Building Bridges with Biblical Counselors

Abstract

Few bridges exist between the fields of biblical counseling and Christian psychology. Even in the 1970s, at the height of the debate, dialogue was scarce and limited to public literary attacks. Today, Christian psychology rarely interacts with the biblical counseling world, much less dialogues with it. These interactions often are limited to pointing out perceived flaws in biblical counseling or sweeping generalizations about the whole field as examples of narrow-minded therapy. On the other hand, biblical counselors have also done little to pursue contact with those in the field of Christian psychology. Some prominent and searing books portray Christian psychologists as worshippers of a false religion or as professionals who structure sessions into neat packages of 50-minute slots for the purpose of convenience and income. In this regard, bridge-burning seems more prevalent than bridge-building. In an effort to renew dialogue and decrease polarizing rhetoric, bridge-burning tactics of each group are surveyed. The author presents four topics for future discussion, and suggests ways to promote dialogue.