Chapter 3: Psychologized Man “Most High” (first half of chapter)
The author points out that just as many churches have made “man god” as psychologists have made man god. She also warned against basing our thoughts about mankind on psychological theory as is so popular in Christian culture today.
To me it does seem church has become more about us, man, than it is a about God.
I do believe that understanding who you are in Christ goes a long way toward healing emotional damage and mental distress in a person, which is one of the reasons I always have my protégés read Neil Anderson’s book “Victory Over Darkness” – that said however, our relationship with Christ is not just about getting our needs met or our problems taken care of, as seems to be the primary focus today.
When it comes to psychiatry and psychology, I am amazed at how short people’s memories are. Electroshock therapy is now back under the name of electroconvulsive therapy and other non-descript names and degrees of it are being done in normal therapy sessions. A treatment that is just as brutal to the brain as it ever was, they have just found a way to minimize the immediate evidence of that reality – today people barely feel the treatment, but the damage is the same or worse. These shocks that are meant to treat PTSD, depression, and other disorders are actually severely damaging the brain bit by bit with each treatment. I guess if you do not mind being a brainless zombie without the ability to think or reason you should have no problem with such “treatment.”
God does reveal things to people through dreams but not in the Freudian way that the author notes the famous (infamous) psychiatrist thought dreams were to be viewed.
A bit about the father of psychiatry, who was a self-confessed godless man, whose beliefs are considered bizarre by a large portion of thinking people.
“Unfortunately, Sigmund Freud looked into his own sinful heart for answers rather than turning to Scripture. It is well documented that during the years Freud was formulating his famous theories he used cocaine, maintained an avid interest in the occult and numerology, and believed himself destined for fame. Some think that Freud was under the illusion that he was Moses.10”
10 Torrey, E. Fuller. Freudian Fraud (New York, New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992), pages 9-13.
Peace, Martha. Attitudes of a Transformed Heart. Focus Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Maslow the man considered the “Father of Modern Psychology” who studied under Freud was an avowed atheist.
Another noted psychologist who has shaped the profession is Erik Erickson who was a firm believer in evolution. He believed maturity came through crisis, through crisis we evolve, adapting as needed, like the fish washed ashore learned to grow legs and walk in the theory of evolution.
I am astonied….How can so many Christians believe in the "doctrines" of the ungodly and atheistic people of our society?
At one point in the book Marin Luther, The Reformer, is mentioned. The man of God who was used to bring about the break from the Catholic Church, which allowed many of us to be non-denominational, Baptist, Methodist, Episcopalian, Lutheran, Presbyterian, etc. Without what God did through Luther we would all be Catholic right now whether we wanted to be or not. Luther struggled with what God wanted him to do, Luther struggled with Satan, and if you have ever studied Luther’s life, his spiritual struggle, his character and his traits, and you have a working knowledge of psychiatry today, you will see that by today’s ideas and standards Martin Luther would have been considered schizophrenic, which this man of God absolutely was not.
I personally, have no problem with the idea that as human being we would like to have our needs met. However, only Christ can truly meet a person’s needs; time and maturity is the only thing that will convince people of that Truth, however. As the author points out it is not biblical that we must first have our needs met before we can mature, overcome emotional problems, or meet the need of another person or I would add, be the person God intended us to be. Whether someone loves you, esteems you, or meets your needs you can still become the mentally and emotionally mature, spiritually developed, person God intends for you to be.
The author states, “The Lord Jesus’ death was a slow and torturous one. However, even during His horrible crucifixion, Jesus made provisions for his mother’s care (John 19:26-27), He forgave those who crucified Him (Luke 23:34), and He forgave and encouraged one of the criminals being crucified beside Him (Luke 23:42-43). Rather than “relieving himself of duty,” so to speak, while He died, Jesus continued to give to the others around Him. It is safe to assume that His physical needs certainly were not being met.”
Peace, Martha. Attitudes of a Transformed Heart. Focus Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Please note, Jesus did not concern himself with His needs...self, self, self was not his agenda. The god of self makes man think and focus primarily on himself or herself – self, self, self, the most destructive force of focus there can be.
As the author notes from one of Welch’s books, we as Christians need to love people more and need them less.
I also believe that spiritual growth often comes through trials, a crisis of sorts, just as the Book of James teaches us. However, again as I have said in the past, the aspects of psychology that have merit only work because they are based in a spiritual principle God has ordained to work, the principle or practice’s bases are in biblical Truth. However, that is not the same as Erickson’s ideas of ‘evolution through crisis.’
Erickson believed in “ego integrity” his idea of a person maturing from adolescence to adulthood. - - - Now here I want to tread lightly because I want to tell the truth, but I also do not want to wound or offend. However, there is a great immaturity among the millennial generation, it is extremely pervasive. Part of the maturing process, or lack thereof, for the people in this age group is attached to something Erickson talks about in his book when he addresses reaching this ego integrity as he calls it.
“It thus means a new and different love of one’s parents, free of the wish that they should have been different, and an acceptance of the fact that one’s life is one’s own responsibility.”
This is one statement I can agree with him on. Part of what keep people from maturing as a person is their view of their parents. Acceptance and taking personal responsibility are needed in maturity as a place of honoring our parent's as adults and becoming personally accountable.
The author notes the importance and preciousness of our union with Christ, and I would add that it is the most beautiful union and relationship we will ever have. However, the primary intent of the relationship was never meant to be, nor should it be, about serving our needs, solving our problems, or giving us stature – God may well bring all of that about – but the relationship is primarily about us loving and honoring Him not Him honoring us.
You can test this Truth yourself. When you listen to Christian music or when you are in church during worship examine your spirit closely, how your spirit reacts to the music. The songs that are about us, God’s love for us, His healing of us, His power He gives us, make our spirits feel good, but the songs that are ONLY about Him, His Greatness, His Majesty, His Holiness, songs that just worship who He is lifts our spirits to an indescribable level of fulfillment and contentment. Just test this next time you hear songs that focus on these two different forms of worship – what God does for man or who God is.
The author has divided the chapter in half at this point and I am going to likewise with my discussion of this chapter. I will leave this posting on the first half of the chapter for a few days before moving on to the second half of the chapter, which delves more into how Christian’s have Christianized psychology.