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Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Proposal
In this groundbreaking work of first-order scholarship, Eric Johnson makes a vitally important contribution to the field of Christian counseling. He first presents a detailed overview and appreciative but critical evaluation of the reigning paradigms in the field of Christian counseling, particularly biblical counseling and integration. Building on their respective strengths, he seeks to move beyond the current impasse in the field and develop a more unified and robustly Christian understanding. Drawing upon the Bible and various Christian intellectual and soul care traditions, and through a Christian reinterpretation of relevant modern psychological theory and research, Johnson proceeds to offer a new framework for the care of souls that is comprehensive in scope, yet flows from a Christian understanding of human beings--what amounts to a distinctly Christian version of psychology. This book is a must-read for any serious Christian teacher, student, or practitioner in the fields of psychology or counseling.
716 pages, Hardcover
First published July 24, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 10, 2018
There are two things about Johnson that stand out to me. One is his humility. In person, he is gentle and gracious. In this sense, I want to be more like him. The other thing that stands out about him is he is highly intelligent, and has a deep well of academic knowledge to draw on. Both of these traits come through in his writing.
Johnson provides some careful critiques of different approaches to counseling (soul care) in this book on his way to articulating a Christian psychology, and these critiques are valuable. There is much to commend his approach to Christian psychology. He places high emphasis on the role of scripture as the final authority, and his practice and worldview back up the place he gives scripture.
One area of both strength and weakness is his understanding of Christian worldview. Johnson is strong in philosophical understanding and his assessment of many approaches to soul care reflects a carefully nuanced understanding of the philosophical assumptions of the approach.
There is just one area of his worldview analysis which I think is lacking, and this is one reason why I’ve given his book four stars. Like others who are close to his view (e.g. Coe and Hall), he seems to lack a thorough understanding of the Originistic worldview, and how it relates to our understanding of spirituality. Like Coe and Hall, his spirituality includes different levels of prayer, and a nod to the Catholic mystic tradition that it spawned without an adequate knowledge of the worldview inherent in this spirituality.
Another detractor from his approach to Christian Psychology is a lack of clarity about how to draw on secular forms of counseling. It seems to me that this is dependent on a strong understanding of worldview and philosophy that extends well beyond the creation, fall, redemption model that Johnson suggests. However, such knowledge would be out of the range of the average person wanting to help other people, potentially putting the ability to care for people outside of the realm of possibility for most church-goers. If Johnson wanted to create a Christian psychology and have it restricted to an academic environment, then this is fine. However, having such an approach as a mainstream endeavour seems to be something outside the scope of most pastors, let alone most church members.
Having said this, the value of an approach, and a thinker such as Johnson is that he provides plenty to think about, and having someone who engages so deeply with the broader world of psychology is beneficial to Christianity and the Biblical Counseling movement. But this is also a drawback for Johnson, as he is too biblical for psychology (and even many Christian integrationists), and to psychologically oriented for many Biblical Counselors. His difficult position provides the entire Christian counseling world with a lot to think about, and in this sense, his ministry and writings are immensely beneficial.
Johnson provides some careful critiques of different approaches to counseling (soul care) in this book on his way to articulating a Christian psychology, and these critiques are valuable. There is much to commend his approach to Christian psychology. He places high emphasis on the role of scripture as the final authority, and his practice and worldview back up the place he gives scripture.
One area of both strength and weakness is his understanding of Christian worldview. Johnson is strong in philosophical understanding and his assessment of many approaches to soul care reflects a carefully nuanced understanding of the philosophical assumptions of the approach.
There is just one area of his worldview analysis which I think is lacking, and this is one reason why I’ve given his book four stars. Like others who are close to his view (e.g. Coe and Hall), he seems to lack a thorough understanding of the Originistic worldview, and how it relates to our understanding of spirituality. Like Coe and Hall, his spirituality includes different levels of prayer, and a nod to the Catholic mystic tradition that it spawned without an adequate knowledge of the worldview inherent in this spirituality.
Another detractor from his approach to Christian Psychology is a lack of clarity about how to draw on secular forms of counseling. It seems to me that this is dependent on a strong understanding of worldview and philosophy that extends well beyond the creation, fall, redemption model that Johnson suggests. However, such knowledge would be out of the range of the average person wanting to help other people, potentially putting the ability to care for people outside of the realm of possibility for most church-goers. If Johnson wanted to create a Christian psychology and have it restricted to an academic environment, then this is fine. However, having such an approach as a mainstream endeavour seems to be something outside the scope of most pastors, let alone most church members.
Having said this, the value of an approach, and a thinker such as Johnson is that he provides plenty to think about, and having someone who engages so deeply with the broader world of psychology is beneficial to Christianity and the Biblical Counseling movement. But this is also a drawback for Johnson, as he is too biblical for psychology (and even many Christian integrationists), and to psychologically oriented for many Biblical Counselors. His difficult position provides the entire Christian counseling world with a lot to think about, and in this sense, his ministry and writings are immensely beneficial.
May 20, 2021
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The theory behind his proposal I generally agree with, though I have concerns with the way some Christian Psychologist practice their vocation. Portions of the book, however, I found to be treated in a somewhat sloppy manner. I would probably rate this closer to a 3.5, but this book is a valuable one to keep on the shelves and for the Christian pastor or elder to reference.
December 7, 2017
This is an important read for pastors and church leaders that counsel others. Johnson thoroughly reviews current evangelical soul-care paradigms especially integrationism and biblical counseling. He offers a fresh perspective that places Scripture in its rightful place, does not minimize the complexity of human beings, and is not afraid to learn from non-Christians and other disciplines.
This is a lengthy and comprehensive book that is worthy of the time required to digest it. Here's a flavor of his writing, "It was fitting, then, that God create a theater for his glory, a context within which his beauty could be displayed and then recognized by persons like himself in certain respects. These persons, made in his image, can become aware of God's beauty and love him the more they know him, and then--because of their relative likeness to God--actually participate in and display that beauty in and among themselves, becoming signs of the glory of the triune God in their love of God and one another through the Holy Spirit (p 263)."
QUOTES:
Because of the centrality of Christ to Christianity and the clarity of the gospel and its implications in the New Testament, it is in most cases desirable for Christians to spend proportionately more time in spiritual reading and meditation in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. Of course, the OT ought not to be neglected, for its soul-care value is obvious , but Christians must learn to think and live Christocentrically, and this they learn best in the New Testament. (202)
Yet the Bible teaches that in most cases God is best glorified when individuals remain faithful to their covenant vows in spite of the personal cost. In a God-centered universe, God's glory is a greater value than human's immediate happiness, and in the long run, these two agendas are coterminous. Therefore, irreconcilable differences cannot be considered grounds for divorce; they are grounds for glory. (191)
This is a lengthy and comprehensive book that is worthy of the time required to digest it. Here's a flavor of his writing, "It was fitting, then, that God create a theater for his glory, a context within which his beauty could be displayed and then recognized by persons like himself in certain respects. These persons, made in his image, can become aware of God's beauty and love him the more they know him, and then--because of their relative likeness to God--actually participate in and display that beauty in and among themselves, becoming signs of the glory of the triune God in their love of God and one another through the Holy Spirit (p 263)."
QUOTES:
Because of the centrality of Christ to Christianity and the clarity of the gospel and its implications in the New Testament, it is in most cases desirable for Christians to spend proportionately more time in spiritual reading and meditation in the New Testament than in the Old Testament. Of course, the OT ought not to be neglected, for its soul-care value is obvious , but Christians must learn to think and live Christocentrically, and this they learn best in the New Testament. (202)
Yet the Bible teaches that in most cases God is best glorified when individuals remain faithful to their covenant vows in spite of the personal cost. In a God-centered universe, God's glory is a greater value than human's immediate happiness, and in the long run, these two agendas are coterminous. Therefore, irreconcilable differences cannot be considered grounds for divorce; they are grounds for glory. (191)
May 3, 2015
Finally a book that explicitly details what a Christian psychology might look like in a balanced way! This book is beneficial for individuals who are not intimidated by large words (albeit even this wasn't too bad) and wish to know both theory and practice. The book does a remarkably good job at discussing the import of the bible in soul care (or therapy), in fact better than many of the theological works that I have read. The approach is theocentric and discursive, that is, God centered as well as sign centered: words (an example of a sign) have content and are offered for a specific purpose (e.g. to communicate, command, change opinions or hearts). This is the role of scripture. The author shifts us through several sections: introductory including views of scripture and history, methods of reading both scripture and psychological research, the four features of this model (i.e. doxological, semi discursive, trialogical, and canonical) compared to the four features of humanity (i.e. spiritual, ethical, psychological, bodily) etc. I'd say this is a work that can change the way you think, and hopefully, be and act.
April 6, 2017
This is a book that should be read by all genuine Christians who counsel or pastor. Johnson understands that the foundation for soul care is the splendor of God's glory displayed in Christ Jesus being treasured, enjoyed, and expressed in and through individuals nurtured in community. All modes of soul care are to point to this glorious end.
December 2, 2008
An instant classic in the genre of Christian psychology. Similar in focus to my work on biblical counseling: Soul Physicians.
Want to read
April 11, 2011Will have to get back to this. It's great but being bumped by other stuff...
July 14, 2015
A phenomenal look at the history of soul care and a proposal for Christian Psychology.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews