How Did Psychology Enter The Church?

You’re listening to Search the Scriptures Daily, a program in which we encourage everyone who desires to know God’s truth to look to God’s Word for all that is essential for salvation and living one’s life in a way that is pleasing to Him. For the last few weeks Dave and I have been discussing issues related to psychology in the church in this first segment of our program, and it’s a subject, as we’ve said, that is not without controversy among Christians. Well, Dave, controversy aside, it’s a very critical topic that needs to be addressed, and people would say, "Well, why is that?" Well, first and foremost, the basic methods and concepts of psychological counseling are completely at odds with what the Bible teaches. Secondly, the problem is exacerbated because the evangelical church has become one of the primary sources of referrals for counseling services of clinical psychologists. Thirdly, it’s a statement by evangelical churches to their own congregations, as well as to the world, that the Word of God is not sufficient for mental, emotional, and behavioral issues, that is, the everyday problems of living, and therefore the church can’t handle such problems. And this, of course, is a new wrinkle for the church, which has been ministering to the needs of believers for nearly 2,000 years. Dave, how did the evangelical church get caught up in psychotherapy?d