In the wake of a revelation that legendary physicist Albert Einstein believed that belief in God and the practice of religion - particularly his own religion - is childish, today we have a professor of psychotherapy teaching a class using biblical narratives.

After struggling to gain academic acceptance for years,  UIC professor of clinical psychology Kalman J. Kaplan finally has the chance to teach a course using examples of  hope-filled Biblical characters as opposed to characters from tragic Greek plays and mythology.

The article offers as an example the famous Oedipus Complex. Rather than delve into a tale where there is neither change nor a happy ending, Kaplan suggests using stories where people can change, stories that do offer hope for a better future. The article cites the Abraham-Isaac story of obedience, sacrifice and ultimately God's sparing of life.

Of course, Abraham and Isaac probably present enough cognitive dissonance that could keep people in therapy for years. Think about the sacrifice from Isaac's point of view. "Dad, you were going to kill me!" No wonder we don't hear from Isaac or Sarah at the end of the chapter.

But I must say I do like this professor's intent. There are indeed so many stories of loyalty, generosity, acknowledgement of wrongdoing and changing to make life better for oneself and loved ones, that I'm surprised the idea hadn't caught on sooner. The professor gives the sense that this approach has been politically incorrect within psychological academia for decades.

Thankfully things are changing, if just a little. People love to point out the destructive consequences of religion, but never think about the millions of lives that have changed, are changing and will change for the better.

Now we get to see how effective the Bible might be in a science class and in a science-based profession!

Exciting times!