Showing posts sorted by relevance for query psychology. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query psychology. Sort by date Show all posts

Sunday, April 14, 2013

Questioning Psychology and Evolution

To dare question the validity of psychology ( "mental illness" and "chemical imbalance"), especially in light of no studies that prove this, is like taking on evolution when, as with the other two, there is zero evidence of the existence of such a thing.

Tell a lie long enough, people will begin to believe it. Even without any evidence to support it. Even in the face of evidence that actually disproves it. Think of the movie "Expelled" with Ben Stein; the documentary of how dogmatic academia and our society, really, are in regard to the presumption of evolution even though there's never been any evidence to support is main presumptions. The same reaction is found when questioning the validity or daring to think outside of the dogma of psychology.

Both evolution and  psychology  are related. Because evolution devalues human life to that of mere animal which developed over eons of time from a primordial soup, believing we are nothing more than the sum of material (cells), there was left a gaping hole as to how to deal with the inner man; the emotions, thoughts, and spirit of the individual. Enter psychology. Psychology is the daughter of evolution, and the studies done under the guise of "science"  (always biased, and funded by pharmaceutical companies who need to make money and by researchers who need the companies to fund their research), involve animal trials.

We are not animals. We are created in the image of God.


Gen 1:26  Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Gen 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 
Gen 1:28  And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

By biblical definition and pronouncement of the Creator, we are above animals and we are to subdue them an  have dominion over them. 

We are not animals. We are spiritual beings. All of us have minds, wills, emotions, reason, and spirits. This is untrue of all animals and insects, etc. We are, in a word, unique, and the crowning glory of  triune God's creation (pronounced as "good" and "a little lower than the angels" see Gen. 1:27-31 and Heb. 2:7).

Therefore, because we are unique, and really, even distinct, from all other creation, we should never use animals as a comparison  in research on psychotropic drugs nor in trying to determine the cause of a behavior. Animals don't have reason, wills, spirits, or thoughts. They have instinct. This is why we are superior to them and therefore can subdue and rule over them.

Why compare what happens to mere rats in a lab when they dope it up to what might happen to humans when they are doped up?

Evolution for one thing, even if there's absolutely zero evidence of evolution anywhere connecting man to animal. Similarity claimed is merely surface and not of substance. 

To observe a behavior in a rat and then infer its the same for a human is not only irrational, its insulting. When has a researcher asked a rat how he was feeling that day? Did the rat tell the researcher his feelings, thoughts, and attitudes both before and after being doped up? It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it.

It should.

That's exactly what they do in "research" (funded by pharmaceutical companies with a vested interest in finding a study that confirms what they NEED it to confirm, not to mention the monetary investment). Inactivity in a rat or a mouse is presumed to be "depression". Why? How? In humans, depression is merely defined by symptoms reported by the client that particular day (he might be having a bad day or week), and then its  interpreted by a therapist or psychiatrist as to what category (decided to be placed in the DSM by voting it in or out) to place that client in.

In a word its totally subjective, from the researcher, to the client, to the therapist. 

God has told us why there is sin in the world, and why we as individuals sin, as well as what the cure is. I will listen to the Creator and Owner of this universe who has a perfect tract record of truth and faithfulness. This was the general worldview up until recent history. 

Additionally, to label certain behaviors good and others bad is not a scientific exercise, its a religious/moral exercise. Something psychology and its mother, evolution cannot account for, nor has any authority in which to categorize anything of such a nature. It tries and thus we have the DSM which is voted on every 5 years or so by a bunch of psychologists and psychiatrists who themselves are bias and have an evolutionary, secular humanistic worldview, with a vested interest in the longevity of their careers and field.

One can see the idol of evolution and psychology by our culture and individuals. Its been so ingrained into our society for so long--lying about its "fact" when there is none--that most people presume its truth. When you deny that "truth", people get really upset.

Today's culture demands you accept the "truth" of evolution or you aren't recognized as having  a valid view or career. In the same way, today's culture demands you accept "psychology" or more specifically mental "illness" (saying the mind can be diseased--not the brain, but the MIND, and thus the dogma of"chemical imbalance"), and if you don't, you are dismissed as hateful, uneducated, and worthless to listen to.

I believe the reaction to the rejection of both evolution and psychology is the same as I've seen it myself. I also know that the root of both are lies and philosophies which are couched not in science, but a worldview, which are in fact, a sort of religion. Evolution and psychology are founded in anti-Christ, anti-God, anti-biblical presumptions and worldview. They are idols of our society and sadly yet clearly have zero answers to the plight of man.

Saturday, June 01, 2013

Is "All Truth God's Truth"?

If "all truth is God's truth" is a valid statement, then one is equating revealed (special), inspired (from God's very mouth), truth which is by its source holy and pure, with that which is unholy, worldly, temporal, of the flesh, seen, discoverable by all men even or especially those who are unregenerate God-haters. It is to lower the Scriptures to an unholy place, as if its just another truth, another textbook. Such a claim takes away the authority and power of Scripture which is unique only to it (2Tim. 3:15-16; Matt. 4:4). Ps. 138:2  states that God exalts His Word and His name above all else, but the statement "all truth is God's truth" lowers it from such a lofty and authoritative and unique place where God has placed it. In fact, its to reverse what HE does with His Word. It lowers the holy Scriptures to a mundane, finite place of truth that even unregenerate dead men can understand as easily as a mathematical equation. God's revelation is not discoverable, as Bookman discusses below; rather it is proclaimed by God Himself.

Observation is not revelation. 

Foundation matters because it shows the origination of where something is from and thus whether it has any authority.. James 3 states there area but two places, two kinds of wisdom in this world--one is true and pure and beneficial for the soul; the other is deadly and demonic:

Jas 3:13  Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.
Jas 3:14  But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.
Jas 3:15  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic.
Jas 3:16  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
Jas 3:17  But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy.
Jas 3:18  And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Peace starts with God and His salvation because man is at war with Him. There is no spiritual peace (which is true, eternal peace) for those not saved nor for those with worldly wisdom.

Because psychology's foundation is literally worldly and demonic, it is powerless to deal with man's true over-arching foundational problem: sin.

Psychology in its foundation and principles deny:
each person of the Trinity
that the triune God of Scripture is Creator and thus has all authority over all creation
that Jesus is the risen Savior and Master
the authority and power of Scripture
the Person and work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's life
the reason and goal of salvation
man's total depravity before the thrice holy God
the Fall

Psychology  is Self-seeking and Self-preserving, not Christ-glorifying, Christ-honoring, nor Christ-loving; therefore psychology cannot lead a person to Christ, cause them to love Him above all else, follow Him to the exclusion of all else, and cannot deal with the problem of sin.

2Co 6:14  Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 
2Co 6:15  Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
2Co 6:16  Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
2Co 6:17  "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.


Col 2:2  that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 
Col 2:3  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
Col 2:4  I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument. 

Col 2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 
Col 2:9  For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 
Col 2:10  and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 

Col 2:20  If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 
Col 2:21  "Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!"
Col 2:22  (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)--in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 
Col 2:23  These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence. 

Col 3:1  Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 
Col 3:2  Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
Col 3:3  For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 
Col 3:4  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.

James 3 as noted earlier, calls the wisdom of the world to be earthly and demonic and produces nothing but evil and chaos and bloats pride.

Psychology can't nor does it promote spiritual truth. It doesn't call the sinner to repentance, self-denial, to exaltation of Christ Jesus above all else, to love God with all of one's heart, strength, mind and soul (even though "psychology" means "study of the soul"). In other words, psychology cannot deal with the soul at all, nor the absolute all-encompassing problem of disobeying the first and greatest of all the commands in all of Scripture: to love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength.

Instead, psychology makes the sinner, who has repeatedly offended the thrice holy God of Scripture, to be the victim, the offended one. The customer/client of psychology is at war with his Maker and pride is his problem. Because of this foundational truth (starting from Gen. 3- Rev. 22), there is no peace for the sinner. Unless he stops warring with God and bows in humble repentance before Him, confessing his sin to God and realizes he is earning God's wrath for all of his lawless deeds, then he'll never be whole.

For your consideration:
http://www.psychoheresy-aware.org/sproul11_6.html :


Bookman refutes the notion that human discoveries can be regarded as God’s revelation. He says:


The issue, then, is not whether it is possible that truth might be discovered by human investigation of the natural and moral universe; rather, the issue is whether truth thus discovered can be assigned to the category of general revelation, and to prove that such material discovery can effect spiritual change.
My contention is that by reason of the proper definition of the theological category "general revelation" and by reason of the intrinsic and divine integrity and authority that must be granted to any truth-claim that is placed under that category, it is erroneous and misleading to assign to that category humanly deduced or discovered facts and theories. The issue is larger than appropriate taxonomy. In fact, to assign such humanly determined truths to the category of general revelation introduces a twofold fallacy into the argument when it is used as a rationale for the integrationist position.

First, there is the fallacy that might be termed falsely perceived validity. Revelation is from God; thus it is by definition true and authoritative. To assign human discoveries to the category of general revelation is to imbue them with an aura of validity and consequent authority that they do not, indeed, they cannot merit. Thus, to assign a concept to the category of general revelation when that concept is in fact a theory concocted by a person is, in effect, to lend God’s name to a person’s ideas. That is fallacious, no matter the intrinsic truth or falsehood of the theory under consideration.

The second fallacy might be called crippled accountability. That is, once it is acknowledged that these theories are revelatory in nature, the issue of challenging them becomes moot. Much may be said about testing the ideas thus derived before acknowledging them as part of that august body of truth that God has communicated in the natural order of things, or about honoring the distinction in intrinsic authority between general and special revelations, but to craft an argument for integration based upon the equal merits and authority of general revelation and special revelation is functionally to short-circuit such efforts and to deny such distinctions. Very simply, if it is revelation, then God said it; if God said it, then it is true; when God speaks truth, mankind’s responsibility is not to test that truth but to obey it. It is self-contradictory to insist that general revelation can include truths that must be "studied and examined for their trustworthiness."

In summary, then, the integrationist rationale that arises from the claim that perceived truths established by human research constitute a subset of the category general revelation, and thus possess the authority and dependability native to revelation, is flawed first of all in its misdefinition of the term revelation. Inherent to the biblical concept of revelation is the idea of nondiscoverability.***

[***Douglas Bookman. "The Scriptures and Biblical Counseling" in Introduction to Biblical Counseling, John F. MacArthur, Jr. and Wayne A. Mack, eds. Dallas: Word Publishing, 1994, pp. 74. 75.]

I have written about this before:

Natural Theology's Fallacy:

Natural theologians constantly commit one of the simplest errors. They take an idealized and romantic modern concept of human “Reason,” that developed during the Renaissance, particularly during the French Revolution,and insert it back into biblical times and even attempt to insert it into biblical texts. But is it possible that ancient writers, most of whom died thousands of years before the Renaissance, knew of and believed in modern Renaissance romantic ideals of an exalted and abstract “Reason,” before whom all must bow, including God?

Ideas have a history that we cannot ignore. We can trace when, where, and through whom an idea first appeared in history. Newton’s idea of the “law of gravity” and Einstein’s “theory of relativity” are good examples of this.

The attempt to take a modern idea and push it back thousands of years before it appeared in history is a grave mistake. If someone claimed that Einstein’s theory of relativity was taught in the Bible, they would be grossly mistaken. But this is exactly what those who believe in Natural Theology, Natural Law, and Philosophy do all the time.

The French Natural Philosophers had abstracted, idealized, romanticized, and then absolutized human reason into an all-seeing, all-knowing, omnipresent, omnipotent, infallible, “Reason.” They took man’s limited and faulty ability to think about issues and then came to a conclusion and elevated it into the Origin of truth, justice, morals, meaning, and beauty. “Reason” was the measure of all things, including God. They had replaced “God” with “Reason. During the French Revolution, people were dragged before the “bar” or bench of a rationalist judge who proclaimed their guilty verdict in the name of “Reason.”

This is one of the fundamental methodological errors of J.P. Moreland, Norman Geisler, William lane Craig, Greg Koukl, Francis Beckwith, et al. They cite such texts as Isa. 1:18 (”Let us reason together”) and Acts 17:2 (”Paul…reasoned with them”), to prove (sic) that the modern Renaissance concept of “Reason” can be found in the Bible. They assume that the mere presence of the verb “reason” in such passages is sufficient proof that the authors of Scripture knew of and believed in the Renaissance concept of the noun “Reason.”

First, it is outrageous for them to insert a modern idea into ancient biblical times and texts.

Second, none of them even attempt to do any exegesis of the texts they cite. It would appear that they never bothered to check the Hebrew or Greek. They cite texts much like Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Third, even if we pretended, in a moment of insanity, that modern Renaissance ideas like “Reason” could magically appear in ancient biblical times and texts, this would still require hard exegetical work to support it.

Nearly all the Hebrew and Greek words translated “reason” have nothing to do with human “reason” per se but are simple conjunctions. They are grammatical, not anthropological, in nature.

Unquote.

Morey goes on to use a Hebrew and Greek examples using Greek and Hebrew. Then he says:

Quote:

One last comment is in order. Some Natural theologians have argued that if we reject the Renaissance abstract concept of “Reason,” we are denying that man can “reason” from point A to point B. But this argument is an example of the fallacy of equivocation.

To reject an abstract idealized “Reason,” i.e. Rationalism, is not the same thing as rejecting man’s capacity to “reason.” The biblical authors viewed man’s capacity to think through issues and to come a conclusion as a reflection of the image of God. While they believed in “reasoning,” this does not mean they knew or believed in “Reason.”

Another Natural theologian objected to our use of the lower case “r” and the capital letter “R.” But his objection fell flat when we asked, “If the use of capital and lower case letters bothers you, does the distinction between the capital “G” and the lower case “g” in “god” and “God” bother you as well?”

In conclusion, the authors of Scripture did not know of or believe in the modern Renaissance concept of an abstract absolute “Reason.” Any attempt is to read that concept back into the Bible is sheer ignorance at best and gross deception at worse. Thus, Natural Theology is a total sham.

Unquote.

Dr. John Robbins of The Trinity Foundation says: "Decades ago Francis Schaeffer warned the church about Thomas Aquinas and ‘nature eating up grace.’ By this he meant that if you give ‘natural revelation’ an epistemological inch, it will displace Scripture."

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Psychology's Demonic Origins

What are the origins of psychology?

They are humanistic and occultic. Here are a few samplings on Freud and Jung, the fathers of moder psychology.

The follow are exerpts from "The End of 'Christian Psychology" book available online:

Freud

Freud and Jung each turned his own experience into a new belief system called psychoanalysis. Freud denied the spirituality of man by identifying religion as an illusion and calling it a neurosis. Jung attempted to debase spirituality by presenting all religion as mythology and fantasy. Many contemporary psychotherapists have not moved very far from these two positions. They often present religion as an illness at worst and as a myth at best. " p. 104 -105

Freud believed that the unconscious portion of the mind, rather than the conscious, influences all of a person’s thoughts and actions. In fact, he believed that the unconscious not only influences, but determines everything an individual does. p. 126

Freud invented psychoanalysis as a method for treating mental-emotional disorders and particularly for investigating what he considered to be the unconscious.

The psychoanalytic method supposedly exposes the unconscious through the process of free association and dream analysis. In free association, the central activity in psychoanalysis, the patient reveals both his thought life and his dreams
. p. 127

Carl Jung (Jung's quotes are taken from Jung's "Memories, Dreams, Reflections")

"After Jung repudiated Christianity he became involved in idolatry and the occult. He renamed and replaced everything having to do with biblical Christianity with his own mythology of archetypes. As he developed his theories, his archetypes took shape and served him as familiar spirits. One such personal familiar spirit that helped Jung develop his theories was Philemon.18 Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, op. cit., pp. 170-199.

"Jung also participated in the occult practice of necromancy. Jung mythologized Scripture and reduced the basic doctrines of the Christian faith into esoteric gnosticism. Freud was also involved in idolatry and the occult. He collected a large number of ancient Greek, Roman, Oriental, and Egyptian artifacts, including rows of statuettes arranged on his desk and around his office. One person who knew the family said that for Freud, “The artifacts weren’t only decorative. He used some of them to help him to write.”19 One writer suggests: What Freud may have been practicing . . . was an ancient form of magic in which consecrated statues representing spirits or transpersonal powers would engage the magician in imaginal dialogues and supply him with invaluable knowledge. Such magical practices were well known in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and the very statuettes that Freud owned may have been used for such practices by their contemporaries.20

Many Christians have probably never heard of C. G. Jung, but his influence in the church is vast and affects sermons, books, and activities, such as the prolific use of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). A current, popular example of Jung’s legacy can be seen in Robert Hicks’s book The Masculine Journey, which was given to 50,000 men who attended a Promise Keepers conference. Christians need to learn enough about Jung and his teachings to be warned and wary. They may incorporate his notions regarding personality types, the personal unconscious, dream analysis, and various archetypes inp. 149

Other Christians have been influenced more indirectly as they have engaged in inner healing, followed 12-step programs, or taken the MBTI, which is based on Jung’s personality types and incorporates his theories of introversion and extroversion.


As a young child Jung had difficulty distinguishing between Jesus and a monstrous figure encountered in a nightmare, which he later identified as a huge phallus.2 Besides Jung’s father being a Lutheran minister, all eight of his uncles were pastors as well.4 p. 152-153

Because Jung turned psychoanalysis into a type of religion, he is also considered to be a transpersonal psychologist as well as an analytical theorist. He delved deeply into the occult, practiced necromancy, and had daily contact with disembodied spirits, which he called archetypes. Jung describes having his whole house “crammed full of spirits” crying out to him. He said that was the beginning of writing “The Seven Sermons to the Dead,” which he says flowed out of him.24 Just prior to that experience he wrote about a fantasy of his soul flying away. He said: This was a significant event: the soul, the anima, establishes the relationship to the unconscious. (footnote 24Jung, Memories, Dreams, Reflections, op. cit., pp. 190-191)

Much of what Jung wrote was inspired by such entities. Jung had his own familiar spirit whom he called Philemon. At first he thought Philemon was part of his own psyche, but later on he found that Philemon was more than an expression of his own inner self. Jung says: "Philemon and other figures of my fantasies brought home to me the crucial insight that there are things in the psyche which I do not produce, but which produce themselves and have their own life. Philemon represented a force which was not myself. In my fantasies I held conversations with him, and he said things which I had not consciously thought. For I observed clearly that it was he who spoke, not I. . . .Psychologically, Philemon represented superior insight. He was a mysterious figure to me. At times he seemed to me quite real, as if he were a living personality. I went walking up and down the garden with him, and to me he was what the Indians call a guru."27

Jung’s exploration into what he thought was his unconscious opened him up to demonic influence, which he at first thought emanated from his own unconscious but which existed quite independently from him. He even described himself as having demonic strength and as having a demon in him. He wrote: "But there was a demonic strength in me, and from the beginning there was no doubt in my mind that I must find the meaning of what I was experiencing in these fantasies. When I endured these assaults of the unconscious I had an unswerving conviction that I was obeying a higher will, and that feeling continued to uphold me until I had mastered the task.28 There was a daimon in me, and in the end its presence proved decisive. It overpowered me, and if I was at times ruthless it was because I was in the grip of the daimon.29" p. 156-158

Inner healing

"Inner healing beliefs and techniques continue to deceive many Christians. A central belief is that we are the way we are because of past hurts that need to be healed through reliving the past and bringing Jesus into past events. This is a deceptive combination of Freudian psychology and occult visualization. The inner healer is convinced that present problems are expressions of past wounds that must be healed before the person can overcome problems of living and get on with life." (PAL V8N2 * March-April 2000 from Psycho-Heresy Awareness)

Unholy Alliance : The dangers of mixing pop psychology with Christian Truth (by Dr. Lois Chan) book review:

"Chan describes channeling as "the act of receiving communication from the spirit worlds" and says, "As virtually all Christians understand, the Bible forbids us to communicate with the spirit world (Deut. 18:10-2; 2 Chr. 33:2-6; 2 Cor. 6:14-16)" (p. 19). She therefore warns:

'When we bring psychology into the church, we risk bringing in the New Age elements of psychology. If we bring in New Age psychology, we risk bringing in demonic (channeled) teachings. In that case, the integration of Bible and psychology will turn out to be the integration of biblical teachings and demonic teachings—an unholy alliance '(p. 19)."


Regarding early childhood influences, Chan quotes Dr. Paul Meier, James Dobson, Dr. Henry Cloud and other Christian psychologists, as well as channeled spirit guides. She also shows similarities between psychological and occult teachings regarding the unconscious, dream analysis, projection, human potential, and the self-concept. (PsychoHeresy Awareness Letter, July-August 2006, Vol. 14 No. 1)

2Co 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

2Co 6:15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

2Co 6:16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, "I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

2Co 6:17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you,

Jas 3:17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

1Jn 2:21 I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

It is an impossibility to think that we can name Christ Jesus as our Master and mix Him with demons, Truth with Error, Scripture with the occult, and be pleasing to Him in anyway. HE demands purity in doctrine and practice and He is a jealous God.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

False Wisdom Like Psychology Ruins Lives

“Where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.” - James 3:16

False wisdom ruins lives.

Renowned eighteenth-century theologian Jonathan Edwards said the following about the effect of the Fall on man:

Sin, like some powerful astringent, contracted his soul to the very small dimensions of selfishness; and God was forsaken, and fellow-creatures forsaken, and man retired within himself, and became totally governed by narrow and selfish principles and feelings. Self-love became absolute master of his soul, and the more noble and spiritual principles of his being took wings and flew away.

Edwards’s analysis certainly agrees with what James is saying: man is self-centered (cf. James 3:14, 16). Where self-centeredness exists, there will be negative results. One such result is “disorder” (v. 16). The term refers to disorder that comes out of instability and chaos. Earthly wisdom will never produce harmony or love because it’s proud and self-indulgent. It destroys intimacy, love, unity, and fellowship, and in its place brings discord and chaos. You can see the result of earthly wisdom all over our world today. Anger, bitterness, lawsuits, and divorces are just part of the legacy.

Every evil thing” also results from earthly wisdom (v. 16). The phrase speaks of something worthless or vile. Greek scholar R.C. Trench said it contemplates evil, “not so much that either of active or passive malignity, but rather of its good-for-nothingness, the impossibility of any true gain ever coming forth from it.” The Greek word translated “thing” implies that false wisdom produces nothing of any practical value. At its best it produces worthless things; at its worst it produces vile things.


Which kind of life do you prefer? One that is characterized by love and unity, or by instability and chaos? A life with fulfillment and meaning, or with emptiness? If you want a life that satisfies and has eternal value, choose divine wisdom! 

~John MacArthur, Strength for Today devotional

This is why the world's wisdom of psychology destroys families and all relationships. Psychology has Self at its center creating bloated egoes which is destructive. Self preservation is the number one golden rule in psychology. At its root is hostility toward God and Scripture, therefore all that proceeds from it is worthless and evil. This is also why psychology can never be married to biblical Christianity; it is the very antithesis of Scripture itself, from its origins to its views and practices. This IS what James was talking about in James 3!

Rather true knowledge and wisdom are found in Christ Jesus and His Word alone:

1Co 1:21  For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 

Col 2:2  that their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God's mystery, that is, Christ Himself
Col 2:3  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
Col 2:4  I say this so that no one will delude you with persuasive argument.

Col 2:8  See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 
Col 2:9  For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 
Col 2:10  and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority


Psa 1:1  Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2  but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 

Joh 17:17  Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Bethel, Bethel, and Bethel: Ancient and Current Idolatry

Bethel

1Ki 12:28  So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, that brought you up from the land of Egypt."
1Ki 12:29  He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
1Ki 12:30  Now this thing became a sin, for the people went to worship before the one as far as Dan.
1Ki 12:31  And he made houses on high places, and made priests from among all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.
1Ki 12:32  Jeroboam instituted a feast in the eighth month on the fifteenth day of the month, like the feast which is in Judah, and he went up to the altar; thus he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves which he had made. And he stationed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1Ki 12:33  Then he went up to the altar which he had made in Bethel on the fifteenth day in the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised in his own heart; and he instituted a feast for the sons of Israel and went up to the altar to burn incense. 

After reading that chapter this morning it hit me: there are a few Bethels today who follow in their footsteps.

So it seems today that both  Bethel Church in CA and Bethel University in MN are appropriately named “Bethel”. They are indulging in the golden calf idolatry of ancient Bethel, seeking after gods, borrowing pagan practices out of pragmatism and mysticism. By telling people their gods are the ones that “brought them up out of Egypt” ( the sole claim and repeated one at that by the thrice Holy Triune God of Scripture), they are blaspheming God.

Bethel Church in Redding CA which is a NAR church headed up by heretic Bill Johnson.



Bethel University in MN is inter-faith and Emergent/mystic:


Womenpastors - in clear violation of 1 Timothy, Titus 1-2, and 1Cor. 14.

Mysticism

They are also heavily into psychology even in their Religious Department - psychology is the world's philosophy that Christians are told to reject. In addition psychology is at its heart, anti-Christ and anti-Scripture. In fact, some of the founding fathers of psychology involved in the occult, as Martin and Deidre Bobgan discuss (first on page 42) in their book, "The End of Christianity Psychology".

The point of all of this is that I find it ironic that two very infamous liberal and heretical institutes follow in their namesake's idolatrous footsteps.


Friday, April 12, 2013

The Myths of Chemical Imbalance and Mental Illness

              
                                 (photo source)


1Ti 6:20  O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called "knowledge," 21  for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.


***Update  February 23,2025***

Study shows a rise in suicidal thoughts in LBGQ high school girls. (secular and their reasoning is also secular and untrue):

A new study published in Educational Researcher suggests that the rise in suicidal thoughts and behaviors among high school girls in recent years might be connected to an increase in the number of girls identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning (LGBQ). While rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors remained steady within both heterosexual and LGBQ groups of girls, the overall rise in female suicidality appears linked to the increase in girls identifying as LGBQ, a group that historically faces greater social pressures and mental health challenges....

LGBQ females consistently reported higher rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors compared to heterosexual females...

~ article

That's because the first and foundational problem is a spiritual one as they try to suppress the truth of God's created order with their unrighteousness and their God-given consciences are bearing down on them with the weight of their guilt and knowledge that they are trying to be what is unnatural and will never be while trying to reject God as Creator.

Rom 1:18  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19  For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 

Rom 1:26  For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature
Rom 1:27  and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. 
Rom 1:28  And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 


This is why they are suicidal (also as one person on social media noted, their psych drugs likely affected their thinking and emotions too--even withdrawals can do that), not society's unwillingness to accept their unnatural behavior and thinking. 

**Update September 24, 2022**

A new article reveals more confirmation that psychotropic SSRI drugs only help 15% of the customers, with a majority of people suffering from withdrawals from them which are worse than the original depression they sought to resolved.  (update: just on X I've seen repeated accounts of this both by customers and doctors saying the same--it's not that they get worse mentally getting off the SSRIs but that they're actually going through withdrawals). 

The Newsweek article states in part:


The pharmaceutical industry used that idea to market the drugs to consumers for many years, and it remains a kind of shorthand some doctors use to explain to their patients how the drugs work. As a result, according to the study's authors, between 85 and 90 percent of the public believe that low serotonin levels cause depression. After reviewing data from previous studies involving hundreds of thousands of individuals, Horowitz and his colleagues concluded that there is little to no evidence that this is true....

Horowitz and the paper's other co-authors have been using the attention to call for a fundamental reassessment of how mental illness is treated. "We have a mistaken view of what psychiatric drugs are doing," says Dr. Joanna Moncrieff, professor of Critical and Social Psychiatry at University College London. She is also Horowitz's boss and the lead author of the serotonin paper. "This idea that they work by targeting the underlying biological mechanisms that produce the symptoms of mental disorders is actually not supported by evidence for any type of mental disorder, whether that's depression or schizophrenia or whatever," she told Newsweek....

The crippling sadness that sometimes follows a reduction in SSRI medication is caused by the chemical dependence the drugs can cause in the brain and withdrawal effects.

"It's not helpful to think of depression as a brain disease," she says. "I think that we should be thinking of it as an emotional reaction to life circumstances and life events. And indeed, there is very strong evidence that people who suffer from adverse life events are much more likely to get depressed."

End quote.

*** UPDATE July 20, 2022 article**

No evidence that depression is caused by low serotonin levels, 2022 report:
Excerpts:

The new umbrella review – an overview of existing meta-analyses and systematic reviews – published in Molecular Psychiatry, suggests that depression is not likely caused by a chemical imbalance, and calls into question what antidepressants do. Most antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), which were originally said to work by correcting abnormally low serotonin levels. There is no other accepted pharmacological mechanism by which antidepressants affect the symptoms of depression...


Very large studies involving tens of thousands of patients looked at gene variation, including the gene for the serotonin transporter. They found no difference in these genes between people with depression and healthy controls. These studies also looked at the effects of stressful life events and found that these exerted a strong effect on people’s risk of becoming depressed – the more stressful life events a person had experienced, the more likely they were to be depressed. A famous early study found a relationship between stressful events, the type of serotonin transporter gene a person had and the chance of depression. But larger, more comprehensive studies suggest this was a false finding.

These findings together led the authors to conclude that there is “no support for the hypothesis that depression is caused by lowered serotonin activity or concentrations.”

End quote.

This follows in line with the report quoted below under 8/28/15 update which said in part:

"In the investigation, a whopping 75% of the social psychology experiments were not replicated, meaning that the originally reported findings vanished when other scientists repeated the experiments. "



**Update September 16, 2019

More studies that also conclude there is no "gay gene". 

In 2019 (secular)

In 2015 (secular) (again, as years ago, the media is hyping something that the latest study does not say).

In 2009 the American Psychological Association concluded:

"There is no consensus among scientists about the exact reasons that an individual develops a heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian orientation. Although much research has examined the possible genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and cultural influences on sexual orientation, no findings have emerged that permit scientists to conclude that sexual orientation is determined by any particular factor or factors." - source

In 2003

What if the diagnosis of Autism is incorrect? What else could be the problem?

**Update Feburary 16,2019**

I just came across this by Dr. Breggin (secular psychiatrist):

When “mental patients” become violent, the media reaction is almost automatic—they must have stopped taking their “meds.” This myth of the violent patient controlled by psychiatric drugs is a myth. There are no scientific studies to confirm it. Indeed, the FDA has not approved any drugs as effective for controlling violence. The Pharmaceutical Empire relentlessly perpetrates the big lie because it serves a trillion dollar purpose. It keeps the public believing that psychiatric drugs are society’s last line of defense against violent individuals. It also lends all psychiatric drugs an aura of magical effectiveness that none of them possess...

Go here for the whole article.

A list of mass shootings that involved people on psych meds here.

More articles on the connection between mass shootings and psych drugs here (this article includes a link to an FDA studyand here

**Update February 16, 2018**

I came across this secular article, "Schizophrenia Is Not A Mental Illness"  by a retired psychologist who also says Schizophrenia is not a mental illness, but rather a categorizing of behavior that can actually be resolved by teaching the client how to live properly (common sense and self discipline; psychology calls it "coping skills").

**UPDATE October 26,2017

Another article published in September 2017 (redirect here):

"Having practiced psychotherapy now for nearly a decade, I continue to be amazed by the number of patients who come in and claim to have a chemical imbalance in their brain. Not only is the chemical imbalance theory of mental disorder unsubstantiated by any empirical research, but it has also been widely and publicly refuted by a number of prominent psychiatrists, like Allen Frances and Ronald Pies above. In fact, I have found that the most militant proponents of the chemical imbalance idea to be nonpsychiatrists—like social workers and clinical psychologists—who cling to the theory as a way of validating their status as "health professionals."

"Why does the chemical imbalance theory live on despite the fact that it is well-established to be a myth? The idea of a chemical imbalance is a simple and succinct way for psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to communicate to patients and their families that psychiatric conditions are "real," regardless of whether they are medical or nonmedical. "Chemical imbalance" provides a seemingly scientific-sounding explanation to human problems that have historically evaded scientific inquiry. To this day, there exists not a single biological test for any mental disorder, despite claims to the contrary. To assert that a patient has a chemical imbalance is to validate and confirm the experience of the suffering person."
End quote.

Money--billions--is also at stake.

***UPDATE from January 2017***

God's Word Is True: Johns Hopkins Doctors Conclude Homosexuality Isn't Scientifically Proven


*** UPDATE 10/23/15*** (more updates at the bottom of the article)

"Many individuals who are prescribed and use antidepressant medications may not have met criteria for mental disorders. Our data indicate that antidepressants are commonly used in the absence of clear evidence-based indications." - Study as reported in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry

Yes of course. There's no evidence for any of it. It is clearly subjective both on the one who's reporting feelings and thoughts, and the one diagnosing. But there's no object medical test b/c it's not a physical problem. It's a spiritual problem. And people don't want to deal with life as it happens--either the one going through difficulties or the therapist. It's easy for both the client and the therapist to just throw pills at the problem and call it a day (an expensive day at that!).



***UPDATE 8/28/15***

A major investigation into scores of claims made in psychology research journals has delivered a bleak verdict on the state of the science.
An international team of experts repeated 100 experiments published in top psychology journals and found that they could reproduce only 36% of original findings.
The study, which saw 270 scientists repeat experiments on five continents, was launched by psychologists in the US in response to rising concerns over the reliability of psychology research.
In the investigation, a whopping 75% of the social psychology experiments were not replicated, meaning that the originally reported findings vanished when other scientists repeated the experiments. Half of the cognitive psychology studies failed the same test. Details are published in the journal Science.
Even when scientists could replicate original findings, the sizes of the effects they found were on average half as big as reported first time around. That could be due to scientists leaving out data that undermined their hypotheses, and by journals accepting only the strongest claims for publication.
~The Guardian reports

***UPDATE 5/13/15***

Another scientist finds that  not only antidepressents to be pretty ineffective, but even deadly in over 500,000 65 year olds.

" However, concern is mounting among doctors and scientists worldwide that psychiatric medication is doing more harm than good. In particular, they say antipsychotic drugs have been overprescribed to many dementia patients in a bid to calm agitated behavior."
Gøtzsche warns psychiatric drugs kill patients year in year out, and hold few positive benefits. He says in excess of half a million citizens across the Western world aged 65 and over die annually as a result of taking these drugs.
“Their benefits would need to be colossal to justify this, but they are minimal,” he writes.
“Given their lack of benefit, I estimate we could stop almost all psychotropic drugs without causing harm.”
Gøtzsche, who is also a clinical trials expert, says drug trials funded by big pharmaceutical companies tend to produce biased results because many patients took other medication prior to the tests.
He says patients cease taking the old drugs and then experience a phase of withdrawal prior to taking the trial pharmaceuticals, which appear highly beneficial at first.
The Danish professor also warns fatalities from suicides in clinical trials are significantly under-reported.
End quote.

Also of note, not only the bias of the studies and under-reporting of the results on these drugs which are funded by big Pharma which claim to help and solve the customers' problems, but also by a journalist who himself is a psych patient:

"The debate on psychiatric drugs has gathered momentum in recent times. In the discussion, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Gøtzsche’s arguments are contradicted by Professor of Mood Disorders Allan Young and John Crace. Crace, himself a psychiatric patient, writes for the Guardian."


***UPDATE 4/3/15***

Nearly 70% of People Taking Anti-depressants May Not Actually Have Depression

More than two thirds of people taking antidepressants 'may NOT actually have depression': Doctors discover many do not meet the official criteria


  • *Study analysed those taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  • *Found 69% did not meet the criteria for clinical depression
  • *And 38% did not meet the criteria for other mental conditions like anxiety 
  • *Experts: 'Drugs are prescribed without an evidence-based diagnosis'


**UPDATE**

USA reports that experts in psychology are agreeing that "mental illness" is not a disease nor are there any biological markers to indicate it. Moreover the report shows that experts in the field see how the Bible of the psychology industry, the DSM, is nothing but a collection of subjective symptoms and NO science.



Voddie Bacham also says there's no such thing as a chemical imbalance, its a myth, there's no test. He's absolutely right.

There's no test: its voted in by the APA and put into the DSM. And sometimes disorders are removed. This is being proclaimed within the psychology and psychiatry fields, not by Christians but by secular experts in their own fields.

From the man who wrote the book"The Myth of Mental Illness" in 1955, here's an update by Thomas Szasz (professor of Psychiatry Emeritus at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York.)

The chemical imbalance myth (secular perspective) 

This article (PubMed article also confirms there is no evidence for a chemical imbalance of serotonin in the brains:

Contemporary neuroscience research has failed to confirm any serotonergic lesion in any mental disorder, and has in fact provided significant counterevidence to the explanation of a simple neurotransmitter deficiency. Modern neuroscience has instead shown that the brain is vastly complex and poorly understood. 

While neuroscience is a rapidly advancing field, to propose that researchers can objectively identify a “chemical imbalance” at the molecular level is not compatible with the extant science. In fact, there is no scientifically established ideal “chemical balance” of serotonin, let alone an identifiable pathological imbalance. To equate the impressive recent achievements of neuroscience with support for the serotonin hypothesis is a mistake.

In short, there exists no rigorous corroboration of the serotonin theory, and a significant body of contradictory evidence. Far from being a radical line of thought, doubts about the serotonin hypothesis are well acknowledged by many researchers, including frank statements from prominent psychiatrists, some of whom are even enthusiastic proponents of SSRI medications (see Table 1).

However, in addition to what these authors say about serotonin, it is also important to look at what is not said in the scientific literature. To our knowledge, there is not a single peer-reviewed article that can be accurately cited to directly support claims of serotonin deficiency in any mental disorder, while there are many articles that present counterevidence. Furthermore, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), which is published by the American Psychiatric Association and contains the definitions of all psychiatric diagnoses, does not list serotonin as a cause of any mental disorder. The American Psychiatric Press Textbook of Clinical Psychiatry addresses serotonin deficiency as an unconfirmed hypothesis, stating, “Additional experience has not confirmed the monoamine depletion hypothesis” [].

         


"Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications" here.(secular perspective by an expert psychiatrist and professor)

There Are No "Chemical Imbalances" (secular perspective)


The Truth Behind Psychiatry's  DSM--quotes from the exerpts (Christian, quotes are secular experts)


Rotten to the core. (Christian view)

The Trojan horse of psychology in the church.

**UPDATE**

The APA and its DSM has voted to now include caffeine withdrawals as a mental disorder.

**Side Note**

Psych drugs related to nearly every single mass shooting. (Secular source)

US Army admits Ft. Hood murderer Ivan Lopez was on psych drugs

**Other links**

ADHD is a fraud, as ADHD inventer Leon Eisenberg confesses, along with Harvard psychologist Jerome Kagan (secular view)

Babies not born innocent:  July 2007  - secular view

Babies know the different between right and wrong:  May 2010  - secular view


Regarding the studies of psychotropic drugs: (all articles listed below are from a secular view)