Page 6 - Advanced Biblical Counseling Student Textbook

Secular beliefs concerning humanity
Secularists, those whose philosophies are not rooted in God’s Word, strongly hold to various beliefs that
greatly influence what advice they may give in dealing with life issues. They hold to a world view which
alienates God or the Bible. For the most part, they deny the spiritual realm of a person as well as his
basic nature inherited from Adam. Problems are not a result of sin; they are an illness and can be
treated with drugs. Here are some basic principles that form the foundation of their belief system:

1. Humans are simply complex animals (Naturalism).

2. Humans are strictly biological beings without a spirit or soul (Materialism).
Sigmund Freud: “Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that
it falls in with our instinctual desires.”

3. People are basically good or at least morally neutral.

4. Human problems result from biological or external circumstances.
Mental illnesses result from genetic or other physical disorders.
Problem behaviors result from poor social conditioning.

5. Humans have free will (i.e. autonomy) and are able to solve their own problems.

6. “Guilt” is a man-made social construct that is destructive to psychological wellbeing.

7. The spirit world controls the material world, including people.

The Biblical Counseling Movement
The Biblical counseling movement is a response to the way many in the church have sought to
accommodate secular thought.

Since the beginning of the 20th century, secular psychology has dominated higher education, including
most Christian seminaries. Rather than reject the naturalistic, humanistic, and materialistic philosophies
that undergirded psychological research, seminary leaders sought to accommodate these philosophies
into the Christian worldview. This meant that pastors were increasingly being trained to counsel using
the philosophies of modern psychology or even to refer their members to professional psychologists
when faced with what was termed “mental health” issues.

The biblical counseling movement is a response to this integration of secular philosophy into the
teachings of the church and to the “outsourcing” of soul care to professionals. The Bible fundamentally
deals with the human soul; and, when properly understood and applied, it provides the help needed to
those who are suffering under the various difficulties that this world creates. The goal of the movement
is to reclaim soul care to the church and to wrest it away from the clutches of the world.

The Biblical counseling movement holds the following beliefs:

Believes there is no fellowship between Satan and Christ (2 Cor. 6:14-18), so rejects partnership with or
integration of secular philosophies.

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