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Putting the Soul Back in Psychology: When Secular Values Ignore Spiritual Realities
Asserting that modern psychology cannot solve the dilemmas of guilt, sin and meaninglessness, John White challenges the church to embrace its God-given commission to bring help and healing to a broken world. 96 pages, paper
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First published January 1, 1987
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John White
67 books48 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
John White was an Evangelical Christian author, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and a pastor of Church of the Way.
John White was an Evangelical Christian author, an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba and a pastor of Church of the Way.
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August 20, 2024
AN EVANGELICAL ASKS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL QUESTION: WHO OR WHAT ARE WE?
John White is a former associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, who has also written books such as 'Eros Defiled: The Christian and Sexual Sin,' 'Eros Redeemed: Breaking the Stranglehold of Sexual Sin,' 'Parents in Pain: Overcoming the Hurt & Frustration of Problem Children,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1987 book, "In this book, then, I am trying to face the most basic issue of all in psychology: Who and what are we? Unless the question is faced squarely and repeatedly, psychological help will never achieve what it sets out to. Superficially 'Christianized' versions of psychology will likewise not help... This is precisely the nature of the difficulty facing both psychologists and Christian counselors today. It is time we faced it." (Pg. 10)
He observes, "We cannot place all the blame for promiscuity, the increase in sex crimes, in the divorce rate and in the abortion rate on humanists, even though their ideas have been a contributing factor... the vast social changes that have overtaken us during the last fifty years or so owe much more to the mass production of automobiles than to humanist influence." (Pg. 14)
He argues, "Mental illness is a bodily illness... I am not suggesting we stop counseling and merely dispense medications... A purely physical cause may not be behind the effect, but it may... Too often, however, Christians fear the use of physical therapies to counteract severe mood disorders. Yet scientific evidence is mounting to show the effectiveness of antidepressant medications and of electroconvulsive therapy in such treatments. Research is also helping us understand more clearly what physical effects these have on neurochemistry to affect our moods and emotions so positively." (Pg. 55-56)
He admits, "The rise of pop psychology and the human potential movement causes me even greater concern than the older disciplines... because ... it has infiltrated the church... Many Christian counselors would deny this. But consider what evangelical publishers have done in recent years. They have seen that money can be made out of this approach to counseling and have baptized it, personalized it, put a few verses of the New Testament over it and sort of reinterpreted it in biblical language, without changing its substance... they have provided evangelical bookstores with hordes of books offering shallow reflections on crucial questions." (Pg. 67)
He concludes on the note, "The world clamors for God-the-Superpsychologist, for the God-who-can-make-us-slim-and-beautiful, and we package such a God for commercial distribution. Yet hidden within human hearts lies a mirror, a mirror in which we can see no reflection of our own faces, but the face of the living God. We need only to be awakened to his presence in that inner sanctum." (Pg. 92-93)
This book will interest many Christians who are interested in the relationship between Christianity and psychology.
John White is a former associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Manitoba, who has also written books such as 'Eros Defiled: The Christian and Sexual Sin,' 'Eros Redeemed: Breaking the Stranglehold of Sexual Sin,' 'Parents in Pain: Overcoming the Hurt & Frustration of Problem Children,' etc.
He wrote in the Preface to this 1987 book, "In this book, then, I am trying to face the most basic issue of all in psychology: Who and what are we? Unless the question is faced squarely and repeatedly, psychological help will never achieve what it sets out to. Superficially 'Christianized' versions of psychology will likewise not help... This is precisely the nature of the difficulty facing both psychologists and Christian counselors today. It is time we faced it." (Pg. 10)
He observes, "We cannot place all the blame for promiscuity, the increase in sex crimes, in the divorce rate and in the abortion rate on humanists, even though their ideas have been a contributing factor... the vast social changes that have overtaken us during the last fifty years or so owe much more to the mass production of automobiles than to humanist influence." (Pg. 14)
He argues, "Mental illness is a bodily illness... I am not suggesting we stop counseling and merely dispense medications... A purely physical cause may not be behind the effect, but it may... Too often, however, Christians fear the use of physical therapies to counteract severe mood disorders. Yet scientific evidence is mounting to show the effectiveness of antidepressant medications and of electroconvulsive therapy in such treatments. Research is also helping us understand more clearly what physical effects these have on neurochemistry to affect our moods and emotions so positively." (Pg. 55-56)
He admits, "The rise of pop psychology and the human potential movement causes me even greater concern than the older disciplines... because ... it has infiltrated the church... Many Christian counselors would deny this. But consider what evangelical publishers have done in recent years. They have seen that money can be made out of this approach to counseling and have baptized it, personalized it, put a few verses of the New Testament over it and sort of reinterpreted it in biblical language, without changing its substance... they have provided evangelical bookstores with hordes of books offering shallow reflections on crucial questions." (Pg. 67)
He concludes on the note, "The world clamors for God-the-Superpsychologist, for the God-who-can-make-us-slim-and-beautiful, and we package such a God for commercial distribution. Yet hidden within human hearts lies a mirror, a mirror in which we can see no reflection of our own faces, but the face of the living God. We need only to be awakened to his presence in that inner sanctum." (Pg. 92-93)
This book will interest many Christians who are interested in the relationship between Christianity and psychology.
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