In addressing the history of counseling we want to divide the topic into two sections, secular and Christian.
Secular. The history of counseling had its origins, first in religion, then in philosophy, and still later in medicine. Religion and philosophy asked many of the same questions: “Where did I come from? Where am I going? Why am I here?” Medicine, on the other hand, tends to ask the question “Are you covered by insurance?” From time to time, the members of a community suffered the vicissitudes of life. At such times they would seek the help of their priest, wise man, or witch doctor. Often all three offices were in one person. In general, the problems they faced were of two types; grief over the loss of a loved one, or guilt related to the problem of bad behavior, sometimes called sin.
Of course, there were other problems, ranging from lovesickness to anxiety to madness. Such extraordinary problems required extraordinary solutions. Lovesickness had its potions, and anxiety its elixirs and advice, while the insane were often considered touched by the gods and, if dishonest, at worst expelled from their community. Hannibal, Alexander, and Caesar with his epileptic fits are examples of the former, while King David (I Samuel 21:10-15) and the maniac from Gadara (Luke 8:26-39) are examples of the latter.
Such was the order of things for millennia. However, as the population grew and religions changed, madness began to be viewed with less tolerance. Over time, “mad houses” sprang up to deal with society’s impatience and fear of such people.
It was around this time that psychiatry and psychology began to make their presence known. Both originated in 19th century Europe. However, of the two, psychology was much more a product of science than psychiatry. However, both were founded on the secular humanism of a Europe that had turned cold towards the gospel of Christ and therefore far removed from the confines of orthodox Christianity.
Christian. Christian counseling has been part of the work of the ministry since the origin of the Church. “Since apostolic times, counseling has occurred in the Church as a natural function of corporate spiritual life.” Paul made it clear that he considered the family of God competent to counsel one another when the need arose. He said, “I myself am convinced, my brethren, that you yourselves are full of goodness, complete in knowledge, and competent to instruct (advice) one another” (Romans 15:14 NIV).
Like the relief mission of the pagans around them, Christianity also addressed the problems of wrong and sin, albeit with considerably different advice on how to deal with these problems.
The Reformation, and later the Puritan movement in England and America, saw a significant return of Christianity to the authority of the Bible as the sole source of “life and godliness.” What characterized the Puritans in particular was a practical application of the Word to the problems of life. In this sense, Christian counseling began to take on a new meaning. Several works stand out as exceptional representatives of this flow of valuable advice for the Church. They are Richard Baxter’s A Christian Directory, Thomas Brooks’ Precious Remedies Against Satan’s Devices, Jonathan Edwards’ A Treatise Concerning Religious Affections, and Ichabod Spencer’s A Pastor’s Sketches. Much of this writing is what we might call “case study” in style.
However, over time, the church’s message darkened and the vacuum created by a church with few answers was addressed by creative minds with humanistic convictions. Foremost among this crowd was Sigmund Freud, a physician from Vienna, Austria. Operating not simply from anti-Christian but anti-Christian premises, Freud posited a sinless humanity, helpless victims of his parents’ failures. For a world struggling to free itself from the theological slavery of Reformed theology that held humanity fully responsible for its moral failings, the shifting of blame by the new psychologists and psychiatrists did not prove to be resistible. Europe and America in the 19th and 20th centuries began to flock to the answers to the questions of life’s dilemmas posed by these men.
Over time, Christian ministers began to realize that answers to life’s problems were no longer sought as before. In fact, the unspoken consensus was that Christianity had no answers to these new problems. Not only humanists believed this; The same Christians came to occupy the same position. Liberals in the Church addressed these serious problems in the lives of Christians, either by “deferring and referring” to “those properly trained to deal with ‘real’ problems” (psychologists or psychiatrists) or by obtaining the psychological training that would equip them. to this task. Conservatives saw the problem as a lack of commitment, Bible study, prayer, and faithful attendance at all church services. In other words, they denied its existence.
In the 1960s, a new generation of evangelicals, represented by Bruce Narramore, presented an alternative to the capitulation of liberalism on the one hand, and the denial of fundamentalism on the other. His response was the “Christianization” of psychiatry and psychology. His rallying cry was “all truth is God’s truth.” With this flag held high, they boldly attacked the gates of neurosis, wresting brands from the mass of the depressed. Orthodox Christians flocked to read the new books that harmonize Orthodox Christianity and the humanism of psychology and psychiatry.
This solution captured the imagination of the Church; she continues to do so to this day. However, in the early 1970s, a professor of practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, Dr. Jay E. Adams, pioneered a new approach. In response to the responsibilities given to him to teach counseling to Westminster students, he developed a counseling method, which he termed nouthetic counseling. Essentially, he asserted that in the Scriptures the Christian has everything he needs for “life and godliness.” The problem with the Church, he claimed, was that he had not made Scripture useful through adequate and functionally relevant exegesis with useful applications to the problems of life.
His writings started a quiet and slow-growing revolution in many Conservative/Orthodox churches. It is this return to the Bible that has brought Christianity full circle in its application of the Scriptures to the practical and difficult problems of life.