functions of the MIND. You can use these words and phrases to help you understand the meaning and importance of the MIND. The element, part, substance, or process (that could include any number of the following words and phrases): that is our way to understand, intend, or purpose; our way to manage "our thoughts, reason, attitudes, or discernment;" our way of thinking; consider, think, think on, or reflect upon; understanding, power of comprehension, insight, or intelligence; or inner self, mind, will, desire, or intention. So, the next time you read the English translation of words like mind or think and so forth, you might want to use several other Bible translations or a Greek Dictionary to determine other possible translations of words like mind or think in a verse you are reading.

It is important to note that OUR MIND - our personal world is made up of more than our way to understand, intend, or purpose; our way to manage "our thoughts, reason, attitudes, or discernment;" our way of thinking; consider, think, think on, or reflect upon; understanding, power of comprehension, insight, or intelligence; or inner self, mind, will, desire, or intention. It is made up of many other forces that we call the Internal Forces; see the descriptions below.

To gain control and order in your mind, you must learn how to capture these thoughts, "make sense" of them, and determine what to do with them. Once you determine that the thoughts are deceptions, you can discard them and replace them with the truth. The New Testament tells you to take captive every thought to the obedience of Christ.

The Divine Nature is that part of your personal world - your mind where God and you reside as one symbiotic organism. Webster defines sym bi o sis as: the living together of two dissimilar organisms, especially when this association is mutually beneficial. What an amazing truth: you have a relationship with the true, living God. Your relationship is not just with someone who is beside you; it is with Someone Who is inside you: inside your mind. More than that, God has merged with you: you and God share natures.

Do you share in the Divine Nature? As your divine nature communicates with the divine presence, your personal world and your external world begin to overlap. The New Testament teaches that you are partner or sharer of the divine nature: "For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust" (2 Peter 1:4).

An evil heart (old self) produces evil thoughts and behaviors, "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders" (Matthew 15:19). The evil heart is the "old self". Remember, according to the Greek dictionary, the word translated heart means our inner self; mind; will, desire, and intention. When the word heart refers to our "inner self," it is referring to either the "old self" or the "new self." It is from our inner self (heart) that we speak (see Matthew 15:18).

The dead old self is part of your personal world. It is the residual left over from your birth-nature, the sin nature. The dead old self is not just the body you were born with, but also your depraved heart and mind you were born with.

These residuals include the lies and deceptions forced upon you by the world, the flesh, and the devil. It includes all of your dysfunctional experiences and how your depraved mind "made sense" of those experiences. It is part of the personal world you created based on your sin nature and depraved heart and mind. These evil thoughts and behaviors occur in your Christian life, because you allow the residuals of the dead old self (sin nature) to compete with the power of the new self (divine nature) and win. In this situation, the old self tries to do good, but it cannot. The dead old self is also doing things it knows is wrong.

You must believe that your old self is dead, not because believing makes it dead, but because it is dead already.

We use the shadow effect under the oval, representing the mind, to illustrate the residual effects of the "old self" (see figure 2.12). The old self was once in control of you, but now it is simply a background shadow to the new self.

EXTERNAL FORCES:

In this next section, we will be talking about what goes on outside your mind - outside your personal world. We know very little about the external world or the forces of the external world. However, we have to deal with the external world as best we can. For example, "Do you have conversations? Do you go to work? Do you fix dinner or work in the yard? Do you become ill? Do you have allergic reactions? Do you have strange or disturbing thoughts? Do you have peaceful and comforting thoughts? Of course, you do. External forces include circumstances such as natural disasters, crime, economics, people, spiritual beings, health and illness, and our own observable behaviors and body-emotions. Remember, only God can reveal the true nature of the external world.

External forces are outside your personal world - your mind. Trying to "make sense" of them can be confusing and/or overwhelming. Trying to "make sense" of them can interfere with your joy and peace. Trying to "make sense" of them may even include developing false beliefs. However, it is possible to use your divine nature, in communication with the divine presence, to see the external world and these external forces from God's point of view. You can "make sense" of these forces, and come to the truth about them. In other words, you can begin to overlap your personal world with the external world - the world from God's point of view. Then, you can respond to them and control them according to God's plan and purpose.

These external forces include (9) the brain, (10) the body, (11), personal external behaviors, (12) external behaviors of others, (13) the physical world, and (14) the spiritual world. A complete study of The Natures of Mankind Psychology diagram can be found in the book Natures of Mankind Psychology.

The physical structure of the brain causes many of the differences you experience as a man or a woman. Have you ever walked into the den to talk with your boyfriend, only to discover that he is so preoccupied with watching television that he does not hear you? Have you ever asked your boyfriend to watch the neighborhood kids and cook an evening meal, only to walk in to find the kids outside playing in the yard? Have you ever wondered how your girlfriend can cook, watch TV, baby-sit, and talk on the phone at the same time? These differences, between men and women, are largely due to the differences in the male and female brain. While the gender differences help you to understand how males and females function, it only scratches the surface of explaining human behavior overall.

The brain and the body are part of the external world and have little to do with your personal world except that they provide the physical support system for your personal world (see figure 2.13). They provide a link between your personal world and the external world, of which they are a part.

The New Testament does not teach anything about the brain, rather it focuses on the mind. However, the brain forms a link between the mind and everything else in the world. While the mind depends on the brain to be able to express itself, it is completely separate from the brain.

God created the gender-based (male-female) brain to accomplish His purposes in us: first, as men and women and then as husbands and wives. These differences, that underlie the God established spousal roles, fall directly in line with the skills associated with gender-based brains.

The Brain and the Body. The brain forms a link between the mind and everything else in the world. The mind uses the brain to carry out its decisions. The body responds to what the mind thinks.

Observable Behaviors are part of the external world and do not of necessity have anything to do with your personal world. However, nearly all observable behaviors are initiated by your personal world through the six-step mental process. Observable behaviors are outside your mind - your personal world. Observable Behaviors. Your observable behaviors are those things that you do that you can perceive with your senses.

You cannot change your observable behaviors directly because your behaviors come from your personal world: (1) your belief system (heart), (2) your six-step mental process, (3) your feeling thinking-patterns, (4) your random and purposeful thoughts, (5) the divine presence: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, (6) your divine nature (new self), (7) your "basic needs," and (8) your dead "old self." However, you can use the New Testament to determine if your behaviors are appropriate to God and then you can use those behaviors as indicators about what you need to change in your personal world.

You are able to interact with the external world around you because you can know something about the components in the world through the sensory input system (see figure 2.15). However, your senses are part of the external world. They are outside your mind. Therefore, the signals must be interpreted by your personal world.

The five senses are the channels that link your personal world to the external world. Unfortunately, the six-step mental process, along with other forces in your personal world can distort the information it gets from the five senses and thereby corrupt your personal reality or personal world. This distortion process is common with people who have negative feeling thinking-patterns. It can cause them to develop a false belief system about the external world works and how things work in their personal worlds. What they sense about the external world, including others and themselves, does not tell them everything they need to know about reality - the external world.

The Natures of Mankind Psychology model defines emotion as: body-emotion. Body-emotion is the physiological responses of the organic body to feeling thinking-patterns; physiological responses taken as being independent of any reference to feelings or emotion as defined by Webster; the physiological condition; results of feeling thinking-patterns and/or belief systems that are experienced in the body; the body's reaction to thought processes.

When we talk about emotions, we will be referring to the body's responses to feeling thinking-patterns and/or belief systems. These responses are experienced as weakness, numbness, coldness, emptiness, exhaustion, warmth, restlessness, strength, calmness, tenseness, relaxation, energy, gastro-intestinal condition, muscle tone, breathing rate, heart rate, body movements, vision and hearing conditions, and so forth. Body-emotions are part of the external world and this information about the body's condition is subsequently sent to the brain through the somatic input system.

Do you remember the thoughts and emotions you experienced when the little boy or girl made fun of you when you reached puberty? Did someone tease you about your height or weight? Do you remember how you felt? Your body reacted, did it not? You started breathing hard, your stomach knotted up, your heart beat faster, and you experienced a surge of energy. However, the children did not make your heart beat faster, stomach knot up, and so forth. Your body felt like this because of what you were thinking. Your thinking was based on what you believed about yourself and what those other boys and girls were doing to you. Your response, both mentally and physically, to those activities was your attempt to "make sense" of what those boys and girls were saying or doing to you.

You must realize: no one else can make your body feel any particular way. If you believe others can "push your buttons," then you give up the power to change or control your body-emotions. You become their slave. You become a victim. However, you do not have to put yourself at the mercy of others. Since your body-emotions are reactions to your own thoughts in your own personal world, your Christian Nature (new self) can enable you to master your body-emotions by enabling you to change your thoughts and beliefs, thereby, changing your personal world.

Have you ever experienced weakness, emptiness, exhaustion, warmth, restlessness, calmness, tenseness, gastro-intestinal upset, constricted muscles, rapid breathing, rapid heart-rate, or impaired vision or hearing? These body conditions are, in most cases, your body's responses to your thought processes.

You receive extra sensory input directly into your mind. Extra sensory input bypasses the normal channels (the five senses) for receiving information about the world.

Extra Sensory Input comes from visions, dreams, and thoughts from: (1) Satan and Demons, (2) God, (3) Angels, and (4) the Holy Spirit.

A spiritual explanation of this Extra Sensory Input is difficult for the Western "scientific" mind to grasp. Many people have never heard of Extra Sensory Input: the intrusions on the mind by spiritual beings. They do not know about the influences these forces can have in their lives. Extra Sensory Input is part of the external world and does not of necessity have anything to do with your personal world..

When you were born into this world, you began building your personal world. The world, the flesh, and the devil, forced upon you ideas and concepts in the form of lies and deceptions that carefully guided you to create a personal world that was dysfunctional and without God's presence and power in your life. You created a personal world that was void of the knowledge and understanding of the external world.

Only after you became a Christian did you begin to understand that there were truths not originally contained in your personal world. In fact, the process of becoming a Christian was based on the truth of God's love for you - a truth you previously did not know or understand.

Your mind is your personal world. It is made up of many forces such as your Belief System, Six-step Mental Process, Feeling Thinking-patterns, Random Thoughts, Divine Presence, Divine Nature, Basic Needs, and your Dead "old self." You used these forces or components to build your personal world.

The diagram at the top of this page represents the Christian's nature. The dynamics include all corporeal and spiritual components. For more information, read the book Natures of Mankind Psychology © 2003, 2006 or you can select other menu options from the left column of this web page.

The contents of this web page are exerpted from Chapters 2 & 3, in the book Natures of Mankind Psychology.

© 2007 by Jerold L. Reed All Rights Reserved

Contact the New testament Psychology Institute for special permission to copy and distribute this information.