Is Psychology Blasphemy?
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From My Desk
OK, I will admit to taking quite a few courses to earn a Psychology degree when I was in the Marine Corps stationed in California. I had a desire to teach at the college level and wanted to get there by way of a Psychology degree rather than an Education degree (which by the way, would have been easier and quicker!). I had my pet lab rat, Skippy, though he was of the virtual breed than the physical type. We did lots of things on the computer in proving the theories of psychology. But as I have grown in the Lord since those long ago days and have been involved in more counselling as a Pastor, I have realized the dangers of Psychology for the Christian and the church. Of course, I am not an expert and get much of my understanding from those who have specialized and studied these areas so I'm gonna share one of my resources with you - Search the Scriptures Daily a radio ministry of The Berean Call. I've gotten many thoughts on this particular subject from Dave Hunt & T. A. McMahon of The Berean Call. Here is the link to both the MP3 file and the full transcript.
Let's get started, psychology presents problems for a Christian, because psychology pretends, or attempts to deal with the very things that the Bible deals with. Are you happy? Do you want to be fulfilled? Do you want to live a worthwhile, fruitful life, and so forth? This is what the Bible deals with, this is the province of the Bible, and it’s a spiritual matter not a psychological one. We are led by Christ, we are indwelt by Christ, filled with His spirit, and He’s our life. Okay? Now, when psychology pretends to deal with these areas the implication instantly is, the Bible doesn’t handle it properly, it doesn’t handle it sufficiently, or even correctly. Therefore we have to help the Bible out, and we have to help the Bible where it has some deficiencies, and we’ll bring in psychology and that will do the job. The Christian fails to acknowledge this humanistic attitude towards the Bible and the major conflict between psychology and the teachings of the Bible.
Certainly, I know that even in my limited experiences, with regard to Biblical counselling for Christians, a great concern that I have is that modern psychology has undermined the belief in the sufficiency of God’s Word. So, an attitude has developed amongst spiritual leaders that says if the Bible is not sufficient then we need to turn elsewhere, and psychology hurriedly says, well, we’ve got the answers with regard to man’s emotional problems, his problems of living, and so forth and many Pastors and lay people fall into this trap unknowingly. Understand that I'm taking not about all of psychology but rather about psychotherapy. It almost seems contrary to say but there are some legitimate studies in psychology... industrial psychology, developmental psychology in the different learning patterns & difficulties of people, and so forth. The major problem with psychology is that it is firmly based upon Darwin (he of evolution fame). It’s based upon the medical model of Freud so that man is not a spiritual being, he’s just some kind of stimulus response mechanism. So in some ways, psychology is helpful, because we do learn things, we are influenced by experiences that we have had, but that’s not the only thing, especially for the Christian because we have Christ to turn to and are told to seek after Him.
So why all the fascination between the Church and Psychology? First off, the Bible claims in II Peter 1 - "According as His divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, to the knowledge of Him who has called us unto glory and virtue, whereby given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, and so forth, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature." The Christian is supposed to have a divine nature and the Scripture says that Christ is living, Christ is your life (Colossians 3) when Christ who is your life. I don’t believe that Christ needs any help from psychology. So by its very definition and purpose psychology, not only undermines the confidence, it destroys the person's confidence in Christ. What psychology says is, "The Bible does not have the answers that we need for everyday, relevant life." But we know the Bible does.
Oh, the Bible doesn’t have the answers for repairing an automobile, tuning the engine, brushing your teeth, or other things. So, we wouldn’t think of saying Christian aerodynamics or Christian auto mechanics. No, that is silly though we do know that there are Christians who are auto mechanics, dentists, physicists, or even chemists, but no one would ever talk about a need for a philosophy of Christian chemistry or a Christian physics. So why do we use the term Christian Psychology? Why do we talk about the need for Christian psychology? That’s the problem --psychology's inerrant attitude of trying to replace the Bible. So before you go seeking Christian psychotherapy...seek the counsel of a wise pastor who is in the Word and will only use the Word for counselling. I tell my people that I'm always available to counsel and provide advice and some of my best counselling is done on Sundays at 10 am, 11 am, 6 pm and again on Wednesdays at 7 pm. See ya in church!
To answer my article's title...YES!! Especially in the area of psychotherapy. Sadly, psychology is blasphemy that is unwittingly taught and practiced by many Pastors and Churches. So I say get in the Word and get in Church...it will do wonders for your soul and you'll find that only God provides the answers to life and that peace that passes all human understanding!!
OK, I will admit to taking quite a few courses to earn a Psychology degree when I was in the Marine Corps stationed in California. I had a desire to teach at the college level and wanted to get there by way of a Psychology degree rather than an Education degree (which by the way, would have been easier and quicker!). I had my pet lab rat, Skippy, though he was of the virtual breed than the physical type. We did lots of things on the computer in proving the theories of psychology. But as I have grown in the Lord since those long ago days and have been involved in more counselling as a Pastor, I have realized the dangers of Psychology for the Christian and the church. Of course, I am not an expert and get much of my understanding from those who have specialized and studied these areas so I'm gonna share one of my resources with you - Search the Scriptures Daily a radio ministry of The Berean Call. I've gotten many thoughts on this particular subject from Dave Hunt & T. A. McMahon of The Berean Call. Here is the link to both the MP3 file and the full transcript.
Let's get started, psychology presents problems for a Christian, because psychology pretends, or attempts to deal with the very things that the Bible deals with. Are you happy? Do you want to be fulfilled? Do you want to live a worthwhile, fruitful life, and so forth? This is what the Bible deals with, this is the province of the Bible, and it’s a spiritual matter not a psychological one. We are led by Christ, we are indwelt by Christ, filled with His spirit, and He’s our life. Okay? Now, when psychology pretends to deal with these areas the implication instantly is, the Bible doesn’t handle it properly, it doesn’t handle it sufficiently, or even correctly. Therefore we have to help the Bible out, and we have to help the Bible where it has some deficiencies, and we’ll bring in psychology and that will do the job. The Christian fails to acknowledge this humanistic attitude towards the Bible and the major conflict between psychology and the teachings of the Bible.
Certainly, I know that even in my limited experiences, with regard to Biblical counselling for Christians, a great concern that I have is that modern psychology has undermined the belief in the sufficiency of God’s Word. So, an attitude has developed amongst spiritual leaders that says if the Bible is not sufficient then we need to turn elsewhere, and psychology hurriedly says, well, we’ve got the answers with regard to man’s emotional problems, his problems of living, and so forth and many Pastors and lay people fall into this trap unknowingly. Understand that I'm taking not about all of psychology but rather about psychotherapy. It almost seems contrary to say but there are some legitimate studies in psychology... industrial psychology, developmental psychology in the different learning patterns & difficulties of people, and so forth. The major problem with psychology is that it is firmly based upon Darwin (he of evolution fame). It’s based upon the medical model of Freud so that man is not a spiritual being, he’s just some kind of stimulus response mechanism. So in some ways, psychology is helpful, because we do learn things, we are influenced by experiences that we have had, but that’s not the only thing, especially for the Christian because we have Christ to turn to and are told to seek after Him.
So why all the fascination between the Church and Psychology? First off, the Bible claims in II Peter 1 - "According as His divine power hath given us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, to the knowledge of Him who has called us unto glory and virtue, whereby given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, and so forth, that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature." The Christian is supposed to have a divine nature and the Scripture says that Christ is living, Christ is your life (Colossians 3) when Christ who is your life. I don’t believe that Christ needs any help from psychology. So by its very definition and purpose psychology, not only undermines the confidence, it destroys the person's confidence in Christ. What psychology says is, "The Bible does not have the answers that we need for everyday, relevant life." But we know the Bible does.
Oh, the Bible doesn’t have the answers for repairing an automobile, tuning the engine, brushing your teeth, or other things. So, we wouldn’t think of saying Christian aerodynamics or Christian auto mechanics. No, that is silly though we do know that there are Christians who are auto mechanics, dentists, physicists, or even chemists, but no one would ever talk about a need for a philosophy of Christian chemistry or a Christian physics. So why do we use the term Christian Psychology? Why do we talk about the need for Christian psychology? That’s the problem --psychology's inerrant attitude of trying to replace the Bible. So before you go seeking Christian psychotherapy...seek the counsel of a wise pastor who is in the Word and will only use the Word for counselling. I tell my people that I'm always available to counsel and provide advice and some of my best counselling is done on Sundays at 10 am, 11 am, 6 pm and again on Wednesdays at 7 pm. See ya in church!
To answer my article's title...YES!! Especially in the area of psychotherapy. Sadly, psychology is blasphemy that is unwittingly taught and practiced by many Pastors and Churches. So I say get in the Word and get in Church...it will do wonders for your soul and you'll find that only God provides the answers to life and that peace that passes all human understanding!!
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