The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context

by David Powlison

Publisher:

New Growth Press

, 2010

Overview

In principle, Christians believe knowing Jesus Christ is the original and abiding “cure of the soul.” But in practice, the church’s provision of personalized care and counsel has often been unthoughtful and unskillful. During the past 150 years, many other practitioners and theorists have filled the gap.

Psychiatry and psychotherapy (transliterations of two Greek words for “cure of the soul”) claim to offer the deep truth that explains a human being and the final word on how we can be cured from the troubles that beset us. Secularized explanations and cures call for no recourse to the Bible or Jesus.

Beginning in the late 1960s, a biblical counseling movement sought to reclaim counseling for the church. It aimed to provide a coherently Christian alternative to mainstream psychiatry and psychotherapy. The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context is an informative and thought-provoking account of that movement.

How did it begin and develop? What were the defining ideas? Where were the tension points and struggles, both internally and with evangelical psychotherapists? David Powlison’s historical account combines careful scholarship with unique, eyewitness insight.

This book is an invaluable resource for those who want to understand the biblical counseling movement. The core chapters were originally a PhD dissertation in history of science and medicine (University of Pennsylvania). This new edition adds a lengthy appendix, containing articles by Dr. Powlison.

These extend and deepen the history, giving a fine-grained analysis of developments within the biblical counseling movement and in its relationship to evangelical psychotherapists. The author also freely expresses his point of view and personal convictions regarding the history he has carefully described.

Key Features

• Offers the deep truth that explains a human being.
• Provides a coherently Christian alternative to mainstream psychiatry and psychotherapy.
• Combines careful scholarship with unique, eyewitness insight.

Product Details

• Title: The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context
• Author: David Powlison
• Publisher: New Growth Press
• Print Publication Date: 2010
• Logos Release Date: 2024
• Era: era:contemporary
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Counseling—Religious aspects—Christianity; Bible—Psychology; Bible—Use; Christianity—Psychology; Christian life—Biblical teaching
• ISBNs: 9781936768509, 9781935273134, 1935273132, 193676850X
• Resource ID: LLS:BBLCLCNSLNCNTXT
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-08-08T21:51:20Z

About David Powlison

David Powlison, M.Div., Ph.D (1949-2019) was a popular speaker, writer, and faculty member of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation’s School of Biblical Counseling. He also taught Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary and edited the Journal of Biblical Counseling. Dr. Powlison has also written Seeing with New Eyes: Counseling and the Human Condition Through the Lens of Scripture, a 2004 nominee for the coveted ECPA Gold Medallion Award. In addition, he has written Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare, and numerous articles on counseling.