Have you figured it out yet?
None of these guys are Christian, yet they are influencing, to a very, very, large degree, what is used today, by Christians, to advise and counsel the flock of God, and these are just a small sampling, there are others.
Christian Counseling or Pastoral Counseling is a very busy industry today, and nearly all “Churches” have in-house psychologists or counselors; the pastor has been bumped to “spiritual” problems only. 99 out of 100 Christians, if surveyed, would agree that “Christian Counseling” is right and proper. Christians have been conditioned to believe that the wisdom of non-Christian men, most who are openly hostile toward Christianity and some, who dabble in the occult, is necessary to understand the complex makeup of the mind and to solve its problems.
Why does Christian Psychology even exist? Where did it come from? And who ultimately benefits from its use? These are a few of the questions that need to be asked.
From the severe lack of known Christian writers exposing the Christian Counseling business, and from the packed bookshelves marketing psychological help, you would think that James Dobson and Gary Smalley have had the last word in this controversy; not so; the Bible will, as always, have the last and final word on this, and every other issue concerning man upon the earth. And, just to set the record straight, there are authors who have written books and articles on this subject, but because of the popularity of “Christian Psychology” they have not received the exposure like those who speak and appeal to the selfishness of the flesh; they deal directly with the real problem and solution: the sinfulness of man and the goodness and mercy of God. Please take time to read the free books by Martin and Deidre Bobgan, which can be downloaded at http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/. Also, if you want more information you can purchase Jim Owen’s book, Christian Psychology’s War on God’s Word: The Victimization of the Believer, at Amazon.com.
Setting the Stage
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first…” 2 Thessalonians 2:3
For 1900 years the Christian community has lived without Psychology, but now, in the last 100 years, at the end of the age, it seems we just can’t do without it. Dysfunctional families by droves are flocking to psychologist and counselors for “help.”
The key phrase here is “the end of the age.” To those who understand the Bible there are desperate forces at work preparing the stage for the last scene. There are many threads that weave the apostasy or “falling away,” mentioned in Scriptures, which is predominant in the times we are living in right now. The Bible calls the vehicle that transports this apostasy a “strong delusion,” sent by God Himself, (2 Thess. 2:11), to those who refuse to believe His written word; they have instead chosen to believe a lie.
This “strong delusion” is a curse, which is at work in every area of the world and the Church; it reaches into every area of belief and practice. Starting out like a small incidental, seemingly inconsequential, virus infecting the body, or a piece of yeast leavening a loaf of dough, this deceit/delusion infiltrates and corrupts, and continues its dark work till all hope of recovery is extinguished, (Mat. 16:5-12, 1 Cor. 5:6, Gal. 5:7-9).
This “strong delusion” has been with us for a long time, working slowly, but steadily, in all areas of the Church and world; a little compromise here; a little compromise there; and the visible Church has morphed into something which is barely recognizable in Scripture. Christian psychology is only one thread of this deceptive web which has successfully captured and glossed over the truth of God’s word, and brings famine to the land of plenty, a famine of truth, (Eph. 4:22, Jude 1:23, Isa 5:13,14, Ezek 5:16,17, Amos 8:11,12).
I was born in 1948, the same year that Israel became a nation, 64
years ago, and I believe time is very short if we assume that a generation is “three score and ten” (Ps. 90:10) or 70 years, and even if it isn’t , time is still short. All of the prophesies in the Bible are important because God has put them there for a couple of reasons: 1. To prove His existence. If only one prophesy fails then the whole structure falls to the ground, because God would not be sovereign as He has said. 2. Prophesy exist for the benefit of His children. Prophecy provides a timeline of future events, and foretells the season in which the Lord will return. The prophesies of Israel’s return to their homeland are important because we can now watch the news and know God is truthful, and that He is sitting on the throne, and that time is running out.
Where Did Christian Psychology Come From?
The stage is set and the prophetic clock is running, and because of that, we can understand better why the recent profusion of “Christian psychology” has arisen and why it should be avoided.
Why would Christians go to the world for understanding, unless they felt that the Bible was lacking or unable to supply answers to the questions concerning their human psyche?Christian psychology is just more proof of the lack of faith and belief of those who claim to be devoted followers of Jesus. When the Bible stops being the standard against which all our life and all our decisions are measured, then we can expect, not only the Church’s justification for using the principals of Freud, Jung, Rogers, Adler, Pavlov, and of course Dr. Phil, and many others; but we can expect the supplementing of Biblical wisdom in every area, which we see conspicuously displayed in the new aberrant departure from orthodox evangelical beliefs: the growing ecumenism of traditional Christianity with Islam and cults, a focus on church growth rather than preaching the Gospel, the re-birth and wide spread acceptance of liberal theology, the melding of Protestantism with Catholicism, and a re-directed emphasis to “Focus on the Family” instead of focusing on God.
The move toward self-improvement, self-esteem, self-discovery, possibility thinking, self-image, self-worth, and self-actualization is in effect the creating of a massive ego-centric image to replace a critical lack of faith in the power of God to solve problems. This building up of the ego is really a “Trojan Horse” of evil to slip in under the radar of our consciousness and destroy everything Christian; to prepare the world for the Antichrist and Satan’s grand push to overthrow the Kingdom of Almighty God.
The following chart illustrates the roots of Christian Psychology. www.necip.org.uk.
The Main Schools of Psychological Therapy
Within each school are various approaches to therapy. Many of the approaches have actually developed across several worldviews but for our purposes we will restrict them to single categories.
|
School |
Examples of therapy |
Originated from… |
|
Psychoanalytic (the “first force” of psychology) |
Psychoanalysis |
Scientific materialism
|
|
Behavioral (the “second force”) |
Behavioral |
Scientific materialism |
|
Organic/medical/neurological |
Psychiatric |
Scientific materialism |
|
Humanistic (the “third force”) |
Person-centered, Gestalt, existential, transactional analysis |
Humanism and existentialism |
|
Cognitive |
CBT, RET |
Humanism and existentialism |
|
Socio-cultural |
Family systems, personal construct, narrative |
Various, currently most influenced by social constructionism |
|
Transpersonal (the “fourth force”?) |
New age therapies |
Eastern philosophy |
“Each of the above schools relies on theories about the world and humanity that try to explain things like how people work and why they go wrong. Each theory is coming from a different perspective, relying on different ways of knowing what is true (such as observation and rationality) and having different underlying assumptions. Christians have an additional way of knowing – biblical revelation. Some of the assumptions made by these schools of psychotherapy are shared by Christians, while others appear to be in conflict with biblical revelation. We therefore need to examine each theory in turn to see to what extent it can be reconciled with – or contribute to – a Christian understanding of the world,” (Emphasis added).
Last revised 3 April 2003
Primer © NeCIP 2003
Ironically, the “The Main Schools of Psychological Therapy” chart above, developed by Christians, acknowledges secular psychology as the roots of the Christian psychology tree! All the different schools of thought, used by Christian Psychologists and Pastors, have their origin in the world, from these roots, of which we are repeatedly warned to steer clear of.
If these are the roots, then what can we expect from the branches and fruit? If the roots are all hostile to Christianity, what are the chances of producing good fruit, according to Jesus? It is now becoming very clear that the fruit is rotten, regardless that the “Christian” psychologist hangs a cross on his wall or writes bestselling books.
“Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.”
Matthew 7:17-18
So, where did Christian psychology come from? It came from the world, and the world belongs to the Devil, so it follows that Christian Psychology came from the Devil.
This really is not rocket science! What we end up with is open rebellion against God. These Christian men may not believe they are in rebellion, but the Bible says they are.
Who Ultimately Benefits From Christian Psychology?
Steve Rabey in a Christianity Today Magazine article, entitled “Hurting Helpers” dated September 16, 1996 stated,
“Popularizers, such as authors James Dobson, Tim LaHaye, and Larry Crabb convinced a whole generation of evangelicals that God cared about their psyches as well as their souls, opened the door for a marriage between theology and therapeutic thought. Today, Christian counseling is an expanding segment of America’s $200 billion mental-health industry. It has provided urgently needed help to many believers for whom the traditions, rituals, and comforts of the church have been found inadequate in counteracting the stresses, anxieties, and isolation of modern life.”
Wherever there is an entrepreneurial spirit men will capitalize on the benefits of a niche market, and Christian Counseling is no different. To say that money doesn’t drive this market today is not true. I am not convinced that all of these men were after monetary gain, but where the potential for profits exist there will be the potential for evil, whether it be in book sales, speaking engagements, popularity and influence, manipulation and control, or bilking and cheating, the potential exist.
Psychotherapy has created a whole subculture of “victims.” These therapists have escalated the problem rather than solve it. There is a flight from Biblical virtues such as faith and trust in God, personal responsibility, moral accountability, and the serving of others, to the anti-virtue of “selfishness.” All of this benefits the industry and not Christians who need a confrontation with the Truth. The Bible truthfully portrays man as a monster of iniquity and not a victim of circumstances. The Bible tells us to deny ourselves, not love ourselves. The goals of happiness have become the goals of self-satisfaction; and that is the new religion of the 21st century, instead of bringing glory to God through a life of self-sacrifice and self-denial. A victim can be exploited, and many victims can make one wealthy. A firm foundation of truth creates strong men and women who cannot be exploited. Jesus did not die on the cross because he found something within us worth dying for; we were not loveable little creatures with inherent value. We are not creatures worthy of salvation, but monsters of iniquity, worthy of Hell.
But let us not forget that Satan and his swarm of demo
ns are the creators and crusaders of all the dysfunctionality we see and experience in the world outside of Eden. Whenever anything is mixed with Scripture it is Satan who ultimately benefits. A good question to ask is this, “What would you do if you were God?” To self-actualize is the goal of Satan; it is also the goal of psychology, Christian or otherwise. To self-actualize is to become like God. To, “Be all that you can be,” sounds like a worthy goal, but it is the goal of Satan. The goal of Satan in this world is to recruit an army of likeminded souls to help him achieve his goal. Is Satan so deluded as to think he can defeat and become as God, that he can actually “self-actualize”? In like manner, does man actually believe that he can self-actualize? Does Satan or man actually think they can exist without God? The obvious answer is YES they do; they are that deluded. All of the delusionary tactics of self-actualization only benefit Satan in his goal of displacing God through a coup d’état.
Conclusion
Regardless of the opposition to these facts, the teachings of these men have crept into the body of Christ. Well-meaning and knowledgeable Christians when faced with a personal or family dilemma will ignore the clear teaching of the Bible and turn to those spreading the lies of Godless men because of fear and unbelief. Christian psychologist and counselors who disseminate these doctrines, as “schools of thought,” can only be classified as willfully ignorant of the Bible’s teaching, and lack faith in the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent God who commands His children to bring all their cares to Him, and Him alone. “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7). “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:34). The meaning of these verses is “that we are to commit our whole cause to him. If we suffer heavy trials; if we lose our friends, health, or property; if we have arduous and responsible duties to perform; if we feel that we have no strength, and are in danger of being crushed by what is laid upon us, we may go and cast all upon the Lord; that is, we may look to him for grace and strength, and feel assured that he will enable us to sustain all that is laid upon us. The relief in the case will be as real, and as full of consolation, as if he took the burden and bore it himself. He will enable us to bear with ease what we supposed we could never have done; and the burden which he lays upon us will be light.” (Matthew 11:30.) (Taken from Barnes Notes on the Bible)
What are generally considered emotional and psychological problems are really spiritual and theological in nature. When our soul is troubled it will manifest itself through the flesh; and unless we are firmly established in faith and trust in God we will seek out help from the world or from Christians purporting to understand the psyche as pioneered by these atheists. They understand nothing! Put ten of them in a room with a problem child and they will destroy each other with their wisdom; at the very least they will come up with ten different answers.
Galatians 6:7
“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Hosea 10:13
“But you have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins. You have eaten the fruit of lies–trusting in your great might, believing that strength could make you safe.”
John 16:33, Jesus told His disciples,
“These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”