Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling Quotes

“According to Scripture, the heart can be significantly changed only by establishing and developing a personal relationship with God (and secondarily with other humans). Correspondingly, our first criterion in assessing current psychological theories will be the extent to which their preferred mode of treatment focuses on personal relationships. The second criterion will be the actual therapeutic results of each method in terms of inner growth and maturation. The third criterion will be the emphasis each theory places on the “being” of the counselor—how counselors relate to their clients is ultimately more important than what they know or do.”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“although “doing” is stressed throughout the Bible, it is always presented in conjunction with relationship to God. It never stands alone to designate a duty or service to be performed apart from encounter with God and others.”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“How is the condition of our heart altered? No more important question can be asked in psychology—or philosophy. The biblical answer is clear. The heart is changed through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Christian theology ultimately focuses on that relationship, which is available to all who trust in Christ. According to the Bible, there is no other way in which the heart and the human person can be significantly changed. In the Old Testament, only a personal relationship with the Lord, the covenant God, could cause a life to change. David asked God to work in his heart: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me” (Ps. 51:10); “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts” (Ps. 139:23). In the Book of Ezekiel, God’s role in renewing the human heart is stressed: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezek. 11:19–20).”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“Feelings are our reaction to what we perceive and in turn they color and define our perception of the world. Feelings, in fact, are the world we live in. Because so much of what we know depends upon our feelings, to be awash in confusing or dimly perceived feelings is to be overwhelmed by a confusing world. Our feelings are our reaction to what we have perceived through our senses and they shape our reaction to what we will experience in the future. . . . I believe this suggests that the world is largely one of our own creation. . . . Understanding feelings is the key to mastery of ourselves.”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“personality is formed by the interpersonal relationships that an individual has, especially with close persons, during his entire lifetime. . . . Personality consists of the characteristic way a person deals with other people in his interpersonal relationships”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“Modern theories of knowledge emphasize the importance of accumulating and understanding data, facts, and concepts. The Greeks elevated knowledge to such a lofty position that they tended to see it as an end in itself. Although this view of knowledge is significantly absent from the Bible, it can be found in the Western world and most of the Christian church. Think of the emphasis in many churches on amassing biblical facts, on rote memory of Bible verses. Further, much of the church’s counseling and preaching puts primary emphasis on the intellect.”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“To conform to the biblical teaching, we must view a human being holistically. The biblical descriptions of men and women as God’s created beings assume psychological and physical laws. These essential laws affecting all levels of a person’s being must be taken into account. The more of God’s psychological truth we are able to discover, the more understanding we will have of great biblical truths and their application to the whole person. It is clear that psychology as a science can never instruct us concerning a human being’s meaning or value, so the church must learn to distinguish between a valid psychological finding and an unwarranted (perhaps even anti-Christian) philosophical interpretation of it. If we do not make use of the valid psychological finding, we may be depriving ourselves of God’s truth as revealed in psychology and thereby harm many Christian believers whose suffering could be greatly alleviated. We may also to some extent be misrepresenting God’s message of redemption, for distortion of the human psyche is part of that which was redeemed by Christ’s death on the cross. Christ came to heal and redeem our damaged emotions as well as our souls.”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“There is a strange ring of feeling and emotion in [their reactions]. They come from the heart, whereas you would expect the judgments to come from the brain. . . . As usual when faced with trauma, the mind reacts by ignoring the implications. . . . For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountain of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries. [Jastrow 1978, 113–16]”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology

“Each person’s overall world-view rests on a presupposition or basic assumption. Francis Schaeffer defines presupposition as “a belief or theory which is assumed before the next step in logic is developed. Such a prior postulate then consciously or unconsciously affects the way a person subsequently reasons” (Schaeffer 1968, 179). Through careful analysis, each person’s philosophy or belief system, however elaborate, can be traced back to a clearly defined starting point or presupposition.”
― William T. Kirwan, Biblical Concepts for Christian Counseling: A Case for Integrating Psychology and Theology