This is the sixth in a series of blog posts reading through A Theology of Biblical Counseling, The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry by Heath Lambert (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5).

Today I want to examine Heath’s debatable claim that the Bible is not only sufficient for doctrine but is “equally sufficient for the matters of life, which would include the types of issues addressed in counseling today” [emphasis mine] (42). He bases this on two quotations from historic confessions of faith.

After quoting chapter one of the Second Helvetic Confession, Heath asserts that “the authors of this confession, which summarizes the core doctrinal beliefs held at that time, believed that Scripture was sufficient not merely for what we believe but also for how we live in the face of difficulties” (42).

After quoting a part of chapter one of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and noting that the framers taught that the Scriptures were sufficient not only for doctrine but also for faith and life, Heath asserts, “They believed that it was equally sufficient for the matters of life, which would include the types of issues addressed in counseling today” (42).

The two most important statements I can make in response to Heath’s assertions here are:

1. I agree that the Scriptures are equally sufficient for doctrine and life in the sense that the framers of these confessions intended (i.e. no further special revelation).

2. I disagree that the Scriptures are equally sufficient for doctrine and life in that sense that Heath intends here (i.e. there is no additional general revelation that can help with the types of issues addressed in counseling today).

I believe Heath is mistaken (along the lines of presentism) in reading current counseling debates about the sufficiency of Scripture into historic Reformed confessions that were dealing with a different issue. Heath does acknowledge the debate was different, but he still insists the principles are the same. They’re not, and I disagree with Heath’s presentation of this history. Here’s why.

Sufficient Special Revelation
When the Reformed Confessions were being framed, the debate was over whether the Roman Catholic Church was an equal source of spiritual authority to the Bible. It was not a debate about whether there was general revelation in the world containing truth from God that could be helpful for the Christian life. It was a debate about whether there was another equal source of special revelation in the world – the Roman Catholic church.

It’s in that context, with that protagonist, that the Reformers insisted on the sufficiency of Scripture for doctrine and life. They were utterly rejecting the Roman Church (and any other usurping authority like reason, or subjective impressions) as a source of special revelation and spiritual authority for matters of doctrine and life. They were not rejecting general revelation as a source of truth that could be helpful for the Christian life.

Therefore, I disagree with Heath’s interpretation of these confessions as saying that the Bible is equally sufficient for doctrine and for the types of issues addressed in counseling today. The Reformers “sufficiency argument” was about excluding any so-called special revelation apart from the Scriptures. Heath is using their words on this to argue for something completely different – the exclusion of general revelation from helping with “the matters of life, which would include the types of issues addressed in counseling today.” I think the best way to illustrate this disagreement is with a couple of examples, one of doctrine and the other of life.

Doctrine: Substitutionary Atonement
First, let’s see how the Bible is sufficient for discovering the doctrine of substitutionary atonement. Where do I go for my knowledge of this but the Bible. Apart from the Bible, there is nowhere else in the whole universe that will tell me about how God reconciles sinners to himself by the cross. General revelation cannot tell me that. Philosophy cannot tell me that. Science cannot tell me that. That is a truth that is revealed in its entirety in the Bible – both its general principles and its details. The Bible is totally sufficient for finding out everything there is to know about substitutionary atonement. I don’t open another book to discover God’s truth on this subject. God has not revealed any truth on this subject in any other place. General revelation has nothing to say to me here.

Life: Redeeming the Time
Second, let’s see how the Bible is sufficient for learning about how to manage our time in a God-honoring way – a counseling issue I’m regularly confronted with when people come to me for counsel on how to manage their time in order to avoid or recover from burnout. Again, I open my Bible and start to build a theology of time from the Scriptures. But that doesn’t take me very long because the Bible does not claim to be a book on time-management. There are sufficient general principles (e.g. Exodus 20:8-11; Ps. 90:12; Eccl. 3:1-8; Eph, 5:16, etc.) to act as a biblical framework, but there are no details on how to work this out in each individual life.

That’s why I disagree with Heath’s statement that “the Bible has as much to say about these matters [the issues and problems that we face in a fallen world] as it does about the truths we must confess [doctrine]” (43). It’s got much to say, but it’s not got as much to say.

Unlike the Bible’s total sufficiency for finding out everything there is to know about the doctrine of substitution, the Bible is not a totally sufficient source of knowledge for finding out everything there is to know about time management, one of the greatest difficulties Christians are facing today.

Sufficient Principles and Filter
I therefore welcome other sources of knowledge – books, websites, and other people’s experiences – to learn how to redeem the time, how to manage time, and adjust to different seasons in life in a way that will please God and do good to me and to others. I don’t put my Bible away at this point, of course. I keep it open and make sure that what I learn from these other sources is consistent with the Bible’s teaching. In this case, I believe the Bible is sufficient to give me theological and practical principles and to make sure that I don’t let anything in from other sources that contradict God’s truth.

I hope you can see that while the Bible is sufficient for doctrine and life, it is not equally sufficient for doctrine and life; it is not sufficient in the same way. In the first case – doctrine – it is sufficient for theological principles and particular details, to the exclusion of general revelation. In the second case – life – it is sufficient for theological /practical principles and for filtering knowledge about the particular details that I discover in general revelation. That is not an equal sufficiency.

All Truth is God’s Truth
There are many other “types of issues addressed in counseling today” that we could use in our second example (e.g. sleep, friendships, conflict-resolution, technology management, etc.). With these life and counseling issues, we again find in the Bible sufficient theological/practical principles and a sufficient filter to help us discover God’s truth about each of these subjects from other sources. And that’s the important point to make. Whatever is true in non-biblical sources is still God’s truth. In His mercy, He has allowed men and women (Christian and non-Christian) to discover truth He has planted in His creation. As John Calvin said:

The human mind, however much fallen and perverted from its original integrity, is still adorned and invested with admirable gifts from its Creator….We will be careful…not to reject or condemn truth wherever it appears….If we regard the Spirit of God as the sole foundation of truth, we shall neither reject the truth itself, nor despise it wherever it shall appear, unless we wish to dishonor the Spirit of God. Shall we say that the philosophers were blind in their fine observation and artful description of nature?…No, we cannot read the writings of the ancients on these subjects without great admiration. But if the Lord has willed that we be helped in physics, dialectic, mathematics, and other like disciplines, by the work and ministry of the ungodly, let us use this assistance. For if we neglect God’s gift freely offered in these arts, we ought to suffer just punishment for our sloths (Institutes 2.2.15-16).

Summary
Again, just to be perfectly clear, I 100% believe these confessional statements that the Bible is a sufficient source of special revelation for doctrine and life. In that sense, it is equally sufficient for doctrine and life. Contra the Roman Catholic Church (and the modern Charismatic movement), we do not need any more special revelation. But, in the context of modern counseling debates about the place of general revelation, it is a mistake to interpret these statements about Scripture’s sufficiency to say that the Bible is “equally sufficient for doctrine and life.” In effect, Heath’s argument on these pages for equal sufficiency ends up excluding general revelation from a helpful role in the Christian life. And if general revelation is permitted a role in the Christian life, but not in doctrine, then it is not equal sufficiency.

Postscript: I have now read ahead a bit and have found sections of the book which seem to be consistent with my second example and with what I have been trying to say in opposition to Heath’s views up to this point. That doesn’t surprise me, based on what I have read and heard Heath say in other places. That’s why I find these early chapters to be so puzzlingly inconsistent and confusing. Is it a case of presuppositions that have not yet caught up with evidences? Or am I completely misunderstanding his words? At any rate, when I started reading page 44 and following, I felt as if I’d stepped into the light. I look forward to sharing that section of the book with you tomorrow.

Blogs

Safe Schools, Gender Non-Conformity, and Common Sense | TGC
Here’s Kevin DeYoung’s letter to the Michigan State Board of Education about its plans for LGBTQ students in Michigan schools, including allowing students to choose which changing and restroom facilities to use.

Switching Fields: From Professional Soccer to Pastoral Ministry
Former Chelsea and England player, Gavin Peacock, narrates his transition from the life of a professional soccer player to pastoring a Reformed Baptist church in Calgary, Canada.

“As much as I loved football, I love preaching the gospel more. It’s the best news in the world. Once you were condemned as a child of wrath; now you’re free and adopted as a child of God.”

Cal Newport: Focused Success in a Distracted World
An interview with Cal Newport about his new book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.

Bungling My Way Through Romans | Gentle Reformation
Former PRTS student, Kyle Borg, describes his experience of preaching through Romans.

“As a young seminarian I was told: “You would be crazy to try and preach through the book of Romans without twenty years of pastoral experience.” I trust there is probably wisdom in that. I don’t think it’s mere coincidence that many of those men I regard as great preachers have not preached through Romans without such requisite experience. So, I admit, it may have been a bit of youthful indiscretion combined with hastiness that drove me to the pulpit to preach Romans as the first series of my first pastorate. But, as my two and a half year endeavor comes to an end in the next couple of weeks, I wouldn’t change it if I could.”

Here Is The Inevitable Next Step in Our Culture’s Quest to Redefine Marriage | Canon Fodder
“Genetic Sexual Attraction is when a mother and her biological son, or a father and his biological daughter, are in a sexual relationship. I had never heard this term before, but I suppose it sounds better than the word that really describes such relationships: incest. And now GSA people want to get married.”

The Westminster Confession of Faith: A Pastoral Document? – Place for Truth
“There are those who claim that the Westminster Confession of Faith is a scholastic document lacking in pastoral sensitivity but abounding in the dust of theological tomes.  But is it?  I don’t think so.  In fact, I am convinced that the Westminster Confession is both heady and hearty!  That is to say, it is wonderfully pastoral.  Don’t believe me?  Check out a few examples.”

Will I Be Single Forever? | Desiring God
“I wish someone had helped me understand, and then live, my singleness in the light of eternity. I think it would have helped me to enjoy a godlier, more productive, more contented life during those years.”

Kindle Books

For your non-Kindle book buying needs please consider using Reformation Heritage Books in the USA and Reformed Book Services in Canada. Good value prices and shipping.

A Christian’s Pocket Guide to Papacy by Leonardo De Chirico $0.99.

1 Peter For You: Offering real joy on our journey through this world by Juan Sanchez

The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel by Mark Dever and Paul Alexander

New Book

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport. SOunds like a book we could all do with:

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It’s a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a super power in our increasingly competitive twenty-first century economy. And yet, most people have lost the ability to go deep-spending their days instead in a frantic blur of e-mail and social media, not even realizing there’s a better way.

Video

Top Secret Drum Crew @ Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo
For a stirring start to your Monday morning. If you are ever visiting Scotland, you should try to coincide with this annual event held at Edinburgh Castle. You’ll probably come back wearing a kilt.

Here are a number of upcoming conferences you may be interested in. Click through for more details on the subjects and speakers.

Association of Biblical Counselor’s Annual Conference

Topic: Biblical Counseling

Dates: April 14-16, 2016

Location: Euless, TX

I’m speaking at this Conference on “Identity Theft”

Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology

Topic: How Firm a Foundation: The Bible’s Authority, Sufficiency, and Clarity

Dates: April 15-17, 2016

Location: Byron Center, MI

Bell Creek Spiritual Growth Conference

Topic: Happy and Sad – A Genuine Look at the Life of a Christian.

Dates: April 22-23, 2016

Location: Livonia, MI

I’ll be speaking here on “The Causes and Cures of Depression,” and then on “The Happy Christian.”

Counseling and Sanctification Conference

Topic: “I’m Doing What I Shouldn’t Do, HELP!”

Dates: May 6-7, 2016

Location: Mayfield Heights, OH

The Faithful Shepherd Pastor’s Retreat

Topic: “The 2016 retreat will address the pastor’s personal reading of Scripture, self care, practice of Christ-like leadership, and the task of reaching his community with the gospel, among other topics.”

Dates: May 9-11, 2016

Location: Harvey Cedars, NJ

Banner of Truth 2016 USA Ministers’ Conference

Topic: Kingdom Life in a Hostile World

Dates: May 24-26, 2016

Location: Elizabethtown, PA

I’ll be speaking at this conference on “Fighting for Peace in a World Full of Stress,” and “Fighting for Joy in a World Full of Sadness.”

This is the fifth in a series of blog posts reading through A Theology of Biblical Counseling, The Doctrinal Foundations of Counseling Ministry by Heath Lambert (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4).

In yesterday’s post I highlighted five debatable areas raised by Heath Lambert’s critique of his Southern Seminary colleague, Dr. Eric Johnson. Today I’d like to examine the fourth of these: Has Heath stated Dr. Johnson’s position with sufficient accuracy and comprehensiveness? Heath’s representation of Dr. Johnson will be in bold and my response will follow (Let me say up front, that I do not doubt Heath’s integrity in any way. I believe he has sought to be truthful in his representation of Dr. Johnson. However, I do believe there is another way to read Dr. Johnson that is more accurate, especially if we define our terms more clearly).

1. “Johnson…does not believe that the Bible is sufficient for the work of counseling.”

Heath’s statement of Dr. Johnson’s position is true if “sufficient” here means “absolute sufficiency,” that is, the Bible has everything there is to say on counseling issues, that no other sources of knowledge, (eg. science) may be used in counseling. However, according to some parts of Heath’s book, no biblical counselor believes in absolute sufficiency for all counseling issues.

That was confirmed by ACBC counselor Joshua Waulk’s response to yesterday’s question, where he explained that biblical counselors welcome the involvement of other suitable professionals in addressing life challenges like autism, developmental delay, and bi-polar.

So, no one believes the Bible is sufficient in the absolute sense of no other sources of helpful knowledge exist. In that, Dr. Johnson, Heath, and I agree.

2.  Dr. Johnson “argues that the Bible is sufficient only for salvation and doctrine.”

The precise phrase Dr. Johnson uses is “salvific sufficiency” or “salvific-doctrinal sufficiency,” but by that he does not mean that it is sufficient only for the purposes of Christian doctrine or being saved. From my reading of him, these phrases would also include such things as Christian ethics and how to live a godly Christian life. However, he would say that the Bible is not equally sufficient, or, more accurately, sufficient in exactly the same way, for doctrine and the types of issues addressed in counseling today (we’ll get to that next week). I would agree with Dr. Johnson here, and I think Heath would too.

3. Dr. Johnson’s “point is that it is a serious error to argue that Scripture provides sufficient resources for the work that counselors do.”

Dr. Johnson does not believe that knowledge from other sources is necessary for the work that biblical counselors do. However, he does believe that knowledge from other sources can be helpful (as do biblical counselors like Jay Adams, David Powlison, and Heath himself at times), and to refuse it can limit the help we might give to some people.

Say, for example, a Christian comes to us for counsel and direction in preparing for missionary service in Indonesia. There are many biblical verses and passages that we would want her to study. That would be our primary advice and direction. However, it would also be helpful to understand the history, geography, culture, and religions of that country. It may also be helpful to know the climate and diet challenges. Perhaps she will talk to others who have been there. That’s all part of “counting the cost” (Luke 14:28), of wise spiritual planning. It’s not necessary information, perhaps, but it is helpful information as we seek to care for this young woman’s soul.

In this case, the Bible is sufficient for giving us major spiritual principles to guide her, but there are other sources of knowledge that would also be important to study to help this Christian in living the Christian life. 

4. Dr. Johnson says “Protestant Christian theologians have argued for Scripture’s sufficiency only in the categories of salvation and doctrine.”

As I said previously, from what I’ve read and heard of Dr. Johnson, he would include Christian ethics and how to live the Christian life under the heading “salvation and doctrine,” so I don’t think he would agree with this representation of his position. Also, as I said above, no one believes in the absolute sufficiency of Scripture for all counseling issues. 

As it’s often difficult to talk about these things in the abstract, perhaps another example would be helpful. A young man comes to us for counsel because he is feeling so stressed and anxious that he cannot do his job properly, is struggling to sleep, and can’t pray with any focus. As the Bible has much to say about worry and anxiety, we prayerfully study the relevant passages while trying to understand what are the roots of his anxiety and stress. In this case, it’s a humble Christian who does not feel as gifted as his colleagues or up to his job. We encourage him to pray, to put his trust in God and to look to Him for wisdom and strength.

But we also get his job description and work through the expectations of the job and identify a couple of areas where he could do with extra training in order to boost his ability and confidence. Over a few sessions we notice that his body is incredibly tense and his breathing is rapid and shallow. So we get some YouTube videos on breathing exercises and relaxation techniques to help his whole body loosen up and slow/deepen his breathing to bring more oxygen into his blood. We consult a personal trainer to help him start regular exercise. We also use some of the recent findings from sleep science to help him build a pre-bed routine and take other sleep-enhancing steps.

A few months later, he is functioning well, sleeping well, praying well, and enjoying life again. When anxiety starts creeping up on him again, he goes back to the Bible passages we studied, prays, reads his job description to assure himself objectively that he has what it takes, does his breathing/relaxation exercises, exercises more regularly, and restarts healthy sleep habits.

Clearly, Scripture was essential and primary here, but there were other sources of knowledge which helped this young man deal with this counseling issue in all its dimensions – spiritual, cognitive, physical, etc. He now praises God for His all-sufficient grace that came to him not only through His Word and Spirit, but also through these other sources of knowledge.

Have I undermined the sufficiency of Scripture in this case? I don’t believe so. I think I’ve used God’s gift of Scripture in exactly the way God intended it to be used. But I’ve also used His gift of other non-biblical sources of knowledge on this topic. As Dr. Johnson asks:

“Is it possible that the omniscient God knows some additional, albeit secondary information about human beings, which is not necessary but is relevant and helpful to soul care, that he did not include in the Bible?” (Foundations of Soul Care, 118).

Where are we?

My conclusion after week one of reading this book is that there is much more agreement between biblical counselors and Christian counselors, between Heath Lambert and Eric Johnson, than is sometimes recognized. I also believe many of the disagreements would disappear if there was much greater clarity and consistency in communication, which would lead to much greater charity in relationships.

Blogs

Do You Really Need Email on Your Phone? | Time Management Ninja
“Once upon a time, having email on your phone was the coolest thing ever. Doing email on the go was cool. And you were a big deal if you answered emails while on-the-go. Yet, at some point, mobile email changed. It transformed from a productive activity to a leash. Suddenly, email became a nuisance that interrupts life 24/7. ”

How Do We Understand Blessing in a #Blessed Era? | Paola Ortega, ChristianityToday.com
“We’ve all complained about or mocked the blessed hashtag over the years. But for all our cynicism over inappropriate overuse and what blessed isn’t, we rarely take the time to explore what this word really means in the context of our 21st-century lives.”

Did God Break the Law for Love? | Tim Challies
“It happened again. A popular preacher said something in a sermon, it made its way to social media, and lots of people got upset.”

Keeping the Faith in A Faithless Age: the Church as a Moral Minority | AlbertMohler.com
“‘The greatest question of our time,’ offered historian Will Durant, ‘is not communism versus individualism, not Europe versus America, not even East versus the West; it is whether men can live without God.’ That question, it now appears, will be answered in our own time. ”

Primary Soul Care in an Urgent Care Culture  | Aimee Joseph, TGC
“For primary pastoral care to remain alive and well, two equally challenging roles must be met. Shepherds must position themselves to care for their flocks, and sheep must position themselves to be led. The local body of Christ is God’s primary place of soul care.”

Help Me Teach the Bible: Dick Lucas on What Makes an Excellent Teacher | Nancy Guthrie, TGC
“On this episode of Help Me Teach the Bible, I talked with Dick Lucas in London’s Proclamation Trust offices about what makes an excellent Bible teacher. We talked about how a teacher studies and prepares to teach, dealing with discouragement as a teacher, as well as the temptation to pride.”

New Book

A Heart Set Free: A Journey to Hope through the Psalms of Lament by Christina Fox

Kindle Deals

For your non-Kindle book buying needs please consider using Reformation Heritage Books in the USA and Reformed Book Services in Canada. Good value prices and shipping.

Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament: A Guide for the Church by Walter C. Kaiser Jr. ($4.99)

Muzzled: The Assault on Honest Debate by Juan Williams ($1.99)

Dinosaurs for Kids by Ken Ham ($2.99)

The Presidents’ War: Six American Presidents and the Civil War That Divided Them by Chris DeRose ($1.99)

The 10 Most Common Objections to Christianity by Alex McFarland ($0.99)

Video

Marine Iguanas

If you could live anywhere where would you live? We know God’s answer to that question: a tent (that’s His second choice) and a human body (that’s His first choice). In the Old Testament He chose to live in a tent (Ex. 25:8) and in the New Testament He chose flesh and blood (John 1:14). When the Apostle John tells us that “the Word became flesh and dwelt (literally, tabernacled or tented) among us,” he is clearly comparing the Old Testament tabernacle with the New Testament tabernacle (i.e. Christ). Let’s consider four areas of comparison in order to see the superiority of the new tabernacle over the old one.

Compare the Materials

The old tabernacle was made of wood, fabric, metal and precious stones. Multiple chapters in the Bible are devoted to prescribing and describing the building materials and the instructions for the large labor force required to build it. Although parts of the inside, especially the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place, were beautiful, only a few select priests saw that. From the outside, it was unattractive, covered with protective waterproof animal skins. All rather unimpressive, especially when compared with other contemporary structures such as the Egyptian pyramids and the Babylonian ziggurats. Israel was already being taught that God is willing to experience humbling circumstances in order to live with his people.

Compare that wood and fabric tabernacle with the flesh and blood tabernacle of the New Testament. Christ dwelt not in a tent, but in a human nature miraculously created by God without human hands. Although he possessed the glory of deity, this godhead was largely veiled by his flesh. His “tent” was unattractive from the outside – he looked just like an ordinary man. As Isaiah predicted, he was “as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isa. 53:2). The Word became flesh, just ordinary everyday skin, muscle, blood, brain, etc., and dwelt among us. God was willing to experience this humbling experience in order to live as close as possible with his people. He lived with us, like us, as us.

Despite all the similarities, there is one striking difference. The old tabernacle was a temporary tent-like structure that could be easily dismantled for traveling and which eventually disintegrated and disappeared. In contrast, Christ “was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever” (Shorter Catechism 21). God lives in flesh and blood permanently.

Click through to the Christward Collective for three further comparisons.