You might think so, if you’ve been reading the Associated Press or the Louisville Courier-Journal. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has launched a major new initiative toward a biblical counseling model. But this doesn’t mean “read two Bible verses and call me in the morning.” What it means is that we recognize that counseling is an essential aspect of the pastoral calling–and of the responsibility of the church. It also means we understand that “psychology” is not a neutral discipline built on objective data. It is an ideological–even a theological discipline. Our understanding of anthropology, soteriology, and bibliology will transform the way we understand human problems.
The C-J editorialized against our counseling initiative as a “march to orthodoxy”–even comparing it to anti-Semitic violence. I think a psychiatrist might respond to this kind of hysteria with a prescription for a tranquilizer.
To read the Courier-Journal‘s take on the counseling revolution at Southern Seminary, click here. To read their hyperventilating editorial, click here. To read the Associated Press account, click here. And to hear my presentation “Counseling and the Authority of Christ,” click here.
