Caring for Souls: Counseling under the Authority of Scripture
Overview
Pastors today have a multitude of responsibilities, from preparing biblically sound messages to managing their churches. But their most difficult and most dreaded task is often that of pastoral care and counseling.
In Caring for Souls, experienced pastoral counselors and Professors Gary Bredfeldt and Harry Shields offer practical advice, sound theoretical teaching, and rich insights into the psychology/theology debate—taking the fear out of offering spiritual counsel by showing pastors, lay counselors, students, and others how we can provide effective, meaningful, and biblically sound help to our fellow believers.
Discover the answers to these questions and more:
- Is it appropriate to use secular psychology to help people in the church?
- How can I counsel people in a way that is consistent with Scripture?
- What can I do to ensure that I don’t burn out while caring for others?
Top Highlights
“As we consider the various theories of psychology and the methods of healing human emotions, we must recognize that only a right relationship with the Creator can ever produce the meaning we humans strive for or address the accountability that God demands.” (Page 63)
“They demanded that the Bible be placed in authority over all truth, all practice, and all matters of faith and worship. It is this view of Sola Scriptura that we believe can be most effectively practiced by those who seek to provide spiritual direction and counsel to others.” (Page 49)
“Proposition 2: Personality structure develops over time as a result of interactions between the individual’s inborn drives/needs and the responses of the key people in that person’s world.” (Page 189)
“Apart from a Creator, meaning cannot exist. Meaning by its very nature cannot come from within a person. It must be external, and it must be universal. If everyone creates his or her own meaning, then in reality, life is meaningless. The fact that God is our Maker gives purpose to life. By understanding that God made us, we have the foundation for establishing why we exist. Apart from the God of the Bible and specifically the work of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, science can only lead us back to an evolutionary cesspool of meaningless happenstance.” (Pages 62–63)
“Theologians seek to understand humans in reference to their Maker. Bible-centered theologians do not deny the valid role of science, empirical thinking, and research. In fact, theologians would suggest that science, even the social science disciplines of psychology, sociology, and anthropology, have a rightful function in the study of human beings as a part of God’s natural revelation.” (Page 93)
- Title: Caring for Souls: Counseling Under the Authority of Scripture
- Authors: Harry Shields and Gary J. Bredfeldt
- Publisher: Moody Press
- Publication Date: 2001
- Pages: 550
Dr. Harry Shields is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and is pastor of Calvary Bible Church in Neenah, Wisconsin. For the last fifteen years, he served on the faculty of the Moody Bible Institute, where he was the chairman of the Pastoral Studies Department. He and his wife have two adult sons who are also involved in local church ministries.
Dr. Gary J. Bredfeldt is the chair of the Department of Educational Ministries at the Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, and serves as an educational consultant and visiting instructor in the masters of education program at Indiana Wesleyan University. Dr. Bredfeldt leads advanced educational seminars, is often involved in teacher in-service training, and is a regular speaker at churches, conferences, and seminars. He is also coauthor of Creative Bible Teaching.
