There is nothing Christian about psychology even though such terms as soul and spirit are used and there is no compatibility with psychology and biblical Christianity. Since Psychology is grounded in the occult as I mentioned in my previous post, it is contrary to the Bible and it offers an unbiblical diagnosis and a godless cure for many human problems that are spiritual in nature. Simply put, "Christian" psychology is not biblical and it is antithetical to the scriptures. In fact, religion should not even be integrated into psychology. Even Rollo May expressed deep concern about psychology's link to religion (Hunt 457). The Bible is the perfect guide divinely inspired by God and all the instructions for Godly living and all the wisdom for our human problems, whether they be emotional, mental, or relational, are contained therein. As a Born-Again Believer, if you believe the scriptures are not sufficient enough for your problems, and if you seek extra-biblical counsel, you are admitting that the Bible is not enough for your spiritual concerns and worse, you are denying the power of God in your life. Based on Dave Hunt's book, Occult Invasion, and building upon my previous post, we will discuss "Christian" Psychology, how it's contrary to the Bible, and the men who influenced it's integration into Christianity.
We all need counsel at some point in our lives. The question that should be asked before one seeks counsel is, what kind of counsel do you need? You certainly would not seek counsel from an auto mechanic if you had blurry vision, a low-grade fever or some other kind of physiological symptom. Instead, you would quickly make an appointment with your doctor. Similarly, you would not consult a financial advisor if you were having relationship problems in your marriage and you certainly would not consult an electrician if you were having plumbing related issues in your home. In terms of the Bible, you certainly would not utilize it on how to construct a high-rise office building or how to understand the open and closed loop cycle in your car's engine and what the PCM does. The Bible is inadequate in these matters because it was not written for such matters. It would be foolish to think that the Bible has answers to such matters as engineering or auto-mechanics or diabetic retinopathy. So where does one seek counsel on spiritual matters of the soul such as eternal salvation and hope and emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, and fear? These points are important to reiterate and ponder because there are advisors specific to their field and their specialty. When you integrate all these subjects, you are left with not only bad advice, but confusion as well and before you know it, your life is littered with debris from so many bad choices, "therefore it does make good sense to go only to the Bible with regard to those matters in which the Bible instructs us" (Hunt 463). And it makes sense because the Bible is the instruction manual on matters that concern our spiritual life; our souls, our emotions and our minds. It is the highest authority on the subject. The only counsel a person needs to live up to God's standard and to be all that God desires is found in His word.
So now that we understand from whom we should seek counsel let us consider this idea of the integration of man-made psychology and biblical Christianity. Can the wisdom of this world in the medium of man-made psychology enhance Christianity when the Apostle Paul flat out rejected the wisdom of this world in I Corinthians 2: 5-14? And is not the wisdom of this world foolishness to God that is clearly stated in I Corinthians 1:20? Man can not understand himself because he did not create himself. God did. Therefore how can he know the inner workings of his soul and spirit, his mind and his emotions? Yet psychology "unlike any other profession, claims to deal with the very matters which the Bible deals with: the soul and spiritual side of man" (Hunt 462). Even Carl Jung admitted that "no one knows what the psyche is" (462). Hunt points out succinctly, "psychology is man's futile attempt to understand himself and to adjust his behavior" (462). Christian psychology has brought the wisdom of the world, which is foolishness to God, and has integrated it into Christianity and as a result, it has offered a supplement to scripture deceiving many. The Divinely inspired scripture does not need man made wisdom and it certainly does not need an integration with humanism, especially humanism that is grounded in the occult and is clearly antithetical to scripture. The Bible firmly states that it is concerned with the "things that pertain unto life and godliness" and we have all that we need in that regard in Christ (II Peter 1:3-4). Christ, "who is our life" (Colossians 3:4), needs no psychological counseling. Since God knows our hearts as Jeremiah 19:9-10 states, He can do the best job searching, analyzing, and guiding our lives than anyone else. And just as David relied on God to search his heart in Psalm 139:23-24, so can any other modern day Christian. The Bible is just as relevant today as it was many years ago and it's applications and remedies are just as effective as they were for the saints of God 2000 years ago.
Up until recently when psychology started to infiltrate the church, the people of God looked only to Him for their spiritual and emotional needs and overcame victoriously. Consider the early martyrs. They did not need extra biblical counseling to endure the Roman arena and all the heroes and heroines in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews chapter 11 triumphed gloriously without any help from psychological counseling or expensive therapy sessions and pharmacological aids. Job, who suffered immensely, did not seek counseling for his suffering and Joseph, who endured many nights being abandoned, falsely accused, and rejected did not seek therapy for all the abuses he endured. The early church withstood the onslaught of the enemy and even proliferated without the help of extra-biblical counseling. These people of God and their lives are recorded in the Bible for us to see that trials must be endured for our own good. They are meant to refine and mature us. The Bible also instructs us that in the weakness of our trials and hardships, God will be with us as He becomes our strength. These lessons are meant to teach us that it is only through our weakness that we experience the power of God in our lives as the Apostle Paul so eloquently states, "nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" (Romans 8:37) and "now thanks be unto God , which always causeth us to triumph in Christ" (II Corinthians 2:14). It would be laughable to think that Job, Joseph, and Paul could not have survived unless they sought inner healing and therapy from a psychologist! No, quite the contrary, these men survived and triumphed over their trials because of the power of God that sustained them as they learned to trust and depend upon God for help, not some extra-biblical therapy or counselor. Tragically, the Bible is neglected by many today because they turn to and trust in extra-biblical sources. So why has psychology invaded so many pulpits and why is it a large part of the curriculum in Christian Universities that encourage students to get degrees when the saints of the Bible clearly demonstrate that this was and is superfluous? The answer is simple really. The men who influenced its infiltration and its proliferation.
"The typical conservative minister is 20 or 30 years behind his liberal colleague in being aware of the contributions of psychology to the understanding of personality" (37) (Hunt 460).
Today in the Evangelical Church, there are more Christian psychologists who openly admit the humanism behind psychology that has nothing to do with biblical Christianity. James Dobson said, "Christian psychology is a worthy profession for a young believer to pursue, provided his faith is strong enough to withstand the humanistic concepts to which he will be exposed" (Focus of the Family, Dec. 1988). As Hunt states to which I agree wholeheartedly, "why must one be exposed to humanistic concepts in order to learn "Christian" psychology when psychology was invented by humanists and cannot be separated from the humanism upon which it is founded" (461)? Integrating the two creates a godless partnership and is antithetical to scripture as it is verboten in II Corinthians 6:14-18 and Amos 3:3. This whole idea of integration is not only unbiblical, it's illogical! Was the church shortchanged for 1900 years? Can humanism add to the power of God? Is God defective? Oh, but humanists think they are evolving into godlike creatures who are infallible while God is fallible and so Christians, they say, need additional insight, "Christian psychology claims that the Bible lacks insights which have lately been provided by atheistic humanists coming to the rescue" and yet "psychotherapy consists of hundreds of conflicting and unproved theories, so no one need be concerned about lacking its counterfeit wisdom" (Hunt 464). Surely God in His omniscience has not overlooked what may befall us or has failed to provide the complete instructions and navigation for this life nor has He failed to provide the appropriate remedy for our spiritual problems in His Word. So what has caused these influential men to promote such a godless partnership? The answer is in one word: selfism.
At the very core of the occult is selfism and as Freud built his psychological theories on occultism and a very narrow, myopic, inward focus, the overwhelming emphasis became self and what emerged what a menagerie of selfisms that "invaded not only the world but the church: self-love, self-acceptance, self-improvement, self-worth, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-ad nauseam" (Hunt 467). Self is the heart of human potential (humanism) and it is the pride of life despite the fact that the Bible implicitly affirms us to put no confidence in the flesh, "thus saith the Lord, cursed be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh his arm, whose heart departeth from the Lord" (Jeremiah 17:5 and Philippians 3:3-7 KJV). Contrast this with what Schuller praises in Self Love, The Dynamic Forces of Success,
"Self love is a crowning sense of self worth. It is an ennobling emotion of self respect.....an abiding faith in yourself. It is sincere belief in yourself. It comes through self discovery, self discipline, self forgiveness, and self acceptance. It produces self reliance, self confidence, and an inner security, calm as the night" (32).
Self is mentioned nine times in this brief quotation. Is it any wonder why psychology has created more selfish people? Instead of self being denied like the Bible instructs a disciple to do in Mark 8:34, self is promoted, esteemed, and loved more than anything, including God. One now must bow at the alter of his/her own ego. In many pulpits today, self is at the center. The Christian is taught that what is needed more than anything is to develop their self-love, self-esteem, and self-worth. Dobson states in his book, Hide and Seek, "in a real sense, the health of an entire society depends on the ease with which the individual members gain personal acceptance" (12-13). But self was the reason for the fall in the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve heeded the voice of the serpent who wanted to be God. The serpent planted a seed of doubt in their minds regarding the authority God had over their lives, "oh but yeah, hath God really said" (Genesis 3:1)? It is the love of self that has caused the destruction of so many marriages and it is the love of self that has caused more heartache and suffering in the world. Tragically, this self esteem delusion and the destructive folly of psychology has swept through the church like a tsunami carrying with it sound, biblical teaching, "let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves" (Philippians 2:3 KJV). Romans 12:3 warns us not to think more highly than we ought to think and nowhere does the Bible warn us against thinking poorly of ourselves. The Bible tells us the opposite which should manifest an attitude of humility, "but we are all as un unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6 KJV). "Christian" psychology wants to take the unpleasant truths in scripture that are negative and put a positive spin on it so we view ourselves as supremely important. It is designed to help us escape the reality that needs to be confronted in our souls....the darkness that lurks there and the Bible is that very magnifying glass that looks deep into our souls so that we can not escape the truth, "for the Word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12 KJV). When a person seeks psychological counseling because they are having anxiety, not only will they throw their money down the drain for expensive counseling but then they are given an expensive drug to ease their anxiety. Yet the Bible has the perfect remedy in Philippians 4:6 that doesn't cost a penny, "be anxious for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." Anxiety is sin because God is able to take care of all your tiny problems that you have magnified in your life instead of God. If anxiety is crippling you, then you need to get down on your knees and humble yourself before the mighty hand of God and acknowledge your lack of faith and ask God to help you. And He will! Because God wants to set you free from anxiety. And the same applies to fear. The Bible instructs us in 2 Timothy 1:7 that "God hath not given us a spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" and David said "what time I am afraid, I will trust in the Lord (Psalm 56:3). And the same applies to depression. The Bible is implicit that we are to cast down any thought that rises itself against the knowledge of God whether that be fear, anxiety, or depression "casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2 Corinthians 10:5). This is not to say that you will never feel those feelings, it's just that those feelings should not be ruling in your soul because Jesus said it succinctly, "Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you free" (John 8:32). There are numerous scriptures to seek that address these emotional problems that psychology claims to have the remedy for but the worst part about "Christian" psychology is its misapplications and misquotations of scripture.
The scripture in Proverbs 23:7, "as a man thinketh in his heart," is often mishandled by "Christian" psychologists. The use of visualization, which is part of ancient occult practices, encourages patients to believe whatever they want and so they will get it, "Eastern mysticism and shamanism converge in visualization at the center of the occult world. This is the essence of all mysticism, whether practiced by yogis or Roman Catholic "saints." It is the heart of the spiritual exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Yet is is used by hundreds of Christian psychologists and even evangelical leaders" (Hunt 474). Gary Collins who is a Christian and a licensed clinical psychologist with a PhD from Purdue University (**my father's college buddy was a professor there.....they went to college together at the University of Kansas in 1959 and I still have a picture of them from out west...my father became a dermatologist, M.D. and Charles Rutledge became a professor....Chip stopped correspondence with me once he found out I was a Christian just as he did with my father) debunks any concerns in his book Can You Trust Psychology, "many who fear the entrance of occult practices into psychology nevertheless draw invalid and illogical conclusions about current counseling practices. In their often sincere desires to purge occult influences form counseling, some writers have condemned visualization, self-talk, the healing of memories and other frequently used therapeutic methods (104-105). Instead of warning Christians about the occult practices in psychology, Collins endorses them and as a result, scripture is misapplied, taken out of context and used to reinforce visualization. The problem "as a man thinketh is his heart," is that it is not accurately interpreted. It doesn't tell the whole story, which is common for those who do not understand the Bible and so they cherry pick specific scripture that suit their liking. This specific scripture is actually about "Solomon warning his son that when he becomes king other rulers may invite him to a feast, but their pretense of friendship may not be sincere" (Hunt 469)......don't be deceived, for "as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee." It is a warning (which the Bible is filled with) that a man (or woman for that matter) who uses kind and pleasant words may not accurately reflect his or her true feelings and what is really going on inside their heart. Consider also the scripture "love your neighbor as thyself," God didn't say "love your neighbor as your inadequately love yourself. God already knows we all love ourselves more than we should so that scripture is admonishing us to share the love, care, and attention that we give to ourselves already in abundance (469). Don't we all need that admonishment? And when people say "I hate myself," has any man or woman really hated themselves? Sure they may hate their clothes, their neighbors, their car, their low-income or their job, their co-workers, their appearance but no man has ever hated himself....."for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cheriseth it, even as the Lord the Church" (Ephesians 5:29). If a man or woman really hated themselves, they would be glad they were abused, or lived in poverty, or were homely looking in appearance, or drove a crappy car. The fact that he/she complains about these things only proves that he/she loves themselves which is exactly what the Bible says (470). The integration of psychological concepts such as a sense of belonging, sense of worth, and a sense of competence have also invaded the church.
Josh McDowell wrote a book titled His Image, My Image. In this book, McDowell presents three specific psychological concepts that should exists in a well-integrated personality:
- A sense of belonging (acceptance by others)
- A sense of worthiness (feeling good about oneself)
- A sense of competence (confidence in oneself)
The harm of psychology infecting Biblical Christianity can not be understated, "numerous studies by secular psychologists and psychiatrists have demonstrated that the higher one's self esteem, the more likely one is to be immoral, violent, and prone to trample on the right's of others" (Hunt 472). Even Newsweek featured a major article in their February 1992 issue titled, "The Curse of Self-Esteem: What's Wrong With The Feel Good Movement" and in it the researcher declared that self-control is most important and he argued to drop the whole self esteem nonsense. Another featured article in the newspaper The Oregonian says,"If we could cross out self-esteem and put in self-control, kids would be better off and society in general would be much better off" (Nov 1995). Despite the numerous studies and these statements, "the fallacious and destructive self-esteem theory continues to be the very bread and butter of Christian psychology" (Hunt 473). Simon the Pharisee, who no doubt was in love with himself as his high and mighty attitude looked down in condescension on the prostitute who washed the feet of Jesus with her tears and dried them with her hair, was completely unaware of his own wretchedness, hence his name Simon the Pharisee. Contrast that with the sinful woman who was well aware of her sinfulness and unworthiness. Jesus acknowledged the magnitude of the woman's love and noted the coldness of the Pharisee. The more we realize our own guilt and wretchedness, the more acutely aware we will be of our gratitude for the One who came to our rescue and saved us from our sin. Clearly, "Christian" psychology is spreading a cancerous disease throughout the Church as so many Believers are trusting in secular counsel rather than the counsel of God.
The decided factor remains: what is Truth? For the Born-Again Believer there is no argument no matter how many theses are written in the support of integrating secular psychology and biblical Christianity. The two decided factors should be: what is true in psychology and what is God's Truth? You can not argue for the integration of the two because, "psychologists can't agree among themselves. There are hundreds of conflicting theories and many opposing schools of psychology. Because it is not scientific, there is no objective standard by which to measure truth in psychology. But even if it were science, no matter how well established, it is not God's Truth" (Hunt 479). And God doesn't need any other truth. Jesus said, "I am the Truth" (John 14:6). He did not say, "I am part of the Truth and you should look for more truth." This statement separates God's Truth from everything else, including science and psychological theories. God has written His law upon the conscience of every person, "which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another"(Romans 2:15) and to the extent that man heeds their conscience, they will know of God's Truth. Even if psychologists know some of God's Truth, "what is the point of dredging through the muck and mire of their false teaching for a truth which can be found clean, clear, and readily available in God's Word" (Hunt 479)? Jesus promised us He would help us with the Holy Spirit for that is the ministry of the Holy Spirit: to guide us into all Truth and to comfort us. So why do we need Freud and all these other psychologists? It's an honest question to ask yourself, "preventing God's people from believing in the sufficiency of scripture is essential for Christian psychologists if they hope to remain in business" (Hunt 481). There is no justification for the integration of psychology and biblical Christianity. If God said it in His Word, that settles it for all Eternity!
Paraphrases and quotes taken from:
Hunt, Dave. Occult Invasion. Harvest House Publishers. Eugene, Oregon. 1998
Collins, Gary. Can You Trust Psychology? Endorsed by Bill Hybels. InterVarsity. 1988
Schuller, Robert H. Self-Esteem, The New Reformation. World Books. 1982
Schuller, Robert H. Self-Love, The Dynamic Force of Success. Hawthorne. 1969
Spurgeon, Charles. All of Grace. Moody Press.