From time to time I have asked certain individuals to write a guest article to shed light on the abuses of psychiatry and how the church surrendered its biblical authority for the preservation of the soul. Also, to shed light on how the church no longer trust in the sufficiency of Holy Scripture, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit for biblical counseling.

Why the Clergy Surrendered to Psychiatrists (Part 2)

In the year 1812, Dr. Benjamin Rush, one of the original signers of the American Declaration of Independence and official Surgeon General of the Continental Army, published a first of its kind, medical textbook entitled, “Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind.”  It was a book that not only significantly transformed the face and scope of medicine and medical practice, but also it became the standard text, at that time, for medical training in the treatment of, what was previously known as, the maladies of the soul. Continue reading Why the Clergy Surrendered to Psychiatrists (Part 2) →

From time to time I have asked certain individuals to write a guest article to shed light on the abuses of psychiatry and how the church surrendered its biblical authority for the preservation of the soul. Also, to shed light on how the church no longer trust in the sufficiency of Holy Scripture, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit for biblical counseling.

Why the Clergy Surrendered to Psychiatrists (Part 1)

Professor of sociology, at the University of Chicago, Dr. Andrew Abbott, in his award winning book, “The System of Professions”, significantly helps us to understand “why” the clergy in the 20th century lost, as well as surrendered, all “cultural” jurisdiction (though not necessarily “ecclesiastical” jurisdiction) over “personal problems” to psychiatrists:

The clergy were in fact the heaviest losers from the creation of the new psychiatric jurisdiction … by the 1920s, the clergy had lost any vestige of cultural jurisdiction over personal problems. No longer were such problems signs of God’s word, or occasions for thinking about ultimate reality. Rather, they were complete and entire problems unto themselves. (Abbott 308, 309). Continue reading Why the Clergy Surrendered to Psychiatrists (Part 1) →

From time to time I have asked certain individuals to write a guest article to shed light on the abuses of psychiatry and how the church surrendered its biblical authority for the preservation of the soul. Also, to shed light on how the church no longer trust in the sufficiency of Holy Scripture, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit for biblical counseling.

Biblical Psychology: Its Rise and Fall

In the year 1855, Franz Julius Delitzsch, one of the premier (or leading) biblical scholars of the 19^th century, wrote a first edition, 500 page, Pastoral Theology textbook entitled: A System of Biblical Psychology.  Sigmund Freud was born one year later; Carl Gustav Jung was born 20 years later; and Wilhelm Wundt, who is often considered to be the “principal founder of modern psychology” did not establish his first psychological laboratory for another 23 years.

In his opening chapter of A System of Biblical Psychology, Delitzsch traces the long and valued history of “Psychology” within the life of the Church. His very first (or very opening) sentence makes this proclamation: “Biblical Psychology is no science of yesterday it is one of the oldest sciences of the Church.” (Delitzsch 3)

After making this amazing opening pronouncement, Delitzsch then begins to wonderfully survey the abundance of biblical and theological contributions, made over the many centuries, within this specific doctrinal field of psychological study within the Church, from Justin Martyr and Tertullian, St. Augustine and Gregory the Great, through to St. Thomas Aquinas, the Reformation period and then finally up and to his own time in the 19^th century. Continue reading Biblical Psychology: Its Rise and Fall →