Scripture and Counseling: God's Word for Life in a Broken World

by Robert W. Kellemen, Jeff Forrey (Editor), R. Albert Mohler Jr. (Foreword)

Today we face a tremendous weakening of confidence in the Bible. This is just as true for the pastor offering counsel in his office as it is for the person in the pew talking with a struggling friend at Starbucks or the small group leader who is unsure of what to say to a hurting group member. We need to regain our confidence in God’s Word as sufficient to address the real life issues we face today.  We need to understand how the Bible equips us to grow in counseling competence as we use it to tackle the complex issues of life.

Scripture and Counseling is divided into two sections of nine chapters each:

Part One helps readers to develop a robust biblical view of Scripture’s sufficiency for “life and godliness” leading to increased confidence in God’s Word.  
Part Two assists readers in learning how to use Scripture in the counseling process. This section demonstrates how a firm grasp of the sufficiency of Scripture leads to increased competence in the ancient art of personally ministering God’s Word to others.

Part of the Biblical Counseling Coalition series, Scripture and Counseling brings you the wisdom of twenty ministry leaders who write so you can have confidence that God’s Word is sufficient, necessary, and relevant to equip God’s people to address the complex issues of life in a broken world. It blends theological wisdom with practical expertise and is accessible to pastors, church leaders, counseling practitioners, and students, equipping them to minister the truth and power of God’s word in the context of biblical counseling, soul care, spiritual direction, pastoral care, and small group facilitation.

Genres: Counselling, Theology, Christian, School, Christian Non Fiction

476 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 7, 2014

About the author

My passion is to write, speak, and consult on Christ-centered comprehensive, compassioante, culturally-informed biblical counseling and spiritual formation that changes lives with Christ's changeless truth

My web site is: www.rpmministries.org

I have authored:

Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direciton

Soul Physicians: A Theology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction

Spiritual Friends: A Methodology of Soul Care and Spiritual Direction

Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith

My wife, Shirley, and I have been married for 28 years. We have a married son, Josh (to Andi), and a young adult daughter, Marie, who is a college Senior.

Reviews

[Pat Baird]

I usually write a more involved review. But this was a really slow burn and I’m so glad it’s over. 2.5/5 …. High highs and low lows. This book deserves some bulleted thoughts.

Pros:
- Many dear brothers and sisters attributed to this work.
- The depression chapter, and historical chapter were phenomenal.
- A lot of practical help and resources.

Cons:
- 400pg book, probably 300 pgs too long
- Extremely repetitive
- Weak argumentation

Would not recommend, but would be beneficial to own for reference.

[Elissa (Christian_Bookworm_Reviews)]

This was a great book full of helpful, encouraging, and biblical information on Biblical Counseling. I highly recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in Biblical Counseling, and even to those who aren't. I probably would have enjoyed it even more had I not been rushing through it for a class; rushing hindered me from getting to fully savor the truths and insight at my own pace.

[Caroline Jack]

I really did love reading this book! It has been so helpful to reference as it discusses a wide variety of counseling issues in the scope of Scripture. I'll use this as a reference for a long long time! Very practical, but not a how-to book. It provides you with a Biblical framework to work with as you discuss issues rather than giving you a bible verse as a band-aid.

[John Pate]

An excellent collection of essays concerning how we view the Scriptures and how we use the Scriptures.

Part 1 seeks to give a "robust biblical view of Scripture for life and godliness" (17). The authors make the case that the Bible is trustworthy, yes, but that it is also sufficient for all matters related to the human soul. The Bible not only answers our questions; it tells us what questions we ought to be asking. This section helped a lot with my understanding of the place for modern pyschology in a Christian's thinking.

Part 2 then brings that biblical view of Scripture down to earth to show how the Bible can and ought to be used in personal discipleship and counseling. I felt that this section could be a great resource for future reference in counseling.

[Steven Reid]

Scripture and Counseling is a comprehensive introductory work on the concept and practice of biblical counseling. The contributors focus less on defining and describing biblical counseling and more on the role of the Bible in personal ministry, highlighting its relevance to all issues faced by humanity in a fallen world.

The book is divided into two parts. Part one, “How We View The Bible For Life In A Broken World,” sets the necessary foundation for applying the Bible in specific counseling cases. In this section, the contributors discuss topics such as the sufficiency of Scripture, understanding truth, the interplay of psychology and Scripture, Christ as the aim of counseling, and Scripture’s continued relevance today.

In part two, “How We Use The Bible For Life In A Broken World,” explores general and specific ways of applying Scripture to various areas of sin and suffering. The biggest strength of the book lies in this section. In four chapters, the contributors provide examples of how to apply narrative, wisdom literature, gospels, and epistles in biblical counseling. They promote a philosophy that goes deeper than merely having a cache of verses for common issues and illustrate how all of the Bible speaks to the human condition.

The overall aim of the contributors and editors of Scripture and Counseling is to increase biblical counselors’ confidence in the sufficiency of Scripture to address real issues that people face today and to equip biblical counselors with the competencies needed for effective counseling. Regarding this goal, the book successfully fulfills its purpose. Although it is introductory and broad, it lays a solid foundation for anyone looking to grow in biblical counseling (or nouthetic counseling). However, I contend that nearly every chapter is about 20% too long. Many chapters appear redundant in their messages or take too long to arrive at their central ideas. In this respect, the book is longer than necessary and can feel a bit burdensome to finish. Moreover, since the book features multiple contributors (approximately 20), the reading flow becomes choppy. Each contributor has a distinct style, resulting in each chapter being arranged and written differently. This requires the reader to adapt to a new writing style with each chapter, further contributing to the perception of the book as lengthy and burdensome. Overall, the content is good, but the style leaves room for improvement.

[Sharayah Lee]

An excellent book on the use of Scripture in Biblical Counseling. It can be a bit repetitive at times because of the various authors throughout the book. It’s also a lengthy book to read in a week… my instructor told me to skim read it. All in all, it would be a good book to read over a period of time.

A quote that went with the theme of suffering I’ve been learning about:
“She saw that the point of her suffering was to grow in greater faith in God and to not assume she is entitled to answers for all of her questions.”

[Tanner Howard]

Really a 2.5.
If you have never thought about the bible being the foundation and source of how we counsel others, then this book may be for you. If you knew that already, don't read this book.

This jumped from being encouraging at times to sadly remedial in the worst possible ways.

Maybe this is a product of the Christian integration debates involving medicine, I'm not sure... But i didn't enjoy it.

[Rebekah]

Helpful book on the sufficiency of scripture on life's issues... and how to tell if you are mixing in secular worldview and thinking and why not to. Useful for every christian as well or professional counselors. The hard part is over simplifying issues or going a rote answer, but a book can't answer every question.

[Vincent Lesner]

This book was well written by various authors, explaining what biblical counseling is and then seeks to give examples on how to counsel people using the various literal genres of Scripture. This is a good resource.

[Nick]

Comprehensive, as a close to 500 page book should be. There are many practical resources in this book, including footnotes and appendices, that I'm sure I will return to in the future. I finished the book with a greater desire to know the word of God.

[Nick]

Very good as far as text-books go. Easy to read, easy to understand, with lots of good information.

A few chapters seemed unnecessary, but for anyone interested in Biblical Counseling, this would be a great resource.

[Erica]

Sometimes Heavy, but worth it for the valuable insight.

The authors define the relevance of Scripture to counseling, and contrast the worldly wisdom available to the time-proven value of God-breathed Counsel from His Word. Practical application for specific needs conclude the volume.

[JT Goodart]

A helpful and practical resource on the sufficiency of Scripture to biblically counsel.

[Stevie Ciske]

Great book for those in counseling or pastoral care.

[Timothy Benefield]

Overall, a very helpful book. It gives both a theological and practical examination of Biblical counseling covering the sufficiency of Scripture, the fundamental opposition of most psychology to Biblical counseling, and specific case studies of how to use various parts of Scripture in counseling. In conjunction with the college class for which I read this, the book expanded and exalted my view of Scripture as applicable for healing all kinds of human brokenness.

Though reading straight through can be a grind, it does excel at being a good reference book. I will undoubtedly be returning to this material in the future. Highly recommend if you want a foundational and still thorough exploration of the topic.

[Rose]

This book is an excellent resource for anyone who wishes to be part of a biblical counseling ministry, whether it be in their church, as part of a parachurch organization, or even just in their day to day life. Broken into two parts, the first part covers how we view the Bible on a broken world. The second half covers how we use the Bible in a broken world. This book gives practical tools for understanding and applying Scripture in a counseling setting. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking to become a better biblical counselor.

[Donise Cheeks]

Outstanding book. I am new to the genre of biblical counseling so I'm not a good baseline for you seasoned professionals. I am impressed with the work of Dr. Kellemen and particularly his work with the African-American community. He is a new discovery for me and I thoroughly enjoy his intimate writing style, and the ease of reading his books. I read his dissertation on Martin Luther and it's like I drank the Kool-aid. I am 'mos def' a hooked fan.

[Daniel]

Solid