"Psychology sits at the very center of contemporary society as an international colossus whose ranks number in the hundreds of thousands... Its experimental animals are an obliging, even grateful human race. We live in a civilization in which, as never before, man is preoccupied with self. As the Protestant ethic has weakened in Western society, the confused citizen has turned to the only alternative he knows: the psychological expert who claims there is a new scientific standard of behavior to replace fading traditions ..."
-Martin L. Gross

"See that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world rather than according to Christ."
-Paul the Apostle

Title: Christian Psychology's War on God’s Word
Author: Jim Owen
Highly Recommended
214 pages, paperback
Cost: $9.00

Jim Owen, in his book Christian Psychology's War on God’s Word, mentions that "Within twenty-five years of the acceptance of Darwinism by the American intellectual community, practically every major seminary capitulated to liberalism." If "Christianity" was so susceptible to the humanist doctrine of natural science, would it be very long before it was receptive to the secular world view of behavioral science? This abandonment of traditional Christian doctrines led H. Richard Niebuhr to write that liberal Christianity was reduced to "a God without wrath bringing men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross." In the book mentioned above Owen charges "Christian" psychology with having a corrosive effect on biblical teachings and on the life of Christ in the believer. He also warns that "Christian" psychology contradicts the biblical doctrines of human nature by presenting a pathological view of sin and treating people as victims. By fostering the idea that people need psychological intervention to stop sinning, "Christian" psychology undermines the believer’s reliance on the Lord and denies the sufficiency of scripture.

Discovered Truth vs. Revealed Truth
Not long ago, a pastor whom I know received a letter from the wife of a "Christian" psychologist. She was upset that he had taken on her husband’s career on his radio program. Her husband was a sincere man that viewed his job as a ministry and it was not right that he be "judged" for that. After all, there are some things the Bible does not cover and so "discovered" truth is necessary to fill the void. This "discovered" truth that she refers to may be one of hundreds of personality theories or one of thousands of psychological techniques. These techniques compromise the clear teaching of scripture while sometimes ignoring it all together. Owen relates a similar conversation with some one in his book who said, "Scripture just isn’t sufficient in every area where people have problems. Scripture doesn’t tell me how to counsel the anorexic, for example." Owen answers, "But scripture doesn’t tell me how to counsel a murderer either, or a swindler, or a fornicator, or any other sinner, except to begin with their self-idolatry, except to place them before the cross and call them to repentance." Discovered truth is a euphemistic cop-out that liberal Christians try to sanctify by crediting it to God. Sadly, in much of Christendom it has become as sacred as scripture, and has made inroads into the evangelical community as well. Consider Karen Mains' book Lonely No More. In the book she describes dreams she has had about Eddie Bishop, her "male-self." She also writes, "This psychological concept of the male-within-the-female and the female-within-the- male was developed by Carl Jung, but it has always seemed exceptionally scriptural to me." She goes on to describe a seven-year-old emaciated "idiot child" in her mind’s eye, who turns out to be "the Christ child that is within me." The "idiot" symbolism represents the "repressed, malformed" part of herself with which Christ identifies. Mrs. Mains also dedicated her book to Eddie Bishop, her male-self. These proponents of "Christian" psychology are proud to serve God; I cannot help but think how proud Cain must have been as he offered his sacrifice.

The War of the Words
"I don’t think anything has been done in the name of Christ and under the banner of Christianity that has proven more destructive to human personality and, hence, counterproductive to the evangelism enterprise than the often crude, uncouth, and unchristian strategy of attempting to make people aware of their lost and sinful condition." Unbelievably, these are the words of the "number one TV preacher," Robert Schuller, who is heard each Sunday by nearly three million people. This statement emphasizes the first casualty in the War of the Words: Man’s sinful nature.

Sin is out; dysfunction is in. How crude of Christ to say that he came to call "sinners to repentance." How uncouth of Paul to write that "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." Another substitute word is disease which "replaces the ideas of a sin nature and being in bondage to lust. Addiction is another replacement word. People don’t lust anymore, or give themselves over to lusting continually as described in Ephesians 4:19. No, now they are addicted (implying thereby haplessness as well as helplessness). And when they lie about their addiction, they are not really lying. They are just in the denial stage of their disease." And the list goes on and on. Man’s sin nature becomes his self-biased impulse drive. Self-actualization is equated with sanctification. The word reprogramming is used to explain "renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). People who use other people and try to control them are no longer guilty of self- glorification. Rather they are sick with "co-dependency."

America, having shed the burden of accountability, cloaks itself in moral relativism and bows at the altar of modernity; her religion is psychology. Her faith in self-esteem, the stairway to heaven has "twelve-steps" and it leads to a God who has been created in man’s image. If only Paul could have had the benefit of these new "discovered" truths. It would have saved him the embarrassment of penning, "Let each esteem others better than themselves" (Philippians 2:3). Humility is out; self-esteem is in.

A man smitten by a cancerous tumor may experience great pain. He may be given something to deaden that pain, even to the point of relief but if the tumor is not removed by the surgeon’s scalpel, the man will surely die. "Christian" psychology at best, is an anaesthetic, not a cure. It ministers to the "felt" needs of people and very often sacrifices the "real" needs. It puts a band-aid on a limb that is out of joint. The lost sinner needs a savior, and the psychology movement believes that talking about "sin" is anti-therapeutic. Christians fellowship not in what they had been, but in whom they are now (fellow heirs with Christ). "Christian psychology’s intentions may be commendable," adds Owen, "but its methodology and the presuppositions upon which it depends are not." When Robert Schuller says, "A man is in Hell when he has lost his self-esteem" he is not only unscriptural, he is anti-Christian. As the author notes, "It was not from want of self-esteem that Satan assaulted the throne of God." On the contrary, Dr. Schuller, Hell will be full of people with self-love, self-worth, and self-esteem; and some of them may have even sat in your palace of glass.

Christian Psychology's War on God’s Word-The Victimization of the Believer is a brilliantly written portrayal of the danger of a worldly "Church" bowing to modernity. Owen dissects the self-esteem movement and reveals the danger of pagans in "Christian" dress. The book is readable for all ages and is worth buying, if for no other reason, his valuable source index and bibliography.

Owen makes every sentence count and the value of the quotes alone is inexpressible. I would encourage and highly recommend the addition of this book to every Christian library, with one slight disclaimer: The author makes favorable acknowledgement to the claims of "Lordship Salvation" (p. 183). The reference is very brief and it is not represented as a vital piece to the main framework of the book; so an alert reader will gladly overlook this error and still be able to reap the benefit of Mr. Owen’s insight.

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The GRACE BELIEVER does not endorse every view of every author. Through this column and its literature ministry, the Grace Believer seeks to aid Christians in building an interesting and informative Home Library that will add to their understanding of God’s Word, enhancing personal growth and increasing effectiveness in ministry.