Psychology And The Church

For nearly two thousand years prior to the rise of modern psychiatry and psychotherapy, the church has ministered to believers experiencing mental, emotional, and behavioral problems by using the teachings of the Scriptures and in the power of the Holy Spirit. Contemporary Christianity’s embrace of psychology, then raises an important question: Was there an insufficiency on the part of God’s Word and His Holy Spirit during those two millennia that made it necessary for the church to turn to modern psychotherapy in order
to more effectively address a Christian’s problems of living? The crucial answer to that question are the focus of this program, as we consider the influence of psychological counseling upon the church. In the history of contemporary Christendom, no secular enterprise has had such a profound influence on Christianity as has psychological counseling. The critical question raised by these developments is: Have they been helpful or harmful to the body of Christ? In the last fifty years, multitudes of pastors have added clinical counseling degrees to their theological credentials, and psychological theories have been preached so often and from so many pulpits that they are accepted without question by increasing numbers of Christians as biblical doctrines. Is this helpful or harmful? This incisive examination will guide you to the answers-and the same source of help sought by the early church.