Friday, August 19, 2005

God as therapy

I heard a critique of Christianity from a non-Christian on the radio the other day. He finds religion interesting, but he pointed out how common it is for God to become a therapy. Although God is the comforter, God is love, and God is our friend, God does not always make us comfortable, God does not always approve, and God is also our Father (or Daddy).

My Dad has a similar critique of the Church in America. It seems to him that psychological teaching has more influence than what the Bible teaches. Or rather, the Bible is taught in light of Psychology instead of viewing Psychology in light of the Bible.

An example of this would be from the four spiritual laws. Law 1: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. This would be alright, except that it neglects to point our God's wrath against and hatred of sin is so great that sinners must be punished. That isn't a comforting thought.

I have not thought of all the implications of this, nor do I understand all that encompasses therapy, but I will take this as a reminder to renew my mind with Scripture.

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