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William P. Wilson, M. D.
Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry
Duke University Medical Center
Durham, N. C.
Director, Institute of Christian Growth
Box 2357 Burlington, N. C.
27216-2347

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Basics for Christian
Psychotherapy
Most scientists in the world today are trained in a natural
philosophy that has become increasingly deterministic during the last century. As the body
of scientific knowledge taught in our educational systems is saturated with determinism
the supernatural is denied. Society has, therefore, developed increasing skepticism when
it confronts the continuing claims of religious authorities that a supernatural realm
really exists. Our way of thinking, or "scientific habit of mind" (Lewis, 1947,
p. 43) does not allow us to consider the supernatural for more than a fleeting moment
before we must dismiss it as an imponderable subject.
But there are those of us who have encountered the
supernatural early in our lives. This may have occurred before we seriously embarked on a
scientific career. If it did we have conflict when we discover that our belief in the
supernatural is anachronistic. If, on the other hand, we have never encountered the
supernatural and have accepted scientific determinism as the philosophy we live by,
conflict is engendered if we encounter the supernatural. Conflict elicits unpleasant
emotions such as fear, anger, or confusion, emotions that call for action to rid ourselves
of the stimulus. As we do not like these painful emotions, we search for relief. In our
search we may find that one of four solutions will ease our pain (Carter, 1977). The first
is to compartmentalize our beliefs, creating two worlds in which we live, not allowing any
intercourse between the two. The second is to reject the supernatural. The third is to
attempt to make some integration if we feel free to do so. The fourth is to decide that
all problems are spiritual. This is called spiritual reductionism. Reductionists reject
any biological or psychological genesis of disease.
It is a sad but true fact that in a hostile world we
scientists, who are Christians, most often choose to compartmentalize our faith even
though we are warned not to make that choice (Deut. 30:19, Matt. 10:33). Instead we are
ordered to integrate it, i.e. to live it. But how can we do this if we do not know how?
Where can we learn how to achieve a usable integration? The answer to these questions are
not readily available. There are few teachers and role models. Even those that exist
generally tend to be inaccessible to us. Therefore, we are left with the alternative of
trying to make our own integrations, if they are to be made at all.
Seventeen years ago the author had a radical encounter with
God. After that encounter he soon learned that one could not separate the biological,
psychological, social and spiritual aspects of a persons being from one another. As
God revealed his wisdom and knowledge, I found that the various components of human nature
are a unity and have to be treated as such. As I was aware of my myopic view of human
nature, I felt that it was imperative that I expand that view by trying to understand its
spiritual component. As I struggled to achieve this, I found that I could not understand
it until I developed a better understanding of the structure of the mind.
Desiring to be obedient, I searched the literature to find
out if others had a broader view of human nature and mind, but I found little that was of
use to me. This is not to say that much had been written, but it was too theological
(DeGraaf, 1977) or too complicatedly scientific (Scher, 1962) to be of real use.
Undiscouraged I sought to think it through on my own, but I needed a starting point. As I
was theologically naive, I believed that the Bible was truth and that it led to all
wisdom, so I began my search for understanding there. As I read, I discovered that I did
not know that the human mind was driven by a supernatural animating force called a spirit,
so that it was impossible for me to know how to integrate such a concept into the
biopsychosocial model of the mind that had been presented to me during the years I spent
in medical school and in psychiatric and neurological training. But there is more to
learning than formal education; there is experience. I had experienced God, so I knew that
He had communicated with me, and that he did it through my mind. As one of my patients
later put it, "I knew things that I had not been taught." Since I was not
scientifically naive, I knew that I was either insane or that God was real, so I had to
determine which was the case. I found no evidence to prove that I was insane, therefore,
He must be real. Convinced of his reality, it was absolutely imperative that I open lines
of communication with Him. I needed to access his wisdom and to find out what he wanted me
to learn and to do.
I began by trying to reformulate my understanding of the
mind. Since I knew that the scientific view of mans nature was incomplete, I again
turned to the Bible. When I did, I found that I had a different problem. Because the Bible
had come into existence over several thousand years, and had been composed in several
different languages, the words used to describe the mind and its components often had
different meanings. It was necessary, then, that I try to untangle these language
problems. I did, therefore, choose one statement about our whole being that seemed to me
to be most complete and use it as my starting point for clarification. The statement is in
I Thessalonians 5:23. It describes the whole man as consisting of body, soul and spirit.
It is true that this tripartite division of the whole man could have had its origin in
Greek natural philosophy, a subject with which Paul was quite familiar. But when I looked
for corroborating evidence, it seemed that even in the Old Testament (1 Sam. 30:12, 1
Kings 21:5, Job 26:4, etc.) this same division is found. It is just not as succinctly
started.
Since spirit was the missing ingredient in my view of the
nature of man, I first investigated that concept. In my search of the accumulated
knowledge of the past on this subject (Come, 1959), I found that the concept of spirit had
been around since mans inquiries into his nature were first recorded. Even the most
primitive of humans recognize that there are powerful and dangerous forces in their world.
The life journey that they have to make is hazardous because the world is grounded in
order and held intact by an inner irresistible logic, by laws that encompass the universe
and give it order. At the same time these laws make living a dramatic risk for any
particular unit of life (Thurman 1963, p. 64). Since early humans believed these forces or
this force to be like the wind or breath, an unseen force, it is not surprising that they
chose to use the word which means wind or breath to denominate the animating force or
vital principle in living beings. To animate means to inspire into action, therefore,
spirit is better defined as a vital force that activates living beings. Activation implies
that there is movement, and movement has direction. In our three dimensional world this
movement is toward or away from some one or some thing and it will have as its purpose the
nourishment and recreation of life (Smith, 1955).
In the Bible, the word spirit (pneuma) is most often used
with the meaning of animating force. It is always distinguished from soul (psyche), flesh
(sarx), and body (corpus). St. Paul was quite clear in his use of the term as animating
force (Eph. 4:23). Less often spirit is used as a synonym for mind, but none of the New
Testament writers make this a primary usage. Occasionally spirit describes a state of
heightened emotion (Eccl. 7:9). In this sense, it is still an animating force but has been
given the added quality of a specific emotion. Finally, spirit is used to describe
non-corporeal or transcendental personalities such as Satan and his minions, (Acts 17:16,
II Cor. 11:4, etc.) As well as the non-corporeal personages of persons who had at one time
been alive (I Sam 28:12, Matt. 14:26, Luke 24:30, 37). After I had completed my survey I
chose to view mans spirit as animating force.
To my dismay I found that such a definition was not
congruent with the theological literature. Only two authors, Watchman Nee (1968) and
Arnold Come (1959) confronted the necessity of trying to clarify the concept of mans
spirit. In Comes book, mans spirit is defined as personality or mind. As I
examined his views I realized that his definition arose out of an existential bias in his
thinking, but the thing that seemed to have influenced him most is the biblical
description of the Holy Spirit as total being. It is only logical that he should believe
that our spirit, like Gods, is mind (John 4:24).
But our thoughts are not Gods thoughts. We cannot
ignore the fact that the Bible primarily uses the word spirit as the animating force in
man and considers it the innermost part of mans mind--the force that animates his
body, soul and flesh. I believe, as does Watchman Nee (1968), that it is not only
exegetically permissible and correct, but also psychologically preferable, to view
mans spirit as an animating force.
Not surprisingly, psychology has said little about
mans spirit in recent years. The last person to discuss the subject with any
authority was Joseph Jastrow (Reymert, 1928). He described the presence of a force that
had been given names such as Elan Vitale, Horme, or Life Force by other writers. He was
vague in his definition of this force and did not discuss its role in the function of the
mind. Deterministic psychology since that time has ignored it and has believed that the
mind is driven by the "Id" which, until recently, has been considered the sexual
drive. This concept, proposed by Sigmund Freud (1927), has been accepted as the most basic
functional unit of mans nature or mind. It has created a serious problem for
Christians and many non-Christians since it deprives humans of their uniqueness and
equates them with all other animals. If Freuds hypothesis is correct, humans have no
raison detre.
As a Christian I found it necessary to reject such a view
of mans nature because I believe, after experiencing the joining of Gods
Spirit with my spirit, that He has directed me toward a higher good. I no longer accept
the humanistic psychology that I had acquired in my education and feel so I have developed
a new one based on a view of the nature of man that includes the spirit. With this I am
able to see wellness as harmony between God, man, and the world. I now define disease
holistically because I include the spiritual dimension of his nature.
Now if we reject the standard view of human nature and add
a new dimension, it becomes clear that we must reshape our views of personality
development. Time will not allow us to discuss personality development here, but it is
important to realize that if one adds a spiritual dimension to human nature, then those
theories of personality development that have their origin in biology, those that
attribute the development of personality to sexual drives, and those that insist that all
personality attributes are learned are unacceptable. The radical restructuring of the
process of personality development must assign appropriate significance to the biological,
cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and spiritual factors that influence its formation. This
we have attempted to do.
Since I cannot discourse on the subject of personality
development here, I ask you to believe that I have formulated a theory that does ascribe a
significant role to the various factors mentioned above. This allows me, then, to go on to
a brief discussion of the subject of mind; a discussion that is more closely related to
the remainder of this presentation.
Before we turn to the structure of the mind, I must mention
a major problem that has to be faced before we can consider the structure of the mind.
This problem is whether the brain and the mind are a unity, or whether the mind exists
above the brain and interacts with it. Sir John Eccles (1980, pp. 17-26) has recently
reviewed the subject and enumerated the various theories that are extant. These he divided
into two groups, the materialist and the interactions. The materialist theories state that
the mind and brain are a unity and one cannot exist without the other. The interactions
theories assert that the mind determines and controls the function of the brain. There
are, however, two of these theories. The first called dualist-interactionism is the only
one that is compatible with the biblical view of the mind because it asserts that the mind
can exist independent of the brain. Emergent-interactionism, the second theory, asserts
that the two are inseparable. If we examine these theories in the light of our biblical
understanding of mans existence it is clear that there is only one acceptable theory
and it is dualist-interactionism. There can be no afterlife if the brain and mind are not
separable.
Having examined the mind-brain problem, we can turn our
attention to the structure of the mind. We have already commented that it has certain
functions. These, once again, are biological, cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and
spiritual. In the accompanying diagram (Fig. 1) I have attempted to show how the mind
"lives" in the environment that is called the "world". At the top we
see the interaction of the organism with the world through its sensory system. This
information is routed into many different parts of the system. It is my belief that once
it gets into the brain it is distributed to the various subsystems over parallel routes
that are controlled by a central system. This synthesizes the output of these subsystems
through the process that we call thinking, into some form of response that either ignores
the input, stores it for future reference, or acts on it with a response that we called
"behavior output". As you view the diagram you will note that I have accounted
for all of the various functions mentioned above, but have detailed the functions of the
soul. In the diagram we used the term affective tonus, a concept developed by Sir Charles
Sherrington (1963), to denominate the spirit.
SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT
If we believe that man possesses a spirit that is an
integral part of his mind, and that it influences the development of his personality, it
is necessary to move on to a better understanding of how, when and under what
circumstances mans spirit and Gods spirit join (Rom. 8:16). Then we will
determine what effect this has on the further development of the person.
At birth a child has a manifest spirit that is vigorous and
diffuse in its expression. His spirit animates his cries, his search for food and his
movements. As his body matures, his spirit becomes channelized and he begins to crawl and
then to walk. As he acquires mobility, he aggressively explores more distant areas of his
environment, seeking greater freedom. If restrained, he protests and seeks release from
restraint.
When, in time, he develops speech, his willful desire to
control his activity is immediately verbalized. The toddler says, "Let me go! I want
it! No!"
From his birth to his death, mans spirit seeks to
determine its own direction. During childhood this self-direction needs to be guided by
significant others into channels of constructive activity. The soul is then, to some
extent, a blank page that must be filled with appropriate ideas and emotional expressions.
This is the nurturing job of both parents and culture. After puberty, the spirit strives
to be more unfettered so that it can seek its own destiny. If there has been appropriate
training the individual will have self discipline. Usually separation and individuation
takes place as self discipline develops. Even so, the adolescents inherently
rebellious spirit drives him to do things that are in conflict with the values that he has
learned. He does this because he encounters others with contrary values. This knowledge
drives him to test his own values. As he tests them, he learns that the behaviors in which
he is indulging elicit pain in his own life and in the lives of others. Since he wants to
avoid pain himself, and does not desire to inflict pain on others, he will control his
behavior and live by the values that he has been taught, or has learned out of necessity.
The term values, as used here, are those things that make a favorable difference in a
persons life (Baier, 1973).
In the unregenerate state man has to struggle to control
his behavior. He lacks the power to control his human nature, so it is no wonder that he
sometimes gives up the struggle and "drops out", or ends his life when he
realizes that he cannot live life without hurting others and himself. What is more tragic
is that he realizes that he is trapped and cannot free himself of the problems of
morality, the lack of meaning in his life and the unreasonableness of death. Most tragic
is that he does not know that he has a way out of his state of despair. God has provided
it. He has promised to give him control over those behaviors that give rise to pain in his
life and in the lives of others. He has promised to provide meaning in his life, and he
has promised him victory over death.
We have noted that mans mind, which includes his
spirit is uncontrolled in the unregenerate state. Its activity gives rise to many negative
emotions. But what about positive emotions such as love? Does the unregenerate person
experience positive emotions? The answer is yes. From birth to death a radical neediness
that is generated in his spirit will drive him to seek love. Man begins his love life with
his parents, whose own spirits cause them to love him. They nurture him in love until he
is capable of managing his own life. Then they free him to become an autonomous person.
Because of this loving relationship the developing child learns how to love not only
himself, but also others.
At puberty the child develops a neediness for the opposite
sex. Marias (1971, p. 181) has described this neediness as a "radical"
neediness. If not inhibited its natural fruition is in marriage. Love moves men and women
to installation (or becoming one) in each other and provides a spiritual union. Here it is
important to note, that just as there is a oneness with ones parents that is never
totally dissolved, so should the oneness with ones spouse never be dissolved. A
further fruit of the installation of a person in someone of the opposite sex is marriage,
and ultimately the procreation of children who are installed in the oneness of the
parents relationship.
All of mankind has one more radical need and this is for
the numinous. Everyone was created to live in union with God even though that union was
broken. Without God we are incomplete, and to become whole we must install God at the
deepest level of our being. We can only do this, though, by an act of our will. We do not
tolerate readily the imposition of anothers will above our own (Smith, 1955, 23-38),
even Gods. We can, though, voluntarily submit ourselves to God, ask him into our
life and accept him as Lord and Master to install him. Since Jesus Christ is the way to
God, we ask him into our lives and the installation is accomplished (John 14:6).
With this act we are regenerated and unusual things happen.
We enter, what was called by William James ( 1961, p. 202), the assurance state. Because
God has joined his Spirit to our spirit (Rom. 8:16) and we know his love, we are assured
of his existence, something that we have not known before. Another thing that occurs is
the healing of the despairs of our lives. We have found out that we have something and
someone to live for, therefore, our lives have meaning. We can control our desires, so we
do not despair of morality. And because we know that we will have eternal life, our
despair of death is healed. Next because our moral transgressions called sin have been
forgiven, we develop a new sense of cleanliness within. Released from the emotional
burdens that we had we now see the world differently. Suddenly there is sunshine, blue
sky, green grass, bubbling water in the streams, and a world full of beauty. This is
Gods creation and its beauty is remarkably illuminated.
But there is more, for we perceive truths that we have not
know before. First we begin to understand the reality of the Trinity. God is the Father
who revealed himself in the Son, and the Son is revealed in the Holy Spirit--the Spirit of
Christ and the Spirit of God. This occurs because the Spirit reveals the truth about God
(John 14:17, 16:13). This revelation further strengthens our faith and increases our
certainty as to the trustworthiness of God. The Gospel doesnt make sense to a person
without faith. To him it is one more comparative religion, perhaps of slightly more
importance than those of Buddha and Mohammed. For a real Christian, the Gospel is a
reality.
Another truth revealed to us is that Gods
commandments are absolute. All men know Gods truths, for they are written on our
hearts, and if we have a Bible available to us we can find them in his Word. But even more
importantly we find that they have been illuminated and their value becomes a reality. We
know that they make a favorable difference in our lives if we live by them, and that we
will ultimately suffer pain if we do not. Thus we seek to be obedient, and with the power
that we have acquired through Gods presence in our lives we are able to begin to
live by these values.
Along with the perception of truth we will notice changes
in our behavior. The first is that we find that the world we lived in is not as desirable
as it had been. We no longer seem to have anything in common with the persons with whom we
formerly associated. We do, then, seek new friends, people who will talk to us about the
things that we now find more interesting and whose behavior is more congruent with what we
consider to be appropriate to our new beliefs. When we associate with them we find that
our knowledge and understanding of the Christian lifestyle increases. Among these people
we are rewarded with affirmation when we successfully live as the Lord would have us live.
But even when we are unsuccessful and have been chastised, there is forgiveness and
reconciliation available to us and we are immediately restored to fellowship with God and
man.
Lastly, in the assurance state the Holy Spirit leads us to
continue to desire to know God better. We want to communicate with him through prayer,
Bible study and the Eucharist so that we better know his will and do it to achieve our
chief end, His glorification. His will for us is that we be loving. That we love Him, our
spouses, our children and our fellow men. In loving we put the best interest and welfare
of everyone above our own. We give water to the thirsty, food to the hungry, clothes to
the naked, and visit the sick and the imprisoned. We are changed from selfish to selfless
persons.
The emotional changes that take place in our new state are
many. First our despair is relieved and replaced by joy (Ps. 30:11). Second our love is
amplified and we are able to show it in our relationships (Gal. 5:22). Thirdly, when we
contemplate Gods love and power we are filled with awe (Rev. 4:11). Fourthly, fear
is gone because we know that God, Creator and Controller of the universe, cares for us and
will guide and protect us (I John 4:18). Fifthly, we do not have to be ashamed because our
inadequacy and wrongdoing has been forgiven (I John 1:9). Sixthly, our anger and hate can
be decathected because we know that we have both the desire and the power to forgive those
who wronged us (I John 1:7). Lastly, because we know that we will have eternal life we do
not have to dread death (Rev. 21:4). In this new state of existence we have hope.
The changes described above dramatically alter our will, a
compound function of the mind made up of the spirit channelized through the soul. Since
power is increased and Gods values have primacy over those of the world, we observe
a redirection of will. Usually, God dramatically changes our direction in some areas, but
others require nurturance in the faith. In more severe cases, counseling is required.
In the above I have described the changes that occur when a
person experiences conversion. In the following, I will describe the changes that take
place in the process called sanctification. If you remember, I observed that spiritual
conflict develops in the mind of the unregenerate person before he or she is finally
forced to surrender his or her life and accept the lordship of Christ. Figure 2 is a flow
chart that details the paths that may be taken by a person from the time that the Holy
Spirit begins to woo the lost person to Christ.
We begin our movement through the Christian life with a
sinful person that is oriented to self. At some time in their life this person develops an
existential despair of meaning, morality or death. This despair is made up of the
cognition that there is no hope in worldly things, as well as the painful emotions of
sorrow, anger, fear, emptiness, confusion or pain. Because of them they suffer. At some
time, the Holy Spirit reaches out to them. This occurs because of Gods unfailing
love (Rom. 10:21). The love that draws the sinner to God is called prevenient grace.
By this grace they are guided to Gods message. Then their ears are opened, or the
veil taken from their eyes, and the truth about God is revealed to them. This truth is
illuminated by the Holy Spirit in the message that they hear. They now understand and know
the steps that are necessary to achieve salvation. These are confession, repentance and
the receipt of forgiveness. When they make Christ Lord of their life, salvation is
achieved and the Holy Spirit dwells in them.
Here it is necessary that all those who receive Him realize
their forgiveness and accept it! Only with acceptance of forgiveness is their salvation
complete.
But salvation is not enough. Almost every person brings
into their Christian life the accumulated garbage of hurt, anger, fear, confusion, shame,
pain, and emptiness accumulated when they were unregenerate. Most of them do not know how
to be a Christian. Most lack a firmly established set of values to guide their life. They
do, therefore, need a complete change of their mind to transform them into the new person
that God wants them to be (Rom. 12:2, II Cor. 5:17). This transformation only takes place
when they are discipled.
Unfortunately, few people in the church know what this
entails. If one searches the theological literature, they find that little has been
written about this subject. Even one of our largest protestant denominations has neglected
this need. When I was a member of the Curriculum Resources Committee of the Board of
Discipleship of the United Methodist Church, I learned that there was not a single piece
of literature that could provide a new believer an in depth understanding of how to
live their newly acquired faith, or how to apply it to the transformation of their mind.
To be sure there were a few isolated pieces in different series, but it had not been
brought together to make it readily available to the average church member. A search of
the theological library in my university and local bookstore shelves also failed to reveal
any single piece of literature that I considered adequate. Appalled I realized that most
persons in the church did not know that discipleship is learning how to be a Christian.
The process of becoming a disciple is multi vectored. To
begin it, one must learn more about God. Our Lord said that we are "to learn of
him" (Matt. 11:29), and we are told by Isaiah (26:3) that we will have perfect peace
if our mind is "stayed" on him. To learn about him we must go to our primary
source of knowledge, the Bible. "It is inspired by God and is useful for teaching the
truth, rebuking error, correcting faults, and giving instruction for right living, so that
the person who serves God may be fully qualified and equipped to do every kind of good
deed." (II Tim. 3, 16, 17) It teaches us the things that are important for us to
know.
The second vector of the process of discipleship is a
prayer life. When I first became a Christian I was appalled to learn that I and most other
Christians did not know how to pray. That most do not know how to pray, and do not
understand the importance of prayer, is manifested in the observation that most Christians
pray very little.
But there is more to praying than just spending time, for
one must know for what and for whom one must pray. They should know to pray for all
persons, for the sick and troubled, for sinful brothers, for neighbors, for the church and
its members and for governmental leaders. Then they should know that there are many kinds
of prayer. There is intercessory prayer, petitionary prayer, prayer of adoration, prayer
of thanksgiving, prayer for healing and prayer of and for forgiveness. I could go on but
space does not allow me to give a complete discourse on prayer, therefore, I emphasize the
importance of knowing how, where, when, for what and for whom we should pray.
Christian healing is facilitated if the Holy Spirit is
active in the process. I described earlier the changes that take place in a persons
life with conversion. These occur because the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in them (John
14:20). Upon His coming He reveals the "truth" about God (John 14:17) and Christ
(John 16:14), and imparts power (Acts 1:8). This power energizes the behavioral changes
that come when Gods commandments are adopted as our value system. Along with the
power come gifts. Some persons receive the gift of healing, a gift that is of great value
to the physician or any other person, for that matter. The gifts of wisdom, faith,
teaching and discernment are most useful to a psychiatrist or counselor. The healer and
the person being healed must discover their spiritual gifts and use them. It is important
that both understand the work and person of the Holy Spirit.
Just as important in the process of healing is that the
physician and patient know and do Gods will. Average Christians have absolutely no
idea about how to ascertain Gods will for their lives. There are a few simple rules
but they are rarely taught. They are: (1) What does the Bible say is His will? (2) What
does the Holy Spirit speaking through ones inner being say about it? (3) Is the
action to be taken possible or are there seemingly insuperable obstacles? (4) What do
mature Christian advisors say about it? (5) What does common sense say about it? (6) Does
the action taken and its outcome glorify God? These few questions should be asked about
all major or minor decisions that a person makes (I Cor. 10:31).
Discipleship also includes the integration of the person
into a warm fellowship where they can grow in their faith. This fellowship should provide
the opportunity for the development of friendships, learning and the opportunity for
worship that is more that liturgy. True worship provides the opportunity to know the joy
of the Lord. In true worship the sacraments are administered in a way that makes them
meaningful for all the celebrants. This is especially true of the Eucharist, for along
with prayer and Bible study, it is a means of grace.
Obviously there are more facets to discipleship than the
subjects mentioned above. There is stewardship, witnessing, service, the exercise of all
of the gifts of the spirit and others. But I think I have made my point. We cannot
practice Christian healing, and patients cannot take advantage of the healing power of
their faith without having been discipled.
Finally in the process of being discipled we learn that we
must serve our neighbors. We are to feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the
naked, take strangers into our homes, and visit the sick and the prisoners. Discipleship
is to prepare us for service! God does not expect Christians to be like everyone else in
the world. We are to be radically different from the natural man. We have been called to
be a nation of priests (Ex. 19:6) and as such are ministers to a lost, sick and dying
world.
CONCLUSIONS
In this paper I have endeavored to elucidate the
theological and psychological bases for a truly Christian practice of medicine. Since I am
a psychiatrist, I focused my comments of my views of human nature and the fact that there
is a spiritual component to that nature. Because humans are spiritual it is possible for
God to communicate with them and thus draw them to Himself. He then reveals Himself. If
they accept His lordship they are converted and become a new person. They do, however,
need to be "cleaned up". This can only take place if they are discipled. I
concluded my remarks by describing some of the vectors of discipleship. In the next paper,
I will discuss how spiritual disease develops and the interventions that are necessary to
heal that disease.
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