Christian Psychology?
I have the opportunity to attend a Biblical Counseling conference next month and am very excited about the theme–”Counseling and the Attributes of God.” I don’t think I’ve ever blogged about counseling but this is a subject that I am passionate about especially since studying Biblical Counseling while I attended The Master’s College. Counseling in the Christian community has been greatly influenced by psychology, so much so that many Christians and churches today will not counsel because they don’t think it is their responsibility or they don’t think they are qualified to do so.
I was talking with someone once about Biblical counseling and they said:
“Some people have very complicated pasts and hurts or problems that are too complex…they need to see a professional psychologist to get real help.”
I asked, “I agree that some people have really complex things going on in their lives, but what do you mean too complicated? Do you mean too complicated for God or for the Bible to address?”
“Not too complicated for God, I mean they can pray to Him and be encouraged by His Word, but that’s not really going to heal them, they need more help than just that because their problems are just too big, they go too deep.”
I’m afraid that this perspective is all too common. Anticipating this conference has inspired me to read through some of my counseling text books and re-examine some of the problems with Christian psychology. I hope that you will consider some of the dangers for yourself and have a renewed confidence in God and His Word as all we need.
The Danger of Denying Sufficiency of the Word
Christian Psychology is different from just secular psychology in that it uses some of what Scripture has to say and sees that people need God. We might be tempted to think—well, at least it’s not as bad as secular psychology! But this Christianized version is still very dangerous and its influence on the church is detrimental to real spiritual growth.
The main flaw with most Christian counseling is that it is integrationist. Another way to say this is to say that the Bible alone is not enough to answer our problems. Christian psychology would say that Bible is enough as far as what it directly addresses. This kind of counseling would grant that the Bible says everything we need to know about salvation and sanctification—“spiritual things,” but on matters of the emotions, the Bible does not say enough. In this case it would require a trained counselor and other written material, or even therapy.
It seems that many Christians are ready to believe that the Bible is inspired by God, but are hesitant to believe that is speaks to the struggles they are facing. This often happens when Christians don’t know what the Bible calls their “condition.” They need more because they have not delved into the depths of Scripture to see how God speaks to the issues on their hearts.
On occasion I tune into a radio program where callers can ask a group of pastors spiritual questions and have them answered on the air. Much of the time a caller has a question about a personal or relational problem and what they ask is, “Could you tell me if the Bible has anything to say about this…?” On an individual level, we can be lazy about searching God’s Word to see how it addresses our problems. I’m afraid that this same laziness has seeped into how we talk about our own problems with our friends about their problems and even how pastors or counselors sometimes view people’s problems. Instead of opening God’s Word as a book full of hope and help, we assume it can’t help us (because it might not use the terms we’re looking for to describe what we’re going through) and so we look for help outside God and His Word.
People get caught up in statements like “All truth is God’s truth.” And they don’t want to throw out all of psychology because it might have some insights to offer. 2 Peter 1:3 makes a powerful statement about the power of God’s Word–
“His divine power has given to us all things
that pertain to life and godliness…”
In God’s Word we have all we need to deal with life and godliness. What do we need psychology for then? Does it offer some helpful methods or observations? Maybe. But psychology doesn’t offer anything that we need for life and godliness. Biblical counseling is committed to God speaking through His Word to us (2 Timothy 2:15). By this I don’t mean that someone comes to a Biblical counselor for help and goes home with a sheet of verses printed on it with nothing else said. But I mean that a Biblical counselor let’s Scripture define our problems and solve them.
Many Christians have a problem with this all-inclusive view of God’s Word because they find some problems overwhelming and daunting. For example, what is a Biblical counselor to do with someone who has what psychologists call bi-polar disorder or is having hallucinations? He would show that person the Lord and how God’s Word speaks to their life. We should be careful to never undermine the power of the Spirit to work through the Word in the lives of both believers who need an exhortation or word of encouragement, or in the lives of unbelievers who need the Savior.
The Danger of Self
On this issue psychology and the Bible can’t ever be joined. Psychology is human centered by nature. With man at the center God can’t be and the Bible could not be in harmony with such a method. Someone said, “Psychology is man’s way of trying to understand and repair the spiritual side of man without being spiritual.”
Psychology paints a picture of man as good and innocent with his problems being the fault of most everyone but himself. In psychology, man’s ultimate goal is to find happiness for himself. The danger with Christian psychology’s twist on this view is the idea that God wants us to have that happiness. And with Him in our lives we will have a better chance of finding meaning and purpose in life.
One aspect of psychology that has permeated Christian counseling and the church is the emphasis on self–self-image, self-esteem, self-worth, self-confidence. With this self-centered thinking it isn’t hard to give man’s “needs” prominence. This view states that man needs self-esteem, love, acceptance and significance and if these needs are met people will generally be happier, moral and fulfilled. This perspective cultivates a big view of self and a small view of God. Change then becomes superficial and temporary because we have neglected the heart of the issue—we have sin.
Christian psychology rarely addresses the problem of sin because people do not accept it. Nobody wants to be told that he has to take responsibility for his own actions, words or even worse, his own thoughts! But the Bible presents a very different view of man—
Man was created without sin but he disobeyed God (Gen 3). Because of Adam’s sin all people are as Ephesians 2:1 describes “…dead in trespasses and sins.” The solution to spiritual death is spiritual life, this is our deepest need. God is not at all silent about this need. He provided His own Son to make spiritual life possible. Apart from Christ there is no healing and apart from Christ, there is no real change. We need to focus fully on Christ and not on ourselves if we want to have any real solutions to the struggles in our lives.
I hope you can see from these two dangers of psychology that it cannot be united with Christianity. Psychology is about promoting self and Christianity is about denying self (Luke 9:23). God’s Word is sufficient for us to be obedient to follow the Lord. We can’t trust Christian psychology because it undermines the authority of God’s Word, weaving the gospel with promises of personal happiness and self-worth. I am sad that we are so quick to turn from our all-sufficient God to the man-centered message of psychology. We don’t need anything that psychology offers. We need to take God at His word.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you
in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord,
as His divine power has given to us all things
that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”
2 Peter 1:2-3
September 11th, 2006
I haven’t read the above post yet, but I wanted to let you know I love the new look!
September 12th, 2006
I completely agree with this post. I think this is a really important issue and can be a dangerous path (psychology) for people to follow. God’s Word is sufficient!
I love the new look!
September 12th, 2006
Christa,
Thank you for your clear and concise argument for the reliability of the Scriptures in solving the issues (sin, hurt, etc) of life. It is critical that the Body of Christ return to the study and practical applicaton of the Word of God in order to change lives - I have always found it interesting that man-centered thinking (which is the cause of sin) is believed to be worthy enough to ‘intergrate’ with God’s Word in order to conquer sin and hurt. The arrogance and irony are so thick you can taste it!
Also, I love the new look!
September 13th, 2006
I just read your review on “Captivating”. My sister just told me about it this morning and I went to the reviews on Amazon and I loved what your wrote. I didn’t know anything about the book but was curious to see what people had to say about it and I figured that would tell me what people got out of it. Just reading your review was very refreshing and I appreciated it. My family and I go to a reformed church over here in Crestview, FL. I just wanted to say thank you. It’s refreshing to read a Christians point of view and it is especially refresthing to read a review that has GOD in mind. I have glanced at your site and I am looking forward to what you have to write. I love it that you quoted from Calvin. Just little hints of what ya’ll believe. We are deffinatley from a TULIP church in a non hyper sence of the meaning.
GOD Bless You.
A sister in CHRIST,
Meghan Thomas
PS: Sorry I’m leaving a post on something that has nothing to do w/ your bulliten…I couldn’t find your email address.
September 13th, 2006
Sis!
The new look is an oasis for the eyes. But I don’t come to Blakeyblog just to look at a cool template, but to read the awesome posts.
I love that you not only point out the faults of psychology, but the sufficiency of Christ and the Bible. Keep up the great posts!
September 17th, 2006
I completely agree that the Lord has left us everything we need for every situation in His Word.
Though I’m not as confident as you are, that mere man is always, or even often, capable of properly utilizing it to counsel the most troubled among us.
Did you mean to leave off in a way that suggested that hallucinations and chemical imbalances ought to be committed to talk? Is NANC affiliated with the Christian Scientists? Do you believe that there is any place for medication to be considered a merciful provision by a loving God to His children who are suffering?
Or do you just not believe in illness of the mind because it hasn’t happened to you?
If Andrea Yates had come to you, would you have sent her away with a James 2:16 pat on the back?
I’m trying to not sound as upset as I am. No offense, personally, but sometimes we bible-believing Christians are too quick to boil all of God’s counsel down to our understanding.
March 23rd, 2007
I realize that this post was written a long time ago, but I wanted to respond to the last comment made by grafted branch.
When God tells us this:
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you
in the knowledge of God and of Jesus Christ our Lord,
as His divine power has given to us all things
that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”
2 Peter 1:2-3
We can trust His Word to be true, which means that we can trust HIM when He says “His divine power has given to us ALL things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” Medication, nor anyone else can do what the power of God can. We offer hope, true biblical hope, to those who are suffering from depression, or any other kind of mental illness. God is the One who created us, and He alone has the power to deliver, and heal. Many times medication is just putting a band aid on the problem, and does not deal with the real issues, the heart issues.
I have battled depression, and was on an anti depression for a very short period of time. I couldn’t reconcile the medication with the power of God to heal and deliver me. I wanted to give God all of the credit for bringing me through that time, and not to any medication. God is faithful, and He can be trusted. He knows our inner most thoughts, He knows what’s in our hearts, and He alone knows how to bring us out of dark times.
Regarding Andrea Yates, none of us know the whole story to that, and I don’t think we can say how we would have advised her because we don’t know her, and never talked with her. Offering someone biblical hope isn’t being simplistic, or patting anyone on the back, it’s offering them true help, and true hope, through the only place that it can be found….in Christ and His Word.
Psalm 1 comes to mind in all of this.
March 23rd, 2007
Let me clarify something I worded wrong. I meant to say that I wanted to give God all of the GLORY for healing me, and delivering me of depression.
June 13th, 2007
Well, Christ meets us right where we are at. A skilled counselor who integrates the Word in to their practice is as useful as a parent who teaches their children in the way they should go. They are as useful as a skilled pastor delivering a sunday sermon and “sheparding” the flock.
The alternatives are to leave the person alone and wait for God to enlighten them with no help from us who are spiritually mature. That somewhat defeats the purpose of discipleship doesn’t it? My favorite role model of a counselor is Billy Graham who has been given the title “Counselor to Presidents & Kings”. Proverbs tells us that ‘if you see a man who is skilled at his work, he will stand before Kings”. Billy is the most skilled counselor of our time.
Don’t get so hung up about psychology and counseling being integrated with Christian viewpoints. Frankly, Jesus is the “Great Counselor” and long before He came to earth He ordained psychologists/counselors and empowered them divinely to serve His will and change the course of the world. Joseph influence with the pharoah is another example?
I think we can all agree that the world view is pretty bad whether it deals with business, medicine, government, or anything else. This problem is not unique to the profession of counseling psychology. Did you know that many Christian PhD’s are receiving NIH & NIMH grant funding to perform research. Their research starts with the hypothesis that God’s word is the inherent truth and tehn seeks to provide empirical scientific evidence that even non-christian counselors and counselee’s can understand.
Professional counseling is the art of reproof, rebuke, correction, and training in righteousness. It is knowing when, how, what, and why to apply God’s word to each circumstance. It is wisdom that can only come from the power of the Holy Spirit. In this Spirit, I encourage you to investigate the profession a little more fully and His Word. All the fruits of the spirit are “emotions”. How do you obtain the fruits? Who is your master? Are you depressed due to physical sickness requiring treatment or lack of hope? These type of issues require competent professional assistance grounded in knowledge, understanding and wisdom. Who better than those whom God has called to such work. Who no longer have to hide in the closet but can talk openly about what Christ has done in their life and what He can do for you.
Blessings!
“If I boast I boast in the Lord”. Worldview Info> Student M.A. Professional Counseling & Certification by Dr. J.E. Adams (try the library - you will be pleasantly surprised)
September 7th, 2007
Thankyou for this article. I find it tremendously refreshing and true to what I have experienced.
A brief comment about regarding the last blogger’s comments. He seems to be trying to minimize the damaging effects “christian psychology” can have on people if they see such a therapist. By a tremendous amount of personal experience and wide research now, I have found that most christian psychologist never refer to the Bible at all! They may try to use the word “God” and may try to use a verse to fit into their point, but probably over 95% of them do not know how to or are not willing to counsel from the Bible. They think it is outdated and incapable of dealing with our “deep” issues- even though the deepest human issue ever met, the saving of our souls from eternal damnation. I don’t think you realize the actual damage that can be done to christian families through much of the approach and techniques that christian therapists are using today, such as regression therapy, recovered memory therapy, mental illness labeling, etc. Even the boundaries they set for behavior are not really based on the boundaries that the Bible gives, but more on a hedonistic approach- placing our own indiviual happiness as king, not our own personal holiness.
The problem with “all truth is God’s truth” is that you could, as a therapist, say that about anything you teach- as long as you believe it to be true- which launches you deep into a post- modern relativistic approach to christianity and scripture where anything goes as long as you believe it to be true. This is very dangerous. God did not write the Bible with 150 different meanings to each verse. He had an intention in mind- this is called the law of “authorial intent”- just as we do when we write letters to people. The author of the Bible had a specific intention. It shouldn’t be “whatever it means to me”, but instead whatever is right according to God.
The fact is that most of the practices used by christian therapists are not very different than those used by non- christian therapsists. I have spent thousands of dollars and equally thousands of hours meeting with christian psychologists, in marriage & personal counseling, as well as with non-christian psychiatrists. The two were not that much different from eachother. My findings, regarding the christian psychologists, are that they are first and foremost psychologists and second they are christians, in their practice. Again, they almost never- ever use the Word of God. This should not sit well with any christian, ever!
And as far as the chemical imbalance issue, it’s important to note that the APA itself has openly and publically stated that “we have been lieing to everyone for years concerning theory for chemical imbalances in the brain. The fact is we do not really know if there are such imbalances and how the brain works concerning such an imbalance”. As christians, I think it is important to never shy away from at least applying, strongly, God and His Word to every mental situation, even ones’ that would seem impossible- remembering Mark 5 where God heals the demoniac, who was literally insane and I’m sure in a modern day brain scan would have gotten him today’s labels of Bi-Polar, Autistic, Terrets, ADD, ADHD, Sensory Integration Dysfunction, Schytzofrenic, Manic Depressive, and many others as I’m sure he displayed all of these attributes. (And I’m not saying that people don’t have issues that affect their brains- at all. I have a son who has some real problems, but what amazes me is the terrotory the mental health proffesionals have been allowed to cross over into, especially by the church! They are not skilled in using or applying God’s word to everyday life and real problems normal peopla are facing. Some times they have a good point or two, but I don’ think that justifies the damage of working on life without what God has written to us does). Thus, my favorite part of the Mark 5 story is that when the healing was over, the people were amazed and even afraid of the power they saw in Jesus, because “they saw the man clothed, sitting there in his right mind”. I know medications are part of our lives, and some have to take them. I just think that there should be some very serious caution in thinking about using mental health professionals who are christians. They do more damage than most unsuspecting people know- I think even more than they as therapists know. Believe me, I’ve been there and back and I will never make that mistake again. What a sad day when we don’t need our Bibles for the big issues in life!
September 29th, 2007
Do you plan to attend THIS year’s conf.? If so, I hope to meet you in person! Blessings, Connie D.
April 9th, 2008
Hi Mrs. Blakey!
Wow! That was such an eye-opening article! Now, I truely see the difference between psychology, and God’s Word… and how we’ve sort of merged the two together. As you said, it can’t be. There really isn’t a such thing as “Christian Psychology”. I love how you said, “Psychology is about promoting self and Christianity is about denying self”. That’s so important to remember.
Thank you!
Love,
Alex =]
May 4th, 2008
Hi, What a blessing your blog IS!! I happened to have typed up a christian perspective on phycology. Chemical imbalance issues etc. I have recently been diagnosed with this. But honestly once I was “diagnosed” everything else went out the window. Meaning my opinion on Gods word. The sufficiency of it. That God DOES speak to me THROUGH his word. I was raised and discipled in a calvary chapel setting. I have actually attended your church..when it was overlooking San Clemente. I LOVED it then!! I’m now living more closer to menifee area etc. I do too agree that the church has walked away. EVEN CALVARY CHAPELS. Which honestly I’M SOOOO VERY SHOCKED from biblical counseling. I’m not sure why they counseled me to go to a christian psycologist etc? I had friends disown me etc.
So you can pray for me as I feel quite displaced right now. I’ve been asking the Lord. Jesus…where CAN I fellowship with people who won’t look at me as “labeled” with a “chemical” imbalance….and just treat me as someone who is a person whom needs a personal relationship with God her creator.
God bless!!! You have my email….you can email if you like. Would love to hear from you!
May 24th, 2008
absolutely edifying article (does anybody use edify anymore????) I have a step daughter that has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and I believe in my heart that only God can heal her. God is sufficient. I remember what CS Lewis said that psychology tries to shrink the problem God removes the problem.
June 23rd, 2008
Hi, i am really appriciate you because in the modern world all the people are searching money and other. but you got the good way to search the truth.
Some people who have no believe in the god, they will say and give the comments against of god.but we’r the people make them to know what’s real, who is god, why did he come to world, and why did he gave the soul to us.
some people will say no god, no spritual life in the world but we have the responsiblity to make them to know about the god to walk in the way of light.
June 23rd, 2008
Hi, i am really appriciate you because in the modern world all the people are searching money and other. but you got the good way to search the truth.
Some people who have no believe in the god, they will say and give the comments against of god.but we’r the people make them to know what’s real, who is god, why did he come to world, and why did he gave the soul to us.
some people will say no god, no spritual life in the world but we have the responsiblity to make them to know about the god to walk in the way of light.
“Christian Drug Rehab”
http://www.christian-drug-rehab.org