Saturday, May 17, 2014

Contributions to Christian Counseling, Eric L Johnson




Life and Work
Of all of the views presented throughout the history of psychology, some of the most problematic views stem from how psychology and Christianity can or cannot co-exist. Compartmentalization is the easiest word to find that describes the complexities that inhabit the thought patterns of most people. The number one place to start for most is with the erroneous idea of the separation of church and state. Another major area that seems almost universal is the separation of what someone calls entertainment (indecent movies, music, ect.) and going to church. Compartmentalizing life often leads to wrong conclusions, and within psychology engaging in this behavior can lead to useless chatter with no real answers. Do these sound like harsh words? For some people, this view on compartmentalization is possibly very offensive.
Eric L. Johnson spent the majority of his life trying to help people understand the true meaning of the lordship of Christ over all of a Christian’s life. Although couched in the field of psychology, Johnson understands that the pervasiveness of most modern approaches to psychology miss this concept entirely.
            Johnson earned degrees from several schools, a B.Th. at Toronto Baptist Seminary, M.A.C.S. from Calvin College, M.A. and Ph.D. from Michigan State University. He now serves as Professor of Pastoral Care at Southern Baptist Seminary. Johnson serves as associate editor of the Journal of Psychology and Theology, and he writes extensively. One of Johnson's more prominent roles as a writer was his co-editing and contributions to Christianity and Psychology: Five Views

The Past
Throughout his career Johnson has written extensively on the relationship between Christianity and psychology. What could be called a culmination of his work is found in a writing je produced while teaching at Northwestern College. At that time Johnson published an article Christ, The Lord of Psychology which one could consider the most articulate foray into what can be mine-field. So many Christians, including many well meaning Christians, have tried to impugn psychology as anti-Christian, often ascribing it to some work of Satan himself. However, within this work Johnson utilizes sound Christian standards (the Scriptures) to reinforce his premise “that Scriptures are needed to properly interpret human nature” (Johnson, Christ, The Lord of Psychology, 1997). Within this writing Johnson states his case that Christians need to bring psychology back under the headship of God where it belongs. He lays out his case Biblically of how Christians should respond to secular psychology by advancing into new territory so they, “may be enabled to discover new facts and theories, devising new lines of research to more accurately understand human nature the way it really is, the way God sees it” (Johnson, Christ, The Lord of Psychology, 1997). This understanding that Johnson is trying to impart becomes the answer to the critics from within the faith, and those outside the faith. He says to study the old, but work on ways to find the new. Stay true to the faith, and pursue new discoveries. Johnson pushes people, “to work towards a psychology that is thoroughly consistent with a Christian framework, regardless of its acceptability by secularists” (Johnson, Christ, The Lord of Psychology, 1997). Johnson, in this work, gives us the framework to better understand how his idea of integration works, but more importantly than the nuts and bolts of the information is this,
“The believing psychologist is called upon to participate in the kingdom of God. The secular powers that basically control psychology’s standards, journals, and educational institutions will make such work difficult; it makes even the understanding of such a task difficult, especially for those trained in such a context. However, the Christian psychologist who is participating in the kingdom of God will be moved to call into question the assumptions of this age and resist conformity to it, and seek transformation by the renewing of the mind, heart, and life, to joyfully serve the Lord of psychology” (Johnson, Christ, The Lord of Psychology, 1997).
The thoughts Johnson put into this work lay the foundation for developing a more comprehensive understanding that to be a Christian within the realm of psychology is an uphill battle to say the least, but one that a Christian psychologist must embark upon. 

Present
Today there are many voices bidding for attention among Christian psychology and counseling circles, but the “church,” for the most part, today remains just as opposed or ambivalent toward psychology on any level. However, what seems clear is that the Nouthetic approach that Jay Adams posited, and has now basically been renamed the Biblical counseling approach, has been just as much a source of consternation due to his very anti-scientific stance as has been the Levels-of-explanation view put forth by Myers and Jeeves. In Psychology and Christianity: Five Views Johnson helps organize these views along with others to introduce the idea of multiple perspectives. Taking the Biblical lens and applying it to various Christian-based approaches Johnson suggests that the key to properly understanding Christian based psychology, “is to avail ourselves of an increasing number of valid perspectives on reality” (Johnson, Psychology and Christianity: Five Views, 2010, p. 295). The whole concept of this book seems to be the logical next step for Johnson. First, he established a Biblical foundation. Second, he searches out quality input from others who have a grasp of reality. Integration of the views is a logical progression. Johnson stays true to Biblical standards in his endeavor, “Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed” (Proverbs 15:22, NASB). Although the version of Psychology and Christianity: Five Views referenced here is the 2nd edition, the book was originally published in 2000. 

His ideas then seem to come together in his book Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal.  Although the book is about Christian counseling, the model Johnson presents is that the ideas contained within the book are not necessarily, or entirely considered psychological. In Johnson’s words,
“This whole book is an attempt to answer that question, but a succinct response is to point out that the primary object of our interest here is not mathematics, chemistry, or society, not God, and not even the Bible, but the nature of individual human beings and their psychopathology, the study of the soul” (Johnson, Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal, 2007, p. 16).            
                                               
This book seems to be the high watermark of Johnson’s writings. In the pages he relates his ideas about how the Christian counselor should study the Bible, but not just as a Holy exercise. He relates that caring for the soul works best when one allows the Bible to be their guide to illuminate human behavior, how to live well, and how to get better when we are not doing well.
            This is, I believe, the key to proper counseling. There are some approaches that are called Bible based counseling, and some of them seem to work well when using Scripture to guide analysis. One of the most interesting comes from Paul Vitz. Johnson references Vitz many times throughout his writings over the years, and upon reading Vitz it is easy to understand why. Paul Vitz is a Professor of Psychology at New York University. Although he is from a Catholic background, he works closely with Evangelicals as well as committed Jews. Vitz has a heart for helping families in general with a special emphasis on marriage. 

            Vitz wrote an article for the Homiletic and Pastoral Review on the Fatherhood of God in 1997 that focuses on the attack of the Christian concept of God as Father. These attacks seem to have mainly come through the feminist movement and their desire for an androgynous idea of God. Vitz writes this article to explore, from a psychological perspective, the Christian understanding of God as Father. Throughout the writing Vitz emphasizes the complimentary roles of men and women. He concludes this framework to be the best representative of the Christian belief system as it relates to male and female.
            Within the article Vitz traces the importance of God the Father as a concept through theological, historical, and psychological points of view. First, through the theological point of  view, “to reject God the Father as a name is to…deny the entire theology of the Trinity” (Vitz, 1997). Historically, Vitz explains how various movements, including, but not limited to rationalism, materialism, individualism, communism, evolutionism, fascism, and others, although to some degree are still active, have declined to various degrees. All of these ideas were spawned from hostility toward Christianity, or have, “developed in response to heresies” (Vitz, 1997). Vitz, at this point focuses on modernism, and more keenly on the feminist movement. Feminism, being a relatively new movement, arising in the mid-19th century, “took the basic idea of class warfare (Marxism) and used a similar rationale to interpret conflicts between men and women” (Vitz, 1997). From this point Vitz begins his discussion of this topic from the psychological perspective. He covers the different models of sexuality, and the role they play in the grand scheme of things.
            Vitz writes the bulk of his article on individuation. He put most of his emphasis on the process of separation between parent and child, and the relational differences between mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, mothers and sons, and fathers and daughters.
            From a church perspective, removing God as Father is described this way, “In a church that is already far more popular with women than men, this (removing God as Father) means the removal of one of the few remaining supports for men. 

            So what is so relevant about this article in relation to Christian counseling? There are some huge implications for those practicing today. History tells us that fatherless homes are a common denominator in many stories we have read and heard about from those seeking counseling. The impact of how one understands the concept of what or who a father is or should be plays a major role in how they relate to others. When someone comes to a Christian counselor with a distorted view of how a father should behave, the ability to help them understand the concept of God as Father is slim at best. The Bible shows a triune God consisting of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore, without a proper understanding of God as Father model people will often miss the important connections that form the basic ideas of Christianity. 

            Of all of the approaches to psychology and counseling, the feminist approach seems to be the most insidious. As Vitz points out the feminist model strives to eliminate sex and gender differences in order to create a level playing field. He says of the feminist model,
“This is an understanding of sexuality as basically arbitrary, and that male and female are not only equivalent but more or less interchangeable” (Vitz, 1997).
The key in this statement is how the feminist does not stop at equality, but goes head-strong into interchangeability. This is the core of the issue. God as Father cannot be neutered into God as mother or as God as androgyny. There is no Biblical foundation or authority to do this. God created male and female. He created men and women, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, and although all are equal in standing before God they are designed to be complimentary in relation to one another. 

            For the individual within the therapy setting, the ideas expressed so far play a much larger role in how we understand ourselves and others. Everyone needs to understand that they have worth. Everyone also needs to understand that they are loved by God. Self-image developed apart from a proper understanding of where stand before God will always end in crisis at some point. God as Father is not only an important concept Biblically, but helping someone understand this concept can go a long way in healing the brokenness that comes from an earthly father who did, or does not behave in a Christian manner. Boys normally find their "sense of self," or what it means to be a man from their earthly fathers. Girls find their sense self, lovability, and femininity from a godly father as well. Therefore, when things do break down in the home, when the earthly father is absent, when the earthly father is abusive, having a right relationship with their Heavenly Father is the only thing that can make things right in the lives impacted by their earthly fathers. Earthly fathers will never be perfect. Even the best will fail at some point and to some degree. That means that no matter what situation someone is in, understanding God’s role as Father in our lives is absolutely crucial to all. How does everything Vitz is writing about relate to the ideas Johnson is relating? The Apostle Peter knew that everything we would ever need for Christ-like living could be found in understanding who God is, and who Jesus is.
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (1 Peter 1:2-4, NASB).

Johnson’s comments about this passage tie in very well with the crux of Vitz’ point about understanding who God is, and why it is so very important, “since Scripture best reveals such knowledge, we can properly infer from this passage that preaching and prayerful meditation on Scripture should promote Christ-likeness in a corrupt world” (Johnson, Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal, 2007, p. 39). This idea of the sufficiency of Scripture is the fuel for Jay E. Adams’ Nouthetic Counseling, Gary Collins’ Helping with the Bible, Cloud and Townsend’s Boundaries, and the Connecting approach from Larry Crabb just to name a few. All of these ideas are based in the same vein as the ideas presented by Eric Johnson. Today, in the counseling setting, Christians must allow Scripture to be the lens through which they not only view psychology, but it must become the lens through which they see everything in the world. With this in mind, reading and understanding the discoveries of secular psychology should never be omitted from the process of understanding the field as a whole. The main thought to keep in mind however is to always filter those readings through Scripture. So many times the temptation is there to find a theory, approach, or a method one might like and then search out verses to reinforce their preferences. This is reminiscent of how J. Vernon McGee used to define liberalism, “the pulpit trying to make the unsaved church member happy” (McGee). Johnson, in Foundations for Soul Care, does not suggest that Christians engaged in counseling should only study the Bible, but they must have a Biblical template (or lens) that allows them to study secular psychology with the aim to glorify God through their practice. 

            Future
            Do the ideas that Eric Johnson has written about have a place in the future of Christian counseling? The simple answer to this question is yes they do. With the proliferation of small group Bible studies (not to be confused with the “encounter groups” of the 70’s) there will be more and more ways to integrate faith into counseling as people learn to interact on an intimate level combined with discovering who God is and who they are. Yes, I did say learn, as we have become so isolated by the world wide web that re-establishing relationships and opening up in true fellowship with other believers can help foster Biblical counseling models like those of Jay E. Adams, and more specifically the idea of “Connecting” as presented by Larry Crabb. The essence of  his book, Connecting, revolves around the idea that the best way to live open and honestly, which brings connection with ourselves and others is when we let go of our attempts to do things our way and let God use our lives in the way He desires to use them. When this happens, and we see ourselves and others as God sees us, we will begin to see the work God is doing in our lives and the lives of those around us. The real revelation for me came from the idea that the second part of the subtitle puts forth, A Radical New Vision. Crabb suggests that those within the church are capable of handling many of the problems they once would have referred to professional counselors, “Ordinary people have the power to change other people’s lives” (Crabb, 1997, p. 25).  That is an amazing idea coming from a professional counselor, and a bold approach to counseling to say the least. This type of community approach comes to fruition as we walk with God and allow the power of His Holy Spirit to help us deepen our understanding of what those around need in order to be what God wants them to be. God is the one who enables us to see the good in others, and to in turn share that insight with them to help them to catch the vision God has cast for them. Crabb’s idea  of connecting boils down to understanding God’s vision not only for our lives, but understanding the vision of the lives within the community of believers to the point of total transparency which will then lead to true life transformation. 

            Finally
            As I have studied psychology, and watched how many Christian universities have begun programs to be more active in teaching people from a Christian point-of-view it gives some hope for the future of counseling. The passé styles of the 1960’s and 1970’s seem to fading as more Christians become involved in counseling. Avoiding a synthesis of secular and Christian views will always be the key to advancing a proper understanding of Christian based counseling. No matter if one likes the Rogerian idea that we can help ourselves, which is entirely anti-scriptural, or Jung’s ideas of archetypes we must always remember that it is integration (how behavior fits into scripture, and how scripture responds) and not synthesis (or a blending of secular and sacred ideas) that will truly help people. We need to work on helping people understand what positive role models look like. There needs to be an understanding that God has referred to Himself as male, and no man conjured up a male chauvinist ideal of God. Therefore, trying to neuter God or to make Him androgynous will always lead to dead-ends with no real answers. God is called Father for a reason and, “when people change the name of God, they have changed their religion” (Vitz, 1997).
            “Of all of the things in creation, the greatest interest to most of us is our own nature, for we are fascinated with the wonder of ourselves” (Johnson, Psychology and Christianity: Five Views, 2010, p. 9).
 “For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother’s womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well”
(Psalm 139:13-14, NASB).
   



References
All Scripture is from the New American Standard Bible (NASB)
            Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The             Lockman Foundation
Crabb, L. (1997). Connecting. Nashville, Tennessee: Word Publishing.
Johnson, E. L. (1997). Christ, The Lord of Psychology. Journal of Psychology and Theology , 25             (1), 11-27.
Johnson, E. L. (2007). Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal. Downers      Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press.
Johnson, E. L. (2010). Psychology and Christianity: Five Views (2nd Edition ed.). (E. L. Johnson, Ed.) Downers Grove: Intervarsity Press.
McGee, J. V. (n.d.). Thu The Bible Radio MP3 Archives. Retrieved October 11, 2011, from         Truth   e-Bible: http://thruthebible.ca/
Vitz, P. (1997, February 5). Support from Psychology for the Fatherhood of God. Retrieved        October 11, 2011, from The Paul C. Vitz Resource Center For Christianity and            Psychology: http://www.paulvitz.com/fatherhood.html


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