2003 Shepherd's Conference, A Ministry of Grace Community Church 818.909.5530.  © 2003 All Rights Reserved. Grace Community Church. A CD, MP3, or tape cassette copy of this session can be obtained by going to www.shepherdsconference.org

 

 

The Failing Attempt of Integration Psychology
(Handout – Study Notes)

Separating Psychology from Scripture

John Street

Chairman of Biblical Counseling, The Master’s College

 

Introduction

 

A.  Development of “Christian” Psychology

         At the end of the19th and the beginning of the 20th century most major colleges and universities included psychology as a part of their core social science curriculum.

         Fed by the hostility of Enlightenment’s higher criticism, liberalism brought radical changes in the universities of the 1800’s which gave rise to the Fundamentalist-Modernist clash of the early 1900’s.  Most Christians then refused to send their young people to these universities of skeptics which were originally founded upon Christian principles, because their Christian faith was repeatedly assailed, sparking many denominations to create their own “Christian” colleges.  These new “upstart” fundamentalist colleges were to provide a safe, Christian, academic alternative to the larger secular universities that rejected and ridiculed their faith.

         But suffering from an early lack of academic respectability and having a desire to be recognized by accreditation associations these same “Christian” colleges quickly accommodated their core curricula to what was commonly accepted as minimal in the social sciences while still maintaining a high regard for the Bible and “typically began to offer courses in psychology in the 1920s and 1930s” (Psychology & Christianity, eds. Eric L. Johnson and Stanton L. Jones, p. 31).

         Even then psychology was not easily accepted by Evangelicals as a legitimate discipline of study for Christians since it smacked of modernistic positivism while encroaching upon areas of spirituality and the soul that had traditionally been the jurisdiction of the church. 

 

B.  Definition of Psychology

         In one of the earliest Evangelical textbooks on psychology, written by Hildreth Cross (1952) of Taylor University entitled An Introduction To Psychology: An Evangelical Approach, she defines psychology as “the study of the whole man (or organism) affecting and being affected by the total environment.  This definition is broad enough to include the study of both man and animal…and, in the case of the former, his spiritual nature.  It also includes the effects of a physical environment, a social environment and—yes—the influence of spiritual forces acting upon him” (italics added, p. 25). 

         Much of modern psychology refuses to recognize the spiritual and defines psychology as “the scientific study of behavior and mental processes… ‘behavior’ encompasses not just what people do, but their thoughts, feelings, perceptions, reasoning, memory, and biological activities” (Robert Feldman).  Nevertheless the intangible aspect of the inner man or soul is critical to the practice of psychotherapy. 

 

         Is psychology a scientific discipline and is the scientific claim sufficient to warrant the integration of psychology and the Bible?

         Did psychology arise among Evangelicals as a result of conviction or concession?

         What right does the psychologist have to speak to matters of the soul? 

 

C.  Dispersion of Psychology

         Today most Evangelical churches, colleges, and seminaries accept psychology and psychotherapy as authoritative disciplines.  Many Evangelical pastors will refer one of their flock to a psychologist for counseling. 

         There are over 230-300 distinct schools of psychotherapy and counseling in the United States alone.

         What does this say about speaking with confidence and authority?

 

I.       History of Psychology and Christianity

 

A.    Religious and philosophical background of psychology                   

 

 “From its beginnings in supernatural beliefs, magic and taboo, psychology has matured to a science of such broad proportions that professional psychologists today must specialize on narrow fragments of the broader discipline.”

History of Psychology

1.   Non-western contributions

·         Animism – objects or trees have an indwelling principle or “soul,” and in “hylozoism” the belief that matter has life or sensation.

·         Egyptian Physician Imhotep (525 BC)

·         Ancient Mesopotamians used incantations as psychosomatic medicine

·         China – Buddhism; Chinese humanism

·         Japanese Psychotherapy – Zen Buddhism

2. Classical contributions

·         Aristotle (384-322 BC)

·         Heracleitus of Ephesus (540-480 BC)

·         Socrates

3.   Medieval contributions

·         Augustine of Hippo

·         Thomas Aquinas

4. Renaissance contributions

·         René Descartes (1596-1658 AD, some call him the father of modern psychology because he makes a sharp distinction between the mind and the body.)

B. Biological and physiological roots

1.   The Pythagorean physician Alemaeon of Croton (6th century BC)

         He identified thinking or consciousness as the distinguishing feature of man and localized these functions in the brain.

         He is accredited with tracing perception to the sensory organs of the body and emotions to the heart.

2.   Charles Darwin  (1809-1882)

         He held that emotions in man were inherited in an evolutionary sense, reflecting emotional behavior that served the survival of lower animal species.

         Sigmund Freud formulated his theories about the unconscious from presuppositions of Darwinian evolution.

 

II. Prevalent Theorists in Psychology

 

A. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

         Founder of psychoanalysis

         Developed “free association” to allow material repressed in the unconscious to emerge to conscious recognition.

         Believed all religion to be a neurosis

 

B. Carl Gustav Jung  (1875-1961)

         Founder of analytical psychology

         “Religious mythology can be a solution for mental problems.”

         Unconscious mind shares a collective unconsciousness of wisdom and ancestral experience passed down from prior generations.

         Freud believed the goal of therapy was to make the unconscious conscious. 

         In doing so, Freud made the unconscious an unpleasant place of seething desires, a bottomless pit of perverse and incestuous cravings, a burial ground for frightening experiences that come back to haunt the counselee.

         Jung was never entirely convinced of Freud’s theory of the unconscious.

         Therefore, through a series of dreams and analysis Jung developed a three-fold theory of the psyche.

 

C. Carl Rogers  (1902-1987)

         Best known for his contribution to client-centered therapy

         Was a secular humanist and later became involved in the occult

         Believed man had everything within himself to deal with life

 

 

 

 

 

 

III. Is Psychology a Genuine Science?

 

A.  What do some leading psychologists and philosophers say?

         Psychologist Roger Mills: “The field of psychology today is literally a mess.  There are as many techniques, methods and theories around as there are researchers and therapists.  I have personally seen therapists convince their clients that all their problems come from their mothers, the stars, their biochemical make-up, their diet, their life-style and even the ‘kharma’ from their past lives.”  (“Psychology Goes Insane, Botches Role as Science,” The Natural Educator, July 1980, p. 14)

         Sigmund Kock: “The hope of psychological science became indistinguishable from the fact of psychological science.  The entire subsequent history of psychology can be seen as a ritualistic endeavor to emulate the forms of science in order to sustain the delusion that it is already a science.”  (“The Image of Man in Encounter Groups,” The American Scholar, 1973, p. 636)

         “Throughout psychology’s history as ‘science’ the HARD knowledge it has deposited has been uniformly negative.” (Kock, “Psychology Cannot be a Coherent Science,” Psychology Today, September 1969, p. 66)

         Jonas Robitscher: “His advice is followed because he is a psychiatrist, even though the scientific validity of his advice and recommendations has never been firmly established…their insistence that they are scientific and correct and that their detractors, therefore, must be wrong.”  (The Powers of Psychiatry, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1980, p. 8, 183)

         E. Fuller Torry: “The techniques used by Western psychiatrists are, with few exceptions, on exactly the same scientific plane as the techniques used by witch doctors.”  (The Mind Game, New York: Emerson Hall Publishers, Inc., 1972, p. 8)

         Karl Popper: “Psychological theories of human behavior ‘though posing as sciences,’ had in fact more in common with primitive myths than with science, that they resemble astrology rather than astronomy myths. They contain most interesting psychological suggestions, but not in testable form.”  (“Science Theory and Falsifiability,” Perspectives in Philosophy, Robert N. Beck, ed., New York: Holt, Richart, Winston, 1975, pp. 343, 346)

         Martin & Deidre Bobgan: “As we move from the natural science to the so-called behavioral sciences, we move away from reputability, predictability, reproducibility and controllability.  In addition, the cause and effect relationship, so evident in the natural sciences, is ambiguous or absent in the behavioral ‘science.’ Instead of causation (cause and effect), psychotherapy rest heavily upon covariation (events which appear together which may not necessarily be related).  From cause and effect, where there is a direct relationship, psychotherapy utilizes covariation even though the events which seem to be related may in fact have nothing to do with each other.”  (Psychoheresy, Santa Barbara, Cal. : Eastgate Publishers, 1987, p. 37)

         Whether psychotherapy or psychology is a science or not is at best debatable.

         It would be better viewed as a philosophical system of thought disseminated as a worldview – behaviorism, humanism, determinism, existentialism and simple pragmatic utilitarianism.

 

B.  Three myths about psychotherapy

1.   Psychotherapy is pure science.

         “Psychotherapy is today in a state of disarray almost exactly as it was 200 years ago.” (Gregory Zilbroorg, “Progress in Psychotherapy”, p. 108) 

         They Say You’re Crazy, this book deals with how decisions are made by a “small clique in the psychiatric establishment as to what is mental illness and who shall be hospitalized against their will and judged competent or incompetent.” (Paula J. Caplan, research psychologist at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education) 

         Contrary to popular belief, it is frequently admitted within the ranks of psychiatry that no conclusive evidence exists to show that any form of mental illness is biologically caused.

         The U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment of the United States Congress (1992) published a report titled The Biology of Mental Disorders. The report concludes: "Research has yet to identify specific biological causes for any of these disorders" (p. 14).

         In a psychopathology textbook used for second-year medical students, the authors state, "psychiatry is the only medical specialty that…treats disorders without clearly known causes" (Maxmen & Ward, 1995, p. 57).

         Colin Ross, discussing the chemical imbalance model for schizophrenia, claims that the "dopamine theory of schizophrenia is a political strategy," with the goal of obtaining additional research grants (Ross, 1995, p.108).

         In a recent consensus conference sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in November of 1998, the panel of experts concluded: “There are no data to indicate that ADHD is due to a brain malfunction" (p. 2). In their report, they went on to state that the same can be said for "most psychiatric disorders, including disabling diseases such as schizophrenia" (p. 2).

         Peter Breggin, M.D. (1997), was formerly a teaching fellow at Harvard Medical School and full-time consultant with the National Institute of Mental Health.  As author of Brain Disabling Treatments In Psychiatry, he declares that "there are no known biochemical imbalances in the brain of typical psychiatric patients" (p. 5).

         Dr. William Wirshing (1999), a researcher and professor of psychiatry at UCLA, stated to a room full of psychiatrists that “we have been lying to everyone for years concerning the chemical imbalance model.” No one in the audience challenged him.

         In an article approved for continuing education by the American Psychiatric Association, the author states, “We don’t know how psychotropic medications really work” (Khan, 1999).

         Dr. Ty Colbert, President of the Center for Psychological Alternatives to Biopsychiatry states: “Believe it or not, it is freely admitted even within the ranks of psychiatry that no conclusive evidence exists to show that any form of mental illness is biologically caused….In contrast, there is considerable scientific evidence to show that psychotherapy can be more effective than psychiatric medication for disorders such as depression, mania, ADHD, anxiety, and even schizophrenia.”

 

2.   People who experience problems, whether mental, emotional, or behavioral, are mentally ill.

         “Mental illness” is an oxymoron.  The mind cannot get sick, only the brain can!

         “The term mental illness is nothing more than a figure of speech, and in most cases a poor one.” (Thomas Szasz, The Myth of Mental Illness)

 

3.   Psychotherapy has a high rate of success.

         May 20, 1996, Newsweek, “1 in 5 Americans suffer from some form of mental illness.” 

         That means 20% of this class is sick!

         Truth is, there is not a high rate of success; but there is a high rate of diagnosis.

         “Underneath the melodrama of who’s right or wrong, all therapists have one thing in common.  Much is promised and little is delivered…”             (Bryan Karasa, Director of the Department of Psychiatry at the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center)

 

C.  Can Research Psychology offer the pastor anything?

         “Psychology should be a legitimate and very useful neighbor to the pastor. Psychologists may make many helpful studies of man (e.g., on the effects of sleep loss).  But psychologists – with neither warrant nor standard from God by which to do so – should get out of the business of trying to change persons.  It can tell us many things about what man does, but not about what he should do.”  (Jay E. Adams, Competent to Counsel, p. 12)

         “I am concerned here to make but two observations only: 1) the psychiatrist should return to the practice of medicine, which is his only legitimate sphere of activity; 2) the minister should return to the God-given work from which he was ousted (and which, in many instances, too willingly abandoned).”                                  (Jay E. Adams, The Christian Counselor’s Manuel, p. 10)

 

IV. Psychology and Christianity in Conflict

 

A.  Ten troubles with integrational psychology

 

1.   Property rights to the soul

         What metaphysical right does any self-proclaimed empirical discipline have to claim exclusive authority in issues of the soul?

         Psychotherapy has systematically claimed jurisdiction in speaking authoritatively of spiritual matters.  It has won the cultural battle, since a psychologist is a recognized societal authority in court, while a pastor is not.  Is not that to be expected in a sin-cursed world?  But, why is this to be the accepted practice of many churches and Christians?

         God and the Bible alone claim sole jurisdiction in matters of the soul (2 Peter 1:3, 19-21). 

 

2.   Medical metaphors—the redefined rhetoric of soul care

         Medical psychiatry is not apathetic toward Christianity, it is openly hostile.   It has systematically changed the language of “soul problems” to medical terminology.

         “Although Freud did not invent the idea, he was exceptionally adept at naming some of the complaints of physically healthy persons symptoms that pointed to underlying diseases, called neuroses, which he offered to relieve by means of a species of conversation called psychoanalysis” (Thomas Szasz, The Myth of Psychotherapy, p. 17-18).

         Instead of sin, man is sick.  The terminology alone makes the client a victim with a disease.  Psychologists are, first and foremost, rhetoricians.  The therapy of psychotherapy is primarily conversation.

         Medical labels for soul problems only drives man further from the remedy.

 

3.   Environmental determinism

         For Freud this means that man is a “socialized animal.”  Man’s problems are due to his wrong environmental influences as he has matured, physically and emotionally.  It essentially says that, at least in psychological jargon, man is not responsible for the way he has turned out.

         Biogenetic psychology reduces man to the sum-total of his chemical parts. He is nothing more than an evolved animal, hardwired to think, feel and act at the dictates of his physical components.  “Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic.”

         Scripture speaks of man as a depraved sinner, not as a determined victim.  Man is responsible for his choices and often achieves above and beyond his expected capacity.  Supernatural transformation through the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word brings about unexpected and lasting change.

 

4.   Psychical determinism

         Underneath every man is a “dynamic unconscious” which controls his every thought, feeling, and deed. These unconscious factors are kept from conscious recognition by repression and no one has control on its effect upon his life.

         This dynamic can express itself in enigmatic ways such as dreams, tongue slips, unusual emotions, and unhealthy relationships.  A specially trained therapist or analyst is the only person who can unlock their meaning.

         Biblically and scientifically, there is no such thing as a subconscious.  What is often confused by many “Christian” psychotherapists as manifestations of the subconscious is the ruling motivations and desires of a counselee’s heart that have become idolatrous.

 

5.   Professionalism

         Integrationism has imported into Christianity a philosophy of soul-care that requires professional degrees in psychotherapy in order to be creditable in serious counseling situations.  Christians plagued with major problems of anxiety, fear, depression, suicide, chemical abuse, eating problems, anger, or a host of other problems believe they cannot receive bona fide help for their problems until they visit a mental health “professional.”

         With this professional mentality comes an oppressive fee structure that drains limited insurance plans and bank accounts.  Many Christians who see a “professional” psychologist quickly find themselves in debt and still in need of help. 

         Biblical counsel and help for serious problems do not require diplomas in psychology or expense of professional offices and fees.  Properly taught Christians should be able to counsel one another (Romans 15:14; Galatians 6:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:14).  The cure of souls is an ecclesiastical duty.

 

6.   Hedonistic teleology

         Contemporary Christians view psychology’s promise to bring them lasting satisfaction and happiness compatible with their purpose in life. Churches have noted this radical departure from classic Christianity and attempted to appease this desire with contemporary forms of worship that have immediate appeal in addressing “felt needs.”  There is an essential agreement between “Christian psychology” and the “seeker-friendly” church.  Both appeal to the sensual.  The frequent themes of contemporary worship sermons and Christian psychology are amazingly similar, if not identical—addressing topics that revolve around the contemporary loss of pleasure and satisfaction in life.  The person who is experiencing sensations of guilt, anxiety, panic, shame, or depression is searching for an answer.  Seeker services and Christian psychologists claim to offer the cure and promote the notion that such feelings are abnormal and unacceptable.

         Biblical Christianity understands that in a sin-cursed world these feelings are not abnormal but are to be expected.  Personal happiness and pleasurable feelings are not the ends of the Christian life in this world.  God is.  Our greatest joy and happiness is found in Him alone.  Psychologized Christianity abhors the thought of ultimate self-sacrifice and suffering (Hebrews 11:24-26), even labeling Christians with such commitments as being deficient of self-love and esteem. 

 

7.   Insight Gnosticism

         Freud introduced insight-oriented therapy to psychology.  Only the psychologist has the insight to be able to identify what operates in a persons “out-of-awareness” mind.  He or she is the only one qualified to be able to probe and interpret certain cryptic enigmatic clues that are given off by the “subconscious.”  These are considered to be clues essential to the patient’s well-being.  A variety of techniques are used to surface these clues including hypnosis, catharsis, free association, dream interpretation, facilitated recall, revivification, rebirthing, and more.

         Akin to Gnostic teachers of New Testament times, the psychologist believes he or she possesses special abilities and insights into the psyche that alone qualifies him or her to uncover these “subconscious” soul problems.

         In Scripture the key to the problems of the soul is not buried in the subconscious but in the heart.  These problems do not require someone with secretive insights into the levels of mental consciousness.  The Bible vividly and openly reveals these idolatrous desires to anyone who is willing to read and study its insight (Ezekiel 14:1-11; 1 Corinthians 10:6-14; Colossians 3:5-17). 

 

8.   Evolutionary science

         “Christian” psychology borrows heavily from the secular psychologies, all of which produce mountains of scientific research built upon evolutionary presuppositions.  Animal behavioral studies are considered authoritative in human developmental theory.  These studies have been used as the foundational evidence for legal and educational principles for child-rearing (e.g., hitting an animal makes it aggressive, and therefore, corporal punishment of children turns them into violent adults). 

         Evolutionary theists find a kindred spirit with “Christian” psychology since they have integrated evolution into their Christianity. 

         Christians who assume the Genesis account to be a non-poetical actual record of creation (24-hour days) should find themselves at odds with both the “Christian” evolutionist and psychologist. Man is not an evolved animal.  He is a distinct and unique creation of God.  Made in His image and likeness.  Animal studies will never produce the authoritative material necessary to deal with the man’s soul.  Only God’s Word can do that.

 

9.   Self-reliance

         Part of the atheistic assumptions of psychology is the self-empowerment of man.  Man has the ability to be able to find his answers within.  This philosophy predates Freud and stems from Enlightenment thinking.  Freud simply applied its implications to the talk-therapies.  The patient has all the answers concealed in the deep crevasses of his subconscious. He needs to get in touch with the fundamental goodness inside and one of the ways the patient is able to demonstrate his mastery over his problems is his revelation that he finally is in touch with himself.

         Scripture makes it evident that man cannot trust himself.  He will always view the circumstances of his life in such self-favoring ways (Proverbs 16:2; 21:2).  When man honestly looks within he finds evil (Ecclesiastes 8:11; 9:3; Mark 7:21-23).  From a biblical standpoint self-reliance is self-destructive and self-defeating. 

 

10. Self-determinism 

         Stemming from self-reliance is the extended thought of self-determinism.  Certain psychologies such as existential, logotherapeutic, rational-emotive, and cognitive therapies promote responsibility to self.  If you are true to self you are able to master your future and form it into whatever you desire, overcoming your problems by tapping the answers inside. 

         Contrary to anthro-centric psychologies, soul cures are to be conceived vis-à-vis with God.  When this is done Jesus Christ is seen as the solution and His cure receives the glory.  Psychologists who are Christians will always have difficulty giving Jesus Christ exclusive credit, much less glory, for the cure because biblical truths had to be supplemented by modern psychological insight in order to be compelling and relevant. 

 

B.  Conclusion

 

Integrational psychology has failed to build a biblical schema for counseling problems of the soul.  It is a system heavily reliant upon and inspired by the secular psychologies in theory, terminology and practice.  Scripture is not the source of their therapeutic methods because, in their view, it merely contains a primitive psychology.  It is simply a beginning point for some non-specific psychotherapeutic cures, but it is not a sufficient etiology or remedy for major disorders (Proverbs 30:5-6).  In contrast, the biblical counselor is fully committed to both the sufficiency and superiority of God’s Word in soul-cure of even the most bizarre non-physiological problems (2 Peter 1:3; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

 

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "Shepherd's Conference Collection" by:

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