psychology

From the Berean Call

Psychology and the Evangelical Church
Author: T.A. McMahon
Publication Date: 3/1/2006

Nothing in the history of the modern church has induced believers to abandon their faith in the sufficiency of God's
Word like the pseudo-science of psychological counseling. Consider the following: the evangelical church is a
primary referral service for counseling psychologists and psychiatrists. Many large churches have licensed
psychotherapists on staff. Mission agencies are requiring their missionary candidates to be evaluated and
approved by licensed psychological professionals prior to being considered for service. Christian psychologists and
counselors are often better known and more respected by evangelicals than preachers and teachers. Who has not
heard of psychologist Dr. James Dobson?

Most evangelicals are convinced that psychotherapy is scientific and is necessary to supply what is lacking in the
Bible regarding man's mental, emotional, and behavioral needs. When I use the term, psychotherapy, what I am
referring to is psychological counseling, clinical psychology, and (non-biological) psychiatry. I may also use the
general term psychology. I recognize that there are some areas of psychology that are clearly distinct from
psychotherapy and may have scientific merit and value, e.g., those fields that study perception, man-machine
interface, ergonomics, some educational psychology, and so forth. They are, however, a very small percentage of
the entire industry of psychology, which claims to have scientific insights into the mind of man.

So what's the problem with psychotherapy? According to numerous scientific studies, it rarely works (and then only
superficially) and is known to be harmful. From a biblical perspective, it is an antichristian, religious counterfeit. Both
conclusions will become quite apparent as we proceed.

Given the significant influence it has had on the church, the psychological way compared to the biblical way should
be an issue of critical concern for all those who believe that the Word of God is their authority and that it is
completely sufficient for all things that pertain to life and godliness? (2 Peter 1:3). How do these two ways compare?

They couldn't be more at odds. The basic theories of psychological counseling are contradictory to what the Bible
teaches about the nature of man and God's solution for his mental, emotional, and behavioral problems.
Psychotherapeutic concepts regard humanity as intrinsically good. The Bible says that other than Jesus Christ, man
is not good but was born with a sinful nature, for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God? (Romans
3:23).

Psychological counseling often promotes the belief that problems adversely affecting a person's mental and
emotional welfare are determined by circumstances external to the person, such as parental abuse or environment.
The Bible tells us that a man's evil heart and his sinful choices cause his mental, emotional, and behavioral
problems. ?For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things
come from within, and defile the man (Mark 7:21-23).

Psychotherapy attempts to improve the self through concepts such as self-love, self-esteem, self-worth, self-image,
self-actualization, etc. The Bible teaches that self is humanity's main problem, not the solution to the ills that plague
mankind. And it prophetically identifies the chief solution of psychological counseling, self-love, as the catalyst to a
life of depravity. This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own
selves... (2 Timothy 3:1).

The Bible teaches that reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ is the only way for man to truly remedy his
sin-related mental, emotional, and behavioral troubles. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath he [Jesus Christ] reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present
you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in [God's] sight (Colossians 1:21,?22).

Psychotherapy has shipwrecked the faith of many regarding the sufficiency of the Bible. Because psychologists
claim to have insights into the nature of man and also methods for change not found in the Bible, it follows that the
Bible cannot be sufficient for counseling or addressing believers mental, emotional, and behavioral needs.

Psychotherapy has sold the church the lie that psychology can be integrated with the Bible. That ought to be
scandalous to any thoughtful believer. Since psychology and the Bible are fundamentally in opposition to one
another, it should be obvious that there can be no real integration of their teachings. Moreover, if the Bible, the
Manufacturer's handbook, isn't sufficient to cover all things that pertain to life and godliness, then His created
beings must look elsewhere for their mental, emotional, and behavioral welfare. And if they must look elsewhere,
then the Bible's claim to be authoritative, inerrant, and sufficient is also false.

How influential is psychotherapy in the church? It would be rare indeed to find a topical sermon with no supposed
insights from psychology. Typical would be Willow Creek church near Chicago, whose influence is national and
international through its 10,000-member association of churches. One researcher of church-growth methods who
spent a year at Willow Creek observed, [Pastor Bill] Hybels not only teaches psychological principles but often uses
the psychological principles as interpretive guides for his exegesis of Scripture....King David had an identity crisis,
the apostle Paul encouraged Timothy to do self-analysis, and Peter had a problem with boundary issues. The point
is, psychological principles are regularly built into Hybels teaching. Rick Warren's record-breaking The
Purpose-Driven Life furthers the acceptance of psychology in the church by including such psychobabble as
Samson was co-dependent and Gideon's weakness was low self-esteem and deep insecurities.

Why this psychologizing of Christianity? Well, primarily because the church has been sold three erroneous ideas:

1) Psychotherapy is a scientific endeavor;
2) Counseling is for professionals only;
3) Christian psychology reconciles science and faith.

Let's look at each of these. First, psychotherapy is not a scientific endeavor. Martin and Deidre Bobgan report in
their book, The End of Christian Psychology: Attempting to evaluate the status of psychology, the American
Psychological Association appointed Dr. Sigmund Koch to plan and direct a study which was subsidized by the
National Science Foundation. This study involved eighty eminent scholars assessing the facts, theories, and
methods of psychology. The results of this extensive endeavor were published in a seven-volume series entitled
Psychology: A Study of a Science. Dr. Koch sums up the panel's findings in these words: I think it is by this time
utterly and finally clear that psychology cannot be a coherent science.?

Dr. Karl Popper, regarded as one of the greatest philosophers of science, after a thorough study of psychotherapy,
declared: though posing as sciences [psychotherapy] had in fact more in common with primitive myths than with
science [and] resembled astrology rather than astronomy.

Secondly, counseling is not for professionals only. Psychotherapy, thanks to Freud and some others with medical
backgrounds, has terms and concepts that falsely give the impression that they have to do with medical science. An
understanding of the term illness is key to seeing through this mirage.

Can one's mental process that is, his thinking or behavior literally be ill Our brains, which are physical, can certainly
be, but our minds, which are nonphysical, can't be ill. So the term mental illness is a misnomer a myth. Furthermore,
with exceptions in the area of psychiatry, psychotherapists do not address the organic or physical problems of their
clients.

So, what do psychotherapists do? Well, mostly they talk and listen. Research psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Szasz spells it
out for us: In plain language, what do patient and psychotherapist actually do? They speak and listen to each other.
What do they speak about? Narrowly put, the patient speaks about himself, and the therapist speaks about the
patient....Each tries to move the other to see or do things in a certain way.

I assume that most evangelicals, whether in the pulpit or pew, can certainly handle the medium of counseling which
is simply talking and listening! But, few of us are trained professionals. We don?t have an advanced degree in
talking and listening, nor have we studied theories about human behavior, which are nothing more than the
opinions and speculations of godless men. Furthermore, there are more than 500 different (often contradictory and
sometimes utterly bizarre) psychotherapeutic systems and thousands of methods and techniques.

So, as nonprofessionals, we missed out on all of that knowledge-so-called. But still, aren't professionals more
effective than nonprofessionals in helping people with their problems? No!

After reviewing the research comparing trained and untrained psychological counselors, researchers Truax and
Mitchell report: ?There is no evidence that the usual traditional graduate training program has any positive value in
producing therapists who are more helpful than nonprofessionals.

Consider the conclusion of a lengthy research project conducted by Dr. Joseph Durlak:

Overall, outcome results in comparative studies have favored nonprofessionals.... There were no significant
differences among helpers in 28 investigations, but nonprofessionals were significantly more effective than
professionals in 12 studies.

The provocative conclusion from these comparative investigations is that professionals do not possess
demonstrably superior therapeutic skills, compared with nonprofessionals. Moreover, professional mental health
education, training, and experience are not necessary prerequisites for an effective helping person.

Best-selling author, psychologist Dr. Bernie Zilbergeld, writes in his book, The Shrinking of America: Myths of
Psychological Change: ...most problems faced by people would be better solved by talking to friends, spouses,
relatives or anyone else who appears to be doing well what you believe you're doing poorly....If I personally had a
relationship problem and I couldn't work it out with my partner, I wouldn't go and see a shrink. I would look around
me for the kind of relationship I admire....That's who I would go to. I want somebody who's showing by his life that he
can do it.

Now that's just good commonsense advice from a man who understands the field of psychotherapy. Yet, in this
perilous time for the church, many (and the numbers continue to grow) have abandoned not only common sense,
but worse yet, they have discarded their biblical mandate, which is to minister to one another through the Word of
God and in the power of the Holy Spirit. They've been intimidated by myths and have turned from the truth.

Finally, Christian psychology cannot reconcile science and faith. Why not? Because psychology is not a science,
nor can it be Christianized. Of course, there are Christians who are licensed professional psychotherapists, but
there is no recognized branch or stream of psychology identified as Christian.

Consider this statement representing the view of the Christian Association for Psychological Studies:

We are often asked if we are Christian psychologists...We are Christians who are psychologists but at the present
time there is no acceptable Christian psychology that is markedly different from non-Christian psychology. It is
difficult to imply that we function in a manner that is fundamentally distinct from our non-Christian colleagues...as
yet there is not an acceptable theory, mode of research or treatment methodology that is distinctly Christian.

How then do licensed psychotherapists who are Christians function? They selectively draw from the concepts
learned during their secular education and training and attempt to integrate them into their Christian belief system.
Yet, the concepts are all antithetical to the biblical way of ministering to a believer's problems related to overcoming
sin and living a life that is fruitful, productive, and pleasing to the Lord.

You have to wonder why a Christian would turn to any of these wisdom-of-men approaches that were conceived by
people who were so obviously anti-Christian. Freud considered religion an illusion and was known to have a hatred
for Christianity because of what he believed to be its anti-Semitic teachings. Others, such as Abraham Maslow and
Carl Rogers, were blatant New Agers and occultists. Yet, consider this quote from a leading Christian psychologist:
Under the influence of humanistic psychologists like Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow, many of us Christians have
begun to see our need for self-love and self-esteem. This is a good and necessary focus. Not according to the
Scriptures!

The Book of Nehemiah gives us a picture of what's happening in the church. Nehemiah (his name means Jehovah
is our comforter) is a type of the Holy Spirit. God sends him to rebuild and strengthen Jerusalem. Under the guise of
helping Nehemiah, enemies of Israel attempt to subvert the restoration. Incredibly, the priest gives one such
adversary, Tobiah, a room within the Temple. So it is with so-called Christian psychology today.

How serious is this psychologizing of the church? Although devastating even now, Scripture tells us it will far exceed
what we can imagine. The Apostle Paul is emphatic in his warning (2 Timothy 3:1-5) that in the last days man's
condition will be perilous. That warning begins with a characteristic that is the cornerstone of humanistic psychology
and which Paul indicates (verses 2-5) is the source of a host of evils: self-love. Next month, we will consider the
prophetic aspects of psychology and Christian psychology as they contribute to the formation of the apostate
church and the religion of the Antichrist. [TBC: Parts of this article were taken from the DVD Psychology and the
Church: Critical Questions...Crucial Answers. See our resource materials.]

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