Posted on 06/02/2023 3:19:01 AM PDT by spirited irish
The Bible is full of explanations of why people behave the way they do and how they change. Beginning with Genesis, God demonstrated the basic problem of mankind: separation from God through sin. And, God provided the only lasting remedy for change: a restored relationship with Him by faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. A person’s separation from God or his active relationship with God will affect every attitude, every choice, and every action. The study of mankind from any other perspective will bring about a distorted view. Although we can observe, record and report external aspects of human nature, we must turn to Scripture for perfectly accurate explanations of why people behave the way they do and how they can change. Psychotherapy is a false substitute for the ways of God.
(Excerpt) Read more at patriotandliberty.com ...
ping
Thx!
Not that I’m Buddhist but I lived among the Buddhists for many years in my youth in SE asia, plus an elective college course called comparative religions (rather than a psych class) was interesting enough in the awareness factor to warrant it’s value later IVO todays modern and complex society.
One takeaway was that Buddha aptly referred to the psychos in society as monkey brained.
I have bumped into enough psychiatric religionists to understand the accuracy of this broadbrush categorical interpretation of those baskets of crazies that are among us everyday and everywhere.
When you don’t really know much about psychology and you don’t understand the message of Scripture very well, it is easy to get the two confused. To the detriment of both, as the antagonism is often mutual.
Certainly some psychotherapists elevate psychotherapy to the level of a pseudo-religion.
It's not a terrific analogy, but while the Bible explains to origins of sickness when I had a stroke I went to the hospital.
This very good book is a discussion by a faithful pshrink of a problem seen in many churches. It's a good example of the border between psychology and Christianity.
Must reading on this topic—the guy was brilliant and had some stunning insights:
https://www.amazon.com/Myth-Mental-Illness-Foundations-Personal/dp/0061771228
The psychiatric profession has used “word games” to bamboozle the population.
There are physical problems with the brain—which they call “mental illness” when in fact it is a physical problem.
Then there is nonconformist thinking—which they also call “mental illness”.
By packaging the two together they weaponize the psychiatric profession into a propaganda, brainwashing and even enforcement arm of the rulers of a culture.
Thanks. Though I’ve not read his book I am familiar with his thinking and agree that mental illness is a myth. It was one of the Huxley’s who said the Biblical concept of sin together with immutable truth and moral absolutes were causes of ‘mental illness.’
The article cited is a disgusting, self-aggrandizing joke... except an unfunny one. It epitomizes why so many people today turn away from the message of the Gospel because it becomes associated with people like these authors who take it upon themselves to prop up their own self-important ideas about God, the Bible, and the Christian faith as to be equivalent to sound doctrine itself.
Woe unto them.
I could make a case a thousand times stronger, with biblical support, that modern athletics is anti-Christian. But I wouldn’t do that because it is NOT something the Bible truly teaches. The apostles, directed by the Holy Spirit, reclaimed the culture when spreading the Gospel to the whole world.
This is like those who see everything as racist. Math is racist. Science is racist. Tests and grades are racist. Except, in this case, anything that makes the authors uncomfortable can be labeled anti-Christian. Math. Science. Tests. And, in this case, psychotherapy.
Psychotherapy, something the authors hardly know anything about, is part of modern medicine that takes an evidence-based approach to resolving health issues. Psychotherapy is primarily concerned with emotional and mental health, and this includes addressing harmful behaviors that stem from emotional and mental health issues.
Let me explore one simple example. Let’s suppose there is a child who was raped at 10 years of age. We might reasonably expect that this experience could contribute to mental and emotional health issues in the form of something like PTSD. There might be social anxiety, eating disorders, phobias, and the inability to enter into normal, healthy relationships.
Do these authors have the ability to heal such a person?
No. They just want to behave like the religious leaders who fought with Jesus and tried to impose all sorts of things on others that are NOT commanded by God.
Matthew 23:4 NKJV
For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
Listen to what Jesus said:
Mark 2:17 NKJV
When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Does Jesus denounce medicine? No. Luke wrote nearly half of the New Testament. He was a physician.
To be clear, psychotherapy CAN be used to foster and encourage anti-Christian ideas and behaviors, but it is not intrinsically anti-Christian. Christians need to reclaim the culture. And this includes using tools like counseling to help others. When Christians abandon the culture and say Christians are barred from certain professions, they leave those professions open to being commandeered by anti-Christians. And that’s exactly what has happened.
I have people very close to me that have been and are being helped through therapy/counseling and who are also helped by prayer and Biblical instruction. I personally walked some such people to the pastor of a mega-church who tried but was unable to help them. I knew one of their friends who was struggling through horrific emotional damage who came seeking help and did not find it. He committed suicide shortly after.
When the foolish men who authored this worthless article can show a track record of helping a few hundred people recover from the trauma of horrific events in their lives, maybe they will have something to share on the subject. And I bet it will not be some screed about how an entire profession that exists to help people with such problems is anti-Christian.
Many do see it as a religion, many don’t. But those who do see it as religion are especially dangerous.
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