In a previous article entitled, “Defining Mental Illness,” I sought to demonstrate the irremediable logical problems that afflict the mental health movement. Because modern-day psychology is working within a materialistic anthropology where humans are understood primarily in biological categories (not as physical body and immaterial soul), it is unable to provide a coherent definition of mental illness.
Furthermore, any diagnosis of a so-called mental illness is a tautology because it merely repeats and reaffirms one’s symptoms without ever providing a root cause for those symptoms. Psychoanalysis and psychological research labors under the strain of a false anthropology and therefore cannot provide a logically consistent definition of what constitutes a mental illness.
What’s all the Fuss?
But why labor to expose these foundational logical problems that plague modern psychology? For two primary reasons. First and most importantly, because there is major (near total) overlap between the practice of secular psychology and biblical counseling when it comes to our respective conceptual territory. Modern psychology is a comprehensive framework1 in which to observe and interpret problematic human behavior and then apply remedies to such problems. Biblical counseling is also a comprehensive framework in which to observe and interpret problematic human behavior and then apply remedies to such problems. Psychology aims to disciple the mind, heart, and life of the counselee; so does biblical counseling. Psychology trades in the realm of thought, motivation, desire, relationships, appropriate behavior, happiness, and inner peace. These are all areas of Christian discipleship and are therefore under the jurisdiction of Christ and his Word.
As I’ve noted in previous articles (see here and here), there are strong differences among evangelical Christian counselors about how to assess and utilize the insights of modern psychology. The key distinctive of the biblical counseling movement, for example, is the argument that Scripture is sufficient for the counseling task and that psychological insights, though potentially interesting, are not necessary to effectively counsel another Christian. Conversely, integrationists believe that Scripture is not sufficient for the counseling task and that the insights of psychology are necessary to provide compassionate and effective counsel to hurting Christians.
I am persuaded of the biblical counseling position, and I don’t think it is wise, warranted, or ontologically possible to blend Christian theology with secular psychology. There are many reasons why I hold this position, but one of the strongest arguments for me is the truth that psychology deals with the exact same concepts as Christian discipleship, only from within a naturalistic framework. In this way, then, psychology is nothing less than naturalistic discipleship.
Psychology is Spiritual Discipleship from a Naturalistic Foundation
Psychology is not an unbiased, neutral approach to helping people with their problems. At its core it is a form of discipleship that is rooted in a naturalistic view of reality and the human person. It is vital to note this point because psychologists aim to train the mind, shape one’s worldview, influence relationships, engender happiness, relieve anxiety, allay guilt, inform one’s philosophy of life, guide the affections, correct misbehavior, and shape one’s ethical judgements. At basic, the secular psychologist is laboring to train the mind of the counselee to think according to naturalistic categories regarding the most important areas of life: work, relationships, home, family, motivation, how to handle conflict, happiness, and much more.
We must constantly articulate the conceptual overlap between psychology and Christian discipleship because Christians—even Christian leaders—often distinguish between so-called psychological counseling and spiritual counseling making it appear that these are two distinct categories and areas of expertise. Take this recent tweet by a professor of theology at Abilene Christian University:
Reminder: your minister is not trained to do psychological counseling. They can offer you spiritual counsel abundantly, and should! But to see a therapist as well.2
Myles Werntz
But this alleged distinction is pernicious because it masks the reality that the psychologist is handling spiritual issues (i.e., those which pertain to Christian discipleship), but he is interpreting these issues through a materialistic lens. Secular psychology is nothing less than naturalistic discipleship.
Psychologists are doing spiritual counseling, but only within a naturalistic framework.
The obvious assumption of the above tweet is that there is such a thing as “psychological counseling” that is categorically different than “spiritual counseling.” But if we understand counseling as “a conversation where one party with questions, problems, and trouble seeks assistance from someone they believe has answers, solutions, and help,”3 all the issues with which psychology deals fall within the parameters of “spiritual counseling.” In other words, psychologists are doing spiritual counseling, but only within a naturalistic framework. The distinction between so-called psychological counseling and “spiritual” counseling is a post-enlightenment development where the former is assumed to be rooted in empirical science and reason while the latter is rooted in religion and faith. It is an illegitimate distinction.
Common Mental Health Disorders Categorized Biblically
Secondly, we need to expose the logical problems in modern psychology in order to again demonstrate the glorious sufficiency of Christ and his Word for the counseling task. Apart from biblical truth, we cannot provide accurate, effective, Christ-honoring, genuinely-helpful counsel to anyone. Stated positively, Scripture provides us all that we need to help people overcome their non-medical problems in a way that glorifies God and is eternally beneficial to them.
In the document below, consider how major psychological ailments can be easily re-classified according to biblical categories.
Conclusion
While psychology in some cases has achieved what David Powlison calls, “common grace goods”—restoring relational peace to marriage, helping people get sober or avoid a suicide4—it can never be viewed as a legitimate alternative to biblical counseling or a system that can be blended with Christianity. Modern psychology and Christianity are offering competing remedies to the same problems. When we don’t allow materialistic assumptions to hold sway and we are careful to define mental illnesses according to biblical categories, we see that God’s Word provides us with the tools, insights, and resources we need to effectively help Christians overcome their problems.5 Rather than naturalistic discipleship, Christians must always pursue distinctively Christian, supernatural discipleship.
NOTES
1 This needs to be qualified a bit. There is no one, unified “psychology.” Rather, there are many different schools of psychological thought that each attempt to explain human behavior according to a particular model or theory. My point here is simply to say that these modern psychologies are all attempting to provide a comprehensive framework within which to understand human thought and behavior.
2 Miles Werntz, Twitter, February 19, 2023.
3 Heath Lambert, A Theology of Biblical Counseling, 13. See my article, “Foundational Questions all Christians Must Ask About Counseling.”
4 David Powlison, “A Biblical Counseling View,” in Psychology and Christianity: Five Views, 259.
5 A helpful and easily accessible resource for showing how contemporary mental disorders can be recategorized in biblical terms is Marshal and Mary Asher’s The Christian’s Guide to Psychological Terms, Second Edition (Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2020).