LIBERTY UNIVERSITY JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Distinctive of the Biblical Orientation to Counseling
A Paper Submitted to
the Faculty of the School of Divinity
in Candidacy for the Degree of
Doctor of Education in Christian Leadership (Ed. D) Department of Christian Leadership and
Church Ministries
By
Mary Gracias
Lynchburg, Virginia
10/2022
Distinctive of the Biblical Orientation to Counseling
A biblical view of counseling is in a sense timeless; it has made sense to people in all ages.
“That it conveyed important truths in prescientific eras should warn us against misconstruing it
and its vocabulary by attempting to endow its familiar terms with a precision never intended.”
Unfortunate attempts have been made to copy what psychologists are doing and to produce
from the Bible a model which emulates a scientific approach.
The emphasis in biblical counseling is not on man studying himself but on God’s revelation
of a theocentric image of man and his place in the world. The point of origin is God. The
emphasis is as much concerned with God’s relationship with man as with man’s relationship
with man.
It should also be noted that the biblical view is for the present; it is for facing the problems
of today. It is a living document and is not intended for designing psychological experiments. To
clarify this last point, A. T. Welford has written,
The psychological view represents a working hypothesis designed to coordinate the facts
obtained from a large number of scientific studies and to guide the search for further facts. It is
thus tentative, subject to frequent modification, and clearly incomplete in mat it does not cover
areas in which evidence is lacking, such as the nature of administrative skill, political acumen, or
intelligence…
By comparison, and by contrast, Welford characterizes the religious view of life as one that
aims at co-ordinating the common experience of ordinary men with the special experience of a
few and the lessons of history, to provide an orientation towards the world and everyday life in
it. As such it must be complete, in the sense of being able to provide some sort of answer to
any question which arises in the course of daily living. The exigencies of moment to moment
and day to day will not wait for a solution to be worked out to full scientific standards: man in
his ordinary living cannot, like the academic psychologist, suspend judgment if evidence is
lacking.
The apparent meaning that one finds in the pleasures of this life is tenuous at best, apart
from meaning related to God. This is the message of the Book of Ecclesiastes: all activity is
meaningless apart from the God of meaning. The writer of Ecclesiastes saw that one or another
activities seemed to bring purpose to his life, but upon hard reflection, he concluded that each
was no more than vanity. In the final analysis the author stated that fearing God and keeping
His commandments bring wisdom.
Views of life which are short-term and long-term are contrasted frequently in the
Scriptures. The accounts recorded in Hebrews 11, make it clear that the saints mentioned all
gained power to act meaningfully in the present specifically from their orientation toward the
future. The biblical principle is that it is only sight of the eternal that can fuse short-term
purposes and goals into a meaningful overall pattern. Thus all of life takes on meaning only in a
relationship to Christ. Apart from Him they are simply short-term objectives which randomly
occur without any important connection and no ultimate purpose. Adams has written, “Indeed,
if there is no ultimacy of purpose in one’s daily activities, there is no purpose at all.”
For counselors, this fact is of great significance. It should be noted that those who live for
short-term goals alone will come to deal with the futility of such a life orientation. Many of
them will seek counsel because they have come to see that the ultimate meaningless
“meaning” upon which they have built their lives provides no foundation for them at all. They
eventually reach the point of saying with the writer of Ecclesiastes that “all is vanity!” Persons
in this condition must be confronted with the truth of the gospel because only in this can the
eternal solutions to their temporal existence be found.
Some time ago, Jay Adams, author of more than fifty books dealing with a biblical
orientation to counseling, led a seminar in which he described distinctives of biblical counsel. At
the conclusion of that seminar, I spent some time with Dr. Adams and was able to ask him
several questions relative to the particulars of what differentiates truly biblical counseling from
other models. One question asked of Dr. Adams was, “Please describe for me the distinctives of
a truly biblical system of counseling.” What follows is a portion of his answer:
Truly biblical counseling, just to give you a summary, is using the Word of God considered
exegetically and theologically to understand what God has said about man, and his problems,
and the solutions that God has provided for them. Counseling is a function of sanctification. A
system of biblical counseling has to be developed out of exegetical and theological work in such
a way that all the principles and practices of that counseling system not only emerge from
biblical principles but are consistent with them at all points. That’s the key to the difference
between a truly biblical and a supposedly, but not really biblical, counseling system. One must
not take pagan methodology, principles, and presuppositions and try to put these together with
biblical teaching. That really can’t be done. To have a truly biblical system means hard work
including exegesis and theology that provides the principles that can be turned into
methodology and practice in counseling. Anything less is sub-Christian and most probably, anti-
Christian.
The basic presupposition of biblical counseling is that there is an infinite and personal God
who has revealed Himself propositionally in the written Word, the Bible, and personally in the
living Word, Jesus Christ. The testimony of both the written Word and the living Word is that
the most basic problem of every human being is his separation from God. This separation is
made necessary by the fact that He is holy and we are not. People may solve their personal
problems temporarily and partially by approximating biblical principles, but they can never
experience an absolutely fulfilling life here or eternally unless this separation is overcome by
reconciliation to God through Jesus Christ. Draper has written that “when we want to know
what we are to do, how we are to live, what we are to say, and how we are to act, we discover
that by looking at the Word of God that was breathed out by God for us. The Scriptures
themselves give testimony of their origin, content, sufficiency, applicability, and eternality,
stating,
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own
interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the
Holy Spirit spoke from God.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for
training in righteousness; that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good
work.
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 the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and
piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the
thoughts and intentions of the heart.
And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word
of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of
God, which also performs its work in you who believe.
For you have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is,
through the living and abiding word of God. For, “All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the
flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls off, but the word of the Lord abides
forever.” And this is the word which was preached to you.
Being committed to this testimony leads to the application of Scripture in counseling.
Therefore, the Bible can be used to diagnose and treat the problems of life. In making this
application one must acknowledge that there are both physical problems and physical
symptoms of spiritual problems. The recognition of need to be in close consultation with a
physician is important. Acknowledgment must also be made that the Bible does not answer all
questions, but it can lead a person to a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. This
relationship in itself fulfills the greatest need of mankind.
In Matt. 28:20, the Scripture reveals that Christians are to teach all that Christ commanded
and taught. “This surely includes doctrines about God, authority, salvation, spiritual growth,
prayer, the church, the future, angels, demons, and human nature.” The Lord also taught
concerning such personal issues as sex, anxiety, fear, loneliness, doubt, pride, sin, and
discouragement. These are all issues being brought to counselors today. “Teaching all that
Christ taught includes instruction in doctrine, but it also involves helping people get along
better with God, with others, and with themselves.”
In dealing with these issues of concern, some learn and are encouraged by lectures,
sermons, or books; others from personal Bible study or group discussion; still others from
formal or informal counseling. In fact, most have received counsel from some combination of
these approaches.
The Christian’s basis for counseling, and the basis for a Christian’s counseling is Scripture
and, according to Jay Adams, is his or her counseling textbook. The profundity of this is found in
the fact that the Bible deals with the same issues that all counseling does. The Scriptures were
given to lead mankind to a saving faith in Christ and then to transform believers into His image
(cf. 2 Tim. 3; 14–17). This transforming power comes from the Scriptures used by the Holy Spirit
as an instrument to affect change in the life of the believer. In 2 Timothy, testimony is given to
this truth.
From childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom
that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is inspired by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; that the man of
God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
Because counseling is involved with changing lives by changing values, beliefs,
relationships, attitudes, and behavior, the Bible is the Christian counselor’s basis.
Crabb has written, “In my view, many Christian counselors have adopted a method of study
that treats the Bible as helpful, informative, and insightful— but neither authoritative nor
sufficient.” The result is a Bible that is weakened and no longer permitted to speak with a final
word. Answers to certain types of personal questions are rarely sought from the pages of
Scripture. For many who would argue for revelation as the necessary route to knowledge
psychology has usurped the place of the Bible.
When Christian counselors are encouraged to use the Bible as an authority, commonly the
response is to argue that the Scriptures were never intended by God to serve as a textbook for
counselors. God’s “other book” (nature or natural sciences), we are told, is better suited for
that purpose.
This reasoning can lead one to believe that efforts to understand counseling, or the
counseling process, need only be guided by the Bible. The main concern for those who follow
this reasoning is that their counseling and theory be consistent with Scripture. Crabb wrote,
The difference between “guided by” and “consistent with” is enormous. The theorist who is
guided by the Bible more fully acknowledges its authority. Someone who depends for guidance
on another source and then seeks to maintain biblical consistency will tend to regard the Bible
merely as helpful. The product of the latter way of thinking should not properly be called
“biblical.”
For many, science has gained ultimate authority over Scripture. If the Bible is to regain a
position of real authority over science, one must show that it is reasonable to place more
confidence in ideas derived from Scripture than in
hypotheses generated from the study of psychology. Both models may contain error. But
are we safer in relying on one more than the other? Crabb has offered four points to argue
that less error is likely to infect a counseling model built on biblical foundations than one
developed according to scientific research:
1. God’s purpose in revealing Himself in the Bible is different from His purpose in
revealing Himself in nature. In nature, God unveils His “eternal power and divine nature” (Rom.
1:20) in order to drive people to their knees in accountability to their Creator. Certainly it is
proper to study the physical universe to understand better how things work so homes can be
heated in winter and ear infections can be cleared up; but God’s moral purpose in nature is to
make Himself known as someone with whom we must reckon
In the Bible, however, God does much more. His moral purpose in giving the Scriptures is to
graciously point out our plight, inform us of His solution to the problem, and instruct us how to
accept that solution. In a word, the Bible tells us how to find life. And that is what counseling is
concerned with: helping people who are experiencing problems that rob them of life to
overcome those problems and live as they were designed to live.
Nature was not designed to be a textbook on life. The Bible was. … If counselors are
supposed to help people live their lives as life was meant to be lived, and if the Bible is the book
where God tells us how to solve our problems in order to live, then it follows that we should
expect the Bible to provide more help to counselors than the scientific study of nature.
2. The plainness of the Bible is reason to turn to its pages with confidence. Although there
is much that is difficult to understand in Scripture, it still is revelation in propositional form; that
is, it consists of ordinary words spoken by real people to other people about rationally
expressible matters. Nature is not propositional revelation. It illustrates rather than speaks; it
presents us with unspoken observations that require translation into verbal symbols in order to
be understood. . . . The superior clarity of propositional revelation over any other form is
argument for depending more on the Bible than on science in developing a counseling model.
3. The purity of the Bible as uncorrupted revelation contrasts with the defectiveness of a
groaning and cursed nature. Whatever the Bible says can be trusted, because the effects of sin
have been supernaturally blocked from staining its teaching. Nature has not been so protected,
however. What we learn from nature may reflect the results of sin.
We may, of course, learn lessons about industriousness from the ant, but only because the
Bible authorizes the instruction. If we were to follow other examples in nature without
worrying about biblical warrant, we might prey on the weak, sleep all winter, or copulate at
will. Whatever the Bible tells us to do, we may do with confidence that we are on the right path
because the Bible is perfectly moral in its teaching. Nature is not Conclusions reached from
biblical study, therefore, deserve more of our confidence than ideas we learn from natural
study.
4. We have the explicit promise of the Holy Spirit’s help when we come to the Bible in an
attitude of teachable humility and personal honesty. Scientists have no such promise in their
study.
The Bible does speak to much of what a counselor deals with and provides a basis for
understanding every essential issue with which counselors struggle. The conclusion is that one
must come to the Bible in a spirit of expectancy and submission while regarding the ideas of
psychology as stimulating and catalytic, but not as authoritative. The data of psychological
research should not be totally disregarded; what is observed should be noted. Then one must
come to the Scriptures for an understanding of why the data exist and what he should do in
response to what he has observed. In every case, however, the instruction of Scripture must be
final.
Possibly, the relationship of biblical counsel to secular counsel needs to be clarified. The
final, crucial issue for biblical counselors is the need to define more clearly the nuances in their
relationship to secular thinking. The relationship of consistent Christianity to secular culture is
not simply one of rejection. Biblical presuppositions give us a way to discern the lie that people
unwittingly accept who think about themselves as being autonomous from God. They also give
us a way of appreciating, redeeming, and reframing the culture of those who have no concept
of who God is. In a counseling setting the counselor is to gather data from a counselee and
reinterpret his own perceptions back to him in biblical categories that turn his world inside out.
In the same way that Freud saw religion as an enemy to be defeated, many biblical
counselors see secular psychology as an enemy of biblical faith and practice. There is, however,
error to the left and to the right. Capitulation to and compromise with a world captivated by
psychology is a danger to Christian counseling. However, there is also error in flatly rejecting
insights of psychology or in fearing them. Many biblical counselors find themselves succumbing
to the latter temptation. In his article dealing with crucial issues facing biblical counselors,
David Powlison describes three “beauties” for dealing with secular psychology. These are,
First, Christians should be stimulated by their enemies. We are forced to sort out what the
Bible does say positively. Enemies are incredibly useful. In the sovereignty of God enemies act
as catalysts. Unbelievers often have thought long and studied hard in areas that Christians have
neglected. The close study of human beings for the purpose of changing them was one of these
areas. Biblical counseling was a product of such negative prodding. Biblical presuppositions
undergird a strategy of exposition provoked by questions that secular thought and practice
raise for the church.
Second, Christians should oppose their enemies frankly. Knowing what we believe gives us
a basis to reject what is wrong. Unbiblical concepts and practices have been understood,
analyzed and rejected as false teaching. Biblical counseling is well known for rejecting secular
psychology. Secular theorists are false prophets. Those who import their ideas into the church
are deceived, at best, and wolves in sheep’s clothing, at worst. Biblical presuppositions
undergird a strategy of negation.
Third, Christians should love and convert their enemies. We have answers that are richer
truer, fuller, Our answers incorporate the very insights which non-Christians distort. We make
these shine in their proper framework, proportion and balance within the categories of biblical
truth. I am proposing that we think hard about this third strategy towards our enemies. Paul
used this strategy in Acts 17:22–31. His evangelistic and apologetic strategy in Athens was
based on capturing three particular unbiblical thoughts (verses 23 and 28). He reframed them,
making them function in a biblical worldview. Did he ‘integrate’ paganism and the Word of
God? No, Paul meant wholly different things from the original authors’ intent. Consistent
presuppositional thinking comes to fruition not only in strategies of exposition and negation.
Biblical presuppositions also undergird a strategy of capture.
The necessity of recognizing the ultimate authority of Scripture in counseling having been
addressed, a specific model for a biblical orientation to counseling will now be the focus of
attention.
