Grandma said: I have a lot to say about any thing that contradicts God's Word. It's a bit long but needs to be explained.
~One does not deal with SIN ~
God says we are to search the scriptures daily on how to live in His commands.
To search the scriptures daily, is to say you need to live by what God's WORD says. So when we are critiquing, evaluating psychology, the concepts and the beliefs that come to us from Freud, Jung, Maslow, Rogers and so on, we are holding them up to the Word of God. Speaking generally about this, the Lord willing we need to get into very specific detail about the teachings of psychology and how they are contrary to the Word of God. For openers, let’s make a brief comparison of some things. The foundational concept of psychological counseling is that humans are inherently good, yet the Bible says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 So, how do you reconcile that, those who are Christians and claim that psychology is really a way to go?
Paul says, Oh, wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from myself, really? The Bible says the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jeremiah 17:9)—all have sinned, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). So, psychology of course, does not acknowledge that. We have to explain it, I guess, probably repeatedly. What are we talking about? Wait a minute, you’re not talking about Christian psychology, are you? Of course, Christian psychology is based on the Bible, right? No, Christian psychology is not based on the Bible! Christian psychology is based upon psychology. The psychological principles that have been discovered and taught by godless atheists, every one of them, as far as I know that are opposed to the Bible.
~ So, psychology actually is an attempt to explain human behavior and to improve or adjust human behavior without God and without His Word. In other words, the answer is within myself. As you said, I’m okay, you’re okay, the problem is, I suffered some traumas in my childhood, now I’ve got to go back and get rid of that, but other than that I just follow the principles of psychology.~
Now without that concept, without that foundational belief, practicing psychologists would have nothing to do. There would be no way they could solve man’s problems, because, think about it logically, if I am innately, inherently evil, you know, within, then I can’t change myself and you can’t change me either, it’s like a leopard trying to change its spots. It just can’t happen, but if I’m good within, and my problems are external to me, my environment, my parents, just something that’s outside of me, then they’ve got a way to go. It's my past that makes me think this way and do these things. They can change those things, at least even superficially and make changes in a life. But if I’m, again, inherently evil, as the Bible says, there’s no hope for me and there’s nothing they do. Again, they do not deal with sin, but His Words do when are applied to my life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), 2 Timothy 3
12 God’s Word is living and powerful. It is sharper than a sword that cuts both ways. It cuts straight into where the soul and spirit meet and it divides them. It cuts into the joints and bones. It tells what the heart is thinking about and what it wants to do. Hebrews 4:12
Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path. I have sworn and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.” Psalm 119, is all about the Word of God, the statutes, His judgments, and so forth, that’s the subject of the whole thing.
It points to the reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ as the solution to man’s mental, emotional, behavioral problems.
Colossians 1:21, 22: “And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He (that is, Jesus Christ) reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblamable and unreprovable in His sight.”
There's your answer right there!
The Words of God are complete and we are complete in Him. There are no need to have psychotherapy or psychological counseling added to it, and if Christ lives in me, it’s no more I, but Christ living in me, He has become my life. I now live by the power of the Holy Spirit, who is God in me. It would be an insult to Jesus Christ to come to a psychiatrist or psychologist and say, Well now, Christ is living in me but He needs a little help from Freud or Jung, and so forth, could you council Jesus so He could do a little better job of living His life through me?
The Holy Bible clearly says that Jesus Christ has all power, authority, and dominion over believers--Christ's message is sufficient; UNLESS you are a contemporary worldly clergy man or deceived person brainwashed in the secular humanism drenching the seminaries of today. Then the Scriptures are not sufficient. Now you need the "discovered" truths of secular, humanistic, behavioral Psychology/Psychiatry.
God would say the root of psychology is bad, and therefore, the fruit cannot be good. I’m amazed at the acceptance of psychology in our society and especially in the church. Many churches and ministries have resident psychiatrists on staff. This isn’t the approach Jesus took. He met the needs, all the needs of the people through the power of the Holy Spirit, and I believe He intends His church to do the same. They don’t have to depart and go to the world to get their emotional needs met. They should bring them to Jesus (Matt. 14:16-18).
I know many Christians are appalled at these statements. Aren’t there Christian psychologists? Certainly there are. There are some who are very successful psychologists. But they will be the first to admit that psychology and Christianity do not offer the same answers to our problems. The born again, Holy Spirit filled counselor will use their position to bring the truths of the Gospel to people who would never come to the church for help. If the people will receive the truths of God’s Word, they don’t need any other help. If they won’t receive the Gospel, then in some cases, so called Christian psychology is better than what they have.
Christianity and psychology have some things in common:
They both state that our actions are the product of inner processes. But in describing what those processes are and how to change them, Christianity and psychology do take the opposite approach. For one thing, the very word “psychology” reveals an anti-god approach.
The word “psychology” comes from the Greek word "psycho", which is a derivative of the Greek word "psyche" meaning “soul.” Psychology looks no deeper than the soul of man for answers. It totally ignores the spirit realm: our spirits, God’s Holy Spirit, and demonic spirits. The Word of God is replete with teachings and examples of the influence of God, demons, and our spirits on our actions. Any “answer” that doesn’t take the spirit realm into account isn’t going to the root of the problem. The Greek word "psyche" was also the name of the Greek god of the soul. "eros" and "psyche" were lovers in Greek mythology.
Here are just four major fallacies of psychology that I believe are incompatible with biblical Christianity:
1) We are products of our environment and our past.
2) Therefore, we are not responsible or accountable for our actions.
3) This leads to placing blame for our actions on anything else but on us, making us victims.
4) Self-esteem is paramount.
Let’s look at these areas in the light of Scripture.
Environment is not the determining factor in who we are and what we do.
Proverbs 23:7 says,
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
Isaiah 55:8-9
God’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts
The Word of God shows us that OUR thoughts are what make us the way we are. Environment has some influence on your thoughts, but it is totally wrong to say you’re the way you are because of what has happened to you. If that were true, then everyone who has been through the same negative experiences would have the same problems. That’s not so. You can find siblings with the same genetic make-up and environment who respond totally different to the same situation.
We always have the choice of becoming bitter or better.
God gave us that choice.
Deuteronomy 30:19 says,
“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”
Colossians 3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 'SET' your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
God said the choice is ours, and what a simple one: life or death. A “no-brainer.” But just in case anyone isn’t sure which to choose, the Lord gave the answer to this quiz. “Choose life,” He said.
We are not doomed to be victims because of past experiences. We can be born again and become brand-new people through the power of Christ. Psychology doesn’t offer that.
Since our conditions are a product of how we chose to react to our environment, we can’t blame others for our problems. Taking responsibility for our actions is the big difference between true Christianity and psychology. Psychology has influenced our society to such a degree that no one is held accountable for their actions. Even murderers are being acquitted because it’s "not their fault"; they were abused as children or whatever. That’s stupid. Some of us have had problems that others haven’t, but God still holds us accountable for our own actions, regardless of what has happened to us.
The night before Jesus was crucified, He told His disciples not to let their hearts be troubled but to be of good cheer (John 14:1 and 16:33). Those who hold to the belief that our environment is the determining factor in our emotions and actions would criticize Jesus for telling His disciples to do something they were incapable of doing. But they had a choice.
The Lord told us to rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4). We can choose to go against the pressures of our environment.
In 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.”
In this passage, Jesus told His disciples that they would have tribulation. What an understatement! They would see Jesus crucified in just a matter of hours. Their hopes would be dashed. Sadness and confusion would overwhelm them. Fear would cause them to live behind locked doors for the next three days. Yet, Jesus told them to be of good cheer. That wasn’t unreasonable; it was doable. And we can do it too if we don’t listen to the psychobabble of today.
There is much, much more on how to harness your emotions through God's word and the power of His Holy Spirit. These are just a few illustrations of these truths. There are many major differences between Christianity and psychology. I firmly believe that psychology undermines true Christianity, and these differences need to be pointed out. The devil and his demons have used psychology to creep into nearly every aspect of our lives, and most of us don’t even know it.
~Books written by Pastor Bob Hoekstra, Calvary Chapel and edited by Pastor Chuck Smith ~
'The Psychologizing of the Faith' and How to Counsel God's Way', presented in whole.
A subtle and deadly process is at work in the church today, in which the Christian faith is being "psychologized"–redefining the Christian faith by the intrusion of psychological thinking, related to secularism. Many Christians still rely on the human experts who have been trained in psychological theory for counseling and direction for their lives. In this book, Pastor Bob Hoekstra calls the church to leave the broken cisterns of human wisdom and to return to the fountain of living water which flows from our wonderful counselor, Jesus Christ
