In the book, A Little Book for New Theologians, Kelly Kapic identifies a number of potential false dichotomies or theological divides that can arise in one’s approach to theology.[1] In particular, one may observe the false dichotomies of life and theology, faith and reason, exegesis and revelation, prayer and theological reflection, grace and obedience, vertical and horizontal relationships, tradition and community, as well as Biblicism and liberalism within the life of the Church. Jennie Penn-Lewis astutely illuminated the risk of false dichotomies that plague Christianity in her statement, “The enemy pushes truth too far, so that it becomes error.”[2]
One practical example of the dichotomy of faith and reason facing Christianity today is in the sphere of pastoral counseling. On the one hand, John MacArthur suggests, “Psychology and Christianity have been enemies from the beginning.”[3] Alternatively, Alexis Trader claims, “cognitive psychotherapy has a deep consanguinity with the disciplines engaged by the Christian fathers.”[4] Overemphasizing either faith, to the exclusion of sound cognitive reasoning and analysis, or cognition, to the exclusion of faith-based principles, creates significant risks. An overemphasis on faith, to the exclusion of all forms of psychotherapy, leaves some convinced that MacArthur is culpable for an unfortunate tragedy in a family living Southern California. The family of a young man, Kenneth Nally, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against MacArthur’s church and its pastors implicating them in Nally’s suicide by asserting that the “church was negligent in several ways including discouraging Nally from receiving psychological or psychiatric care.”[5] Alternatively, an overemphasis on reasoned cognitive approaches to psychotherapy, devoid of faith, risks a form of secular humanism that may build on the constructs of evolution, determinism, philosophical naturalism, and post-modern relativistic thought.
David Entwistle assists in reconciling the tension that exists between the apparent dichotomies of faith and reason within an environment of pastoral counseling by suggesting, “All truth is God’s truth, so that wherever and however truth is discovered, its author is God.”[6] In other words, an integrationist perspective to pastoral counseling does not require a rejection of faith or reason. Finally, by examining the dichotomy through the lens of Kapic’s book, it appears the author would resolve the tension by asserting the necessity that faith must precede reason.[7] Cornelius Van Til contributes nicely to the conversation by metaphorically reminding the reader that Solomon employed the assistance of the Phoenicians in building the great Hebrew Temple as servants, not as architects.[8] Likewise, Kapic would recognize the value in cognitive psychotherapy as a servant, but not an architect of one’s faith.
[1] Kelly M. Kapic, A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012), 9.
[2] Jessie Penn-Lewis, The Spiritual Warfare (Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1998), 44.
[3] John MacArthur, Wayne A. Mack, and the Master’s College Faculty, Introduction to Biblical Counseling: A Basic Guide to the Principles and Practice of Counseling (Dallas: Word, 1994), xiii.
[4] Alexis Trader, Ancient Christian Wisdom and Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy: A Meeting of Minds (New York: Peter Lang, 2011), ix.
[5] David N. Entwistle, Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical Foundations, and Models of Integration (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2010), 172.
[6] Ibid., 13.
[7] Kapic, A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology, 51.
[8] Cornelius Van Til, Christian Theistic Evidences (Philadelphia: Westminster Theological Seminary, 1961), 67.
Bibliography
Entwistle, David N. Integrative Approaches to Psychology and Christianity: An Introduction to Worldview Issues, Philosophical Foundations, and Models of Integration. Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2010.
Kapic, Kelly M. A Little Book for New Theologians: Why and How to Study Theology. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2012.
MacArthur, John, Wayne A. Mack, and the Master’s College Faculty. Introduction to Biblical Counseling: A Basic Guide to the Principles and Practice of Counseling. Dallas: Word, 1994.
Penn-Lewis, Jessie. The Spiritual Warfare. Fort Washington, PA: Christian Literature Crusade, 1998.
Trader, Alexis. Ancient Christian Wisdom and Aaron Beck’s Cognitive Therapy: A Meeting of Minds. New York: Peter Lang, 2011.
Van Til, Cornelius. Christian Theistic Evidences. Philadelphia: Westminster Theological Seminary, 1961.
