The issue that Powlison (2010) addresses that I feel is most urgent at this time is the
expansion of biblical counseling to new audiences. I have grown up in the church and live
in the heart of Silicon Valley and most people I encounter are either ministers or
academics. The problem I see arise time and time again, is there is very little common
language between the two. My undergrad is in Psychology from Rosemead, which is an
integrated theological program, and even there, there was virtually no discussion of biblical
counseling. In Acts 19:8-10, Paul is trying to teach in the synagogue in Ephesus, but they
opposed him, so he did not stop teaching, he just changed his audience. If biblical
counseling wants to be relevant to the world of academia as well as to the minister, there
is a need to be able to bridge the gap and create a common language.
Powlison (2010) states that the same issues still face biblical counseling, the need to
create intellectual content and develop counseling methods. Powlison (2010) also states
that human motivation must be addressed, the relationship between human responsibility
and suffering needs clarity, the roles of the counselor need more understanding and the
roles between biblical counseling and secular psychology need to be understood. These
issues all seem to be sub-categories of the problem I believe is more prevalent. By
expanding to new audiences with common language and terms through the world of
academia, these issues will be resolved, studied, clarified, and written about in terms that
the mainstream audience will be able to consult. Peer-reviewed journal articles is how the
scientific world shares information, it is vital that the biblical counseling movement utilize
these resources to share the “powerful and subtle explanatory power” (Powlison, 2010, p.
254).
This is what I believe Powlison (2010) refers to when he speaks of “systematic biblical
counseling” (p. 271). This means the church, or the biblical counseling movement, needs to
continue the hard work of explaining the methods they are using and develop research that
shows effectiveness. In this way the INTEX model will continue to allow the gap to be
bridged by utilizing the scientific research model used in psychology and applying it to the
biblical counseling movement. James 1:5 states that if we need wisdom, we can ask God
to supply it. Wisdom also requires discernment, so that we can understand what is from
God and what is from man (Ps. 119:125). The scientific method of research might be able
to help “define sources and criteria of significant and reliable knowledge” (Powlison, 2010,
p. 277).
References
Powlison, D. (2010). The biblical counseling movement: History and context. New Growth
Press.
