You’re probably asking yourself, “Why ask if Psychology is the study of the mind or the study of soul.” It probably even seems like a no brainer to you. Seriously! Who in their right mind could get a Psychologist and a Pastor/Priest confused?
Funny you should ask that very question. (You did ask it right? I’d hate to put words in your mouth.)
For several weeks I have been really struggling with a way of presenting to those, like myself, that have a background rich in Judeo-Christian belief.
Or to be more to the point, Evangelical Christianity.
Unlike many other religions out there, the Evangelical Christian community typically views that one thinks with their soul and lives life with their bodies. That it is the soul’s job to keep the body from sinning or doing other not so healthy things.
And it’s this very idea that the human condition is only made up of the body and the soul that creates a conundrum for many Christians, including myself.
For years, I’ve honestly thought that my depression had more to do with either a lack of faith, some un-confessed sin, or that it was God’s will and I had to find a way to live with it. Ultimately it boiled down that there was some disconnect between my life and what, where, or how God wanted me to live.
Can you imagine how much extra guilt, shame, anger, frustration and God only knows anxiety or depression this caused?
Honestly! Imagine living every single day knowing that it was God’s will that your life sucked and you were to live through it till the end without taking a shortcut and ending it sooner. Lost a job because of missing too many days due to your depression? Well it must have been God’s will.
Bombed that multimillion dollar presentation because of your anxiety? You bombed it because it was God’s will that you lose the contract that could have saved your job.
And when you’re feeling worthless over losing your job. Just remember it was all due to your lack of Faith in God. That’s why you were anxious and threw up all over the client.
Here’s the sad thing! You don’t have to take my word on it!
Dr. John MacArthur, the President of one of the most prestigious Christian colleges and seminaries, and Pastor of one of the biggest churches in Southern California, said so!
Here’s a man who is responsible for a congregation that if we take podcast, radio and church attendance, is in the millions, proclaiming that there is no such thing as Psychiatric illnesses like Depression or Anxiety.
In his essay, The Psychology Epidemic and Its Cure, Dr. MacArthur declares Psychology as “The Study of the soul.”
Not thoughts, psyche, nor brain. Nope!
Not, “Why we do we think the things we think and do the stupid things we do.”
No sir! He honestly declares that Psychology is the study of the soul.
And you know what? He’s not exactly wrong. Granted, he’s not entirely correct either. But he’s definitely not entirely off base with such a claim.
It took me a long time and lots of studying to figure out this conundrum. However, since I honestly believed that my immortal soul may be on the line I wanted to make sure that I had the right answer. (Well, as right as I could figure out any ways.)
So take your seats we’re going to have a bit of language class before we move on.
First Psychology needs to be broken down into its prefix Psych- and its suffix –ology.
Ology is easy; we all agree it means something to the effect “The study of…” But it’s that first part, Psych- that has been giving me fits.
As most of us probably know, Psych comes from the Greek word Psyche which lo and behold means (dat da da DA!) the seat of our emotions, feelings, desires, affections and aversions. But it can also mean, the essence of our life that does not disintegrate with death.
So let’s look at how it was used in two different verses.
“And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” - Mark 14:34 (ESV)
In this case psyche or in English Soul is more in kin to today’s word mind. We can tell this by looking at it in another translation like the Common Jewish Bible.
“[A]nd he said to them, “My heart is so filled with sadness that I could die! Remain here and stay awake.” – Mark 14:34 (CJB)
When we look at it in another text we can see how the original Greek word “psyche” really meant heart or “the place of feelings and emotions.” Or a we call it, the Mind.
But that’s just one example. How about when it means our soul? That eternal essence of life?
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” - Mark 8:38 (ESV)
Here you can easily see that soul is meant a something more than just the seat of one’s emotional thought. That it seems to hold more weight like something that is critical to life itself.
What makes this so sticky is that both uses come from the original Hebrew word, Nephesh. (Can you guess what nephesh means? Yep, it can mean one’s soul, one’s mind or a host of other things depending on context.)
I guess I’m trying to say that there is more to being human than just a body holding in an immortal soul. That there is also our mind.
That gem or cursed part of us that often times gets overlooked at being the cause of a lot of misery for people.
And hopefully this this little walk down linguistics lane will help another Evangelical Christian that is struggling day in and day out with a mental health issue because they’ve’ve been taught that there really is no such thing as Mental Illness. That all their problems are really just a matter of Faith and their personal walk with the Lord.
And if that is the case, then you can now take solace and know that even our church fathers understood the difference of having troubles of the soul and troubles of the mind. And as such, you are perfectly within your rights as a human being, one of HIS chosen people or a follower of the Risen Savior to get help from a Mental Health professional without fearing you have committed a breach of faith.
About Eddie Carrington
In my own personal quest to “heal myself” I’ve begun reading books on Japanese Buddhism. It’s more of a way of life than a religion. If you’re totally lost and looking for a direction this is not a bad way to find some.
I find it interesting when someone claims their “faith” is a way of life but not a religion. Many of the Christian faith would claim the very same thing. That Christianity is not a religion but a way of life and belief. But that’s neither here nor there.
The real struggle is when the leaders of one’s chosen faith begins to cause conflict between getting help one needs and causing a crisis of faith. (Well that’s my opinion anyways.)
very enlightening and something I didn’t know about John MacArthur and I understand how one would think their “disease” is a lack of faith. And we do know God wants the best for us and that He can heal every kind of sickness and disease. I don’t know why God allowed some of us to have this disease. Mental illness has been around for a long time and God can and does want to see us with a sound mind. What I also know is having faith from God doesn’t mean we will never get sick.. In fact the bible says if you are sick, seek a physician. My faith and hope is that one day I might get healed from this, but, I know God wouldn’t want me to live with guilt or shame because I haven’t been healed yet or don’t have enough faith for my healing. In fact, I think God allows us to go through this, to build our faith.
A very interesing view Kristy. Thinking that God uses our illnesses as a way to build ones faith has merit. But having leaders claiming that getting help is a “sin” and not what God wants is something I just cannot believe in. I’m glad you seem to hold the same beliefs.
God doesn’t promise to “Wipe away all tears from their eyes” (Rev. 21:4) until after Armaggedon. He has His own time table for this. It is my understanding that, while He may help some before then, good and bad happen to both the righteous and unrighteous (Matthew 5:45). I used to think my thoughts of suicide were sins, even though I could not control them and do NOT want to end my life. I used to think if I got sick, or had some other bad thing happen, that it was God’s punishment. God has many other things to do and a time table only He knows. While the Bible shows He has struck some down for blatant disregard for Him and arrogance (Acts 12:23), most of us have not shown that kind of sinful attitude, at least not to that degree. And while I think it is nice to attribute good things to God, whether or not He had anything to do with it, I think many of us are too quick to blame Him when things go wrong, rather than take an honest look at our own part in it. As far as mental illness goes, we only have to deal with it until God’s timetable to fix it for all mankind arrives. It is not God that has cursed us, but Adam’s sin.
Here! Here!!
My whole thing on this issue goes back to why is it okay to see a Medical Doctor but not a Pschiatric one. And the only reason I can give is because modern Christianity has decided to eliminate any reference to the human mind and just wrap it all up under one roof called the soul.
Again I find it interesting Christianity can have the Trinity involved in everything BUT humanity. When it comes to that we’re only comprised of 2 things. The body and the soul. I dunno, it just sounds a bit off to me.
And I agree. I personally thinkg God has way more to do than strike us down with illnesses.
Balance. Find balance.All of us have been influenced by parents,guardians, friends and family to believe and or not to believe.Our deep moral worldly unconscious and spiritual journey are two worlds under the same blue sky.We can’t believe everything we think, or what someone else thinks.
Isn’t it wonderful to use ALL of our senses that our BODY has in order for our free SOUL to explore where our MIND’s can take us!
What can we do about our life after this one ends? Nothing. What we can do is live this life with love and respect for all of our brothers and sisters as well as OURSELVES.We can take care of our Eco system as we nurture our beloved animal friends. We can be our best rather than just “Be”.
Life is a tightrope over the most extreme conditions.Take it slow.Breath, and keep your balance. Thanks Eddie
Thanks Bro! I see your point and you’re right. We need balance. But I truly believe part of that balance is remembering that the human condition is comprised of The Body, The Mind, and The Soul. The tightrope you mention can either be a highway (good days) or razor thin (the bad). The trick is to learn how to have more highways than razor thin wires. (At least that’s what I think.)
Even as a former christian, it is difficult for me to relate to these ideas. I think I don’t have a soul and see no reason to believe that I do. I can really only relate on the physiological aspects. Human history tried faith healing first. It didn’t work and only after centuries of failure did human beings develop a provable basis for healing people that was more effective then what was tried before.
And while there is such a thing as the “Placebo Effect” Faith alone cannot resolve psychological problems many of which have to do with brain chemistry and self-perception. One thing I have observed in myself and most other humans, the less you rely on faith, the better off you will be.
Heya Whizz.
I can respect your opinion on that. Granted there’s no proof that the soul exists. We only have to consider the ever present philosophical argument, “If the human soul exists, how much does it weigh?”
Something that is impossible because we can’t make a scale accurate enough to placate all us believers that it does or nonbelievers that it doesn’t exist.
Though I would challenge you to maybe think of what fulfills your sense of spirituality then? I can’t believe you haven’t had those times where you looked out over a landscape, mountain top, or even the miracle of birth and wondered if there’s something to this “Spiritual world.”
I challenge you in this because I’ve found that one of the cornerstones to a recovery lifestyle is having some sense of spirituality. And to have that sense I believe there has to be something out there bigger than ourselves.
No I don’t know for sure, but that’s the wonderful thing about belief. I don’t have to believe it, and neither do you. But in the end we both have it. It just has different endings.