Dr. Stuart Scott's Comparison of Biblical and Secular Counseling

	Depth Psychology	Neo-Freudians	Behaviorism	Rational-Emotive Theory
LEADER	Freud 1890s	Adler (Horney)	Skinner 1900s	Ellis
MAN	-Instinctual animal -Id: drives -Superego: outside influences -Ego: what man thinks about himself	-Socially governed animal	-Conditioned animal -Blank tablet	-Basically good -Potential within
PROBLEM	-Conflict between Id and Superego	-Born weak & small -Feel inferior because of our limitations determined by age 5-6 years	-Environmental failure	-Victim of flawed irrational beliefs about themselves -Rooted in childhood -Man’s belief system is the cause
RESPONSIBILITY	-Not man’s	-Not man’s but society’s	-Not man’s (non-moral)	-Not man’s
VIEW OF MAN’S GUILT	-Result of imposed standards from others	-Mistakes in thinking and valuing -Lack of confidence	-Not important (no evils)	-Crooked thinking: results in neurotic thinking and behaving
TREATMENT	-Actualize potential -Strengthen the Ego -Make the unconscious conscious -Find source in insight & awareness	-Strive for superiority -Control own fate -Emphasize emotional health and importance of birth order	-Restructure environment -Client – determines what they want -Therapists – determines how it will be changed	-Eliminate self-defeating outlook on life -Acquire a rational view of life -Process of re-education -Practice actively changing self-defeating behaviors
RESOLUTION OF MAN’S GUILT	-Cultural societal values and parents to blame	-Change thinking to feel better and behave better	-Change standard according to client’s “needs”	-Reorienting one’s thinking, judging, analyzing, doing, and re-deciding
COUNSELOR	-Expert	-Encourager -Adapt to client’s “needs”	-Technician	-Teacher and educator -Insight emphasized
PROBLEMS	-Unbiblical anthropology -Promotes self-absorption, narcissism -Victim mentality	-Unbiblical anthropology -Victim mentality -Pride	-Unbiblical anthropology -Manipulates through rewards & punishments -Ignores man as spiritual being -Victim mentality	-Unbiblical identification of beliefs -Substitution of therapist’s beliefs system rather than God’s Word for counselee’s belief system.

	Third Force	Family Systems	Biblical
LEADER	Rogers	Ackerman	GOD
MAN	-Basically good -Potential within -Mature like a flower	-Product of flawed relationships in the family	-Created by God to glorify God
PROBLEM	-Environment hinders	-System is faulty; causality circular and multi-directional -Individual is simply fulfilling a function within the system	-Fallen sinner by choice
RESPONSIBILITY	-Not man’s	-Not man’s	-Man’s
VIEW OF MAN’S GUILT	-Not important	-Non-pathological; simply problems in living	-Result of sin -Real
TREATMENT	-Help him realize potential -Solution within -Focus on feeling	-System as a whole (key principle) -Focus is on the function the believer serves and removing the need in order to allow the behavior to be unnecessary -Alter how the various relationships are carried out	-Justification by faith -Progressive sanctification -Spirit and Word -Focus on objective data
RESOLUTION OF MAN’S GUILT	-Take whatever steps necessary to achieve the goal of being comfortable with oneself	-Change family relationships by differention of individual selves; the more “differentiated” the better adjusted -Reconstructive family organization -Change dysfunctional transactional patterns	-Deal with sin -Deal with trials -Deal with response
COUNSELOR	-Mirror	-Mental health expert and cultural healer -Alters how the various relationships are carried out	-Biblical Discipler/Counselor
PROBLEMS	-Unbiblical anthropology -Solution is within rather than in Christ -Victim mentality	-Unbiblical anthropology -Promotes irresponsibility and self-focus -Victim mentality	-NONE that can’t be overcome by God, His Word, and His obedient children

Review of "Same Kind of Different as Me"

I just finished reading ""Same Kind of Different as Me." This book has been wildly popular and has sold hundreds of copies at my LifeWay store alone. This book is billed as a true story about prejudice, homelessness, sickness, suffering, forgiveness, and faith. On the positive side, this book is really easy to read. The reader will find the short chapters conducive to fast reading. The short chapters also make it easy to read in short periods of time. Another benefit of the book is that a study guide is included in the back of the book which could be useful for starting conversations on race, poverty, and faith. Finally another advantage of this book is that it is written by two different authors who bring two completely different points of view. On the negative side, this book contains very little - if any - Scripture. Those who hope for a biblical study on poverty or race will be sorely disappointed. Some readers will be offended at the authors' use of language. The words "nigger" and "crap" can be found more than once and other very descriptive language may be unsuitable for younger readers. Finally it is clear that the writers were trying to be "vintage/authentic" in their styles of writing. However the authors were not consistent in their use of dialect and therefore switch back and forth between slang and proper English. This could just be a pet peeve of mine, but I would have liked to have seen the authors stay in character.

This is a compensated review.

Review of "Christianity in Crisis"

In Christianity in Crisis, Hank Hanegraaff offers his response to the issues surrounding the prosperity Gospel. He defends traditional orthodoxy against the new teachings of various, popular pastors and speakers such as Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, and Jesse Duplantis. Hanegraaff's critics will surely accuse him of heresy hunting, as he has relatively few positive comments on these teachers. In all honesty, it could be that Hanegraaff isn't completely objective. He often offers emotional appeals and does seem to take the teachers out of context at times. However besides these slight cautions, this book is extremely well-written. Hanegraaff has obviously placed a tremendous amount of time into researching and writing this volume. It is extremely thorough in its purpose to expose the underlying fallacies of these men and women. Simply put, I have never seen a book that was this well documented and researched. The indexing and documentation are extensive. This book belongs in every pastor's study as it will offer him quick answers to the questions of wondering church-goers.