Theology in psychology. The impact of theology in the early modern debate on rational pshychology (1500-1650)

During the early modern age the term “psychology” was coined into Latin and the scholastic debate on the science of the human soul was developed. Many authors discuss the possibility to consider psychology as a part of metaphysics, or of physics; in some cases psychology was considered as a middle science between the two. From this standpoint, psychology becomes an independent science. However, recent research on this topic have partly neglected the role played by theology during this debate. Some early modern authors include psychology and theology in one science, which deals with the spirit (pneumatica). The paper focuses on the impact of theology in the debate on the status of psychology: not only of rational theology, but also of revealed theology. It has been said that many arguments and predicates used by rational psychology have been derived by the Holy Scriptures, and that rational psychology owes much to the theology.