Powlison has listed six major issues in contemporary Bible counseling. Among all the
issues, I believe that the first issue is the most significant or urgent. According to the first
issue, “Counseling in the Christian church continues to be significantly compromised by the
secular assumptions and practices of our cultures reigning psychologies and psychiatries”
(The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and context. New Growth Press, 2021). a The
Biblical-nouthetic counselling mainly focuses on counteracting secularism. Biblical
counselling functions within the Bible’s worldview, and Jesus Christ is at the centre of
everything. On the other hand, secular psychologies believe that the solution to the
problems of humans lies between or within the humans only (Crucial issues in
contemporary Biblical Counseling (excerpt). Biblical Counseling Coalition, 2011). a The first
issue is significant because it will reduce the power of the word of God in dealing with and
solving the problems of people. It may even diminish the transformational power of the
word of God. God’s word is actually powerful as stated in Hebrews, “For the word of God is
living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of
spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”
(Hebrews 4:12, ESV). The word of God or the Scripture has the power to solve any problem
that arises in the lives of people. In the book of Romans, Paul has also clearly stated that “I
myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled
with all knowledge and able to instruct one another” (Romans, 15:14, ESV). The secular
psychologies consider that the death of Christ is of no value and the God of the Bible is
insignificant for them.
I devalued the other five crucial issues as I believe the first one is the foundational one, and
the remaining five flow out of it. When a person is able to value the word of God and
respect the Scripture, automatically, the rest five issues will be addressed. Issue two and
three deal with the dynamics of human motivation and suffering. Such things actually come
from the heart. God is capable of changing the heart of a person. God can affect the heart
of His chosen individuals and bring about the desired changes through the word of God and
the Holy Spirit. In order to make the word of God effective in one’s life, one needs to believe
the words. Issue four and five relate to the relationship with the counselee and those
outside the church. It is important for the Biblical counselors to maintain the authority given
to them through and by the word of God in order to confront people within as well as
outside the church.
Reflecting on the understanding of Appendix 4, I would state that I am not in complete
opposition to learning from secular psychologies. However, when it is about curing souls, I
agree with Powlison. Only the people who are biblically wise actually qualify to counsel
people and cure their souls. Human wisdom or wisdom of the earth will not be able to cure
or completely heal a soul.
References
Crucial issues in contemporary Biblical Counseling (excerpt). Biblical Counseling Coalition.
(2011, October 20). Retrieved November 19, 2021, from
https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2011/10/20/crucial-issues-in-contemporary-
biblical-counseling/.
The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and context. New Growth Press. (2021). Retrieved
November 19, 2021, from https://newgrowthpress.com/the-biblical-counseling-movement/.
