Where Does Your Hope Lie? On Psychology?

I was at the end of my rope!  I was a young parent faced with a problem which I believed that I was unable to handle. That is part of child rearing, and unfortunately, with the first child it's a practice session. I turned the health of my son over to psychologists. It seemed to help and for a time I was elated! I became an enthused proponent of what I later found out was "Family Systems Therapy". This one was based on Ten of the Twelve Steps to Sobriety developed by Alcoholics Anonymous. At my young age the depth of my theology was "If it used God's name, it's Christian!" These steps were called "spiritual principles" by their proponents.

"Spiritual principles" can mean anything! They are of the same vein as the person who says "I'm spiritual, but not religious!" What in the world is that supposed to mean? Is the person possessed?

We are to be very careful what "isms' we, as Christians, accept because most of them run counter to scripture. I might add that many "isms' are "ism-less". They are called so without calling themselves that! "Ism" refers to an ideology, which in turn are belief systems. Those most familiar are communism, socialism and fascism. Psychology has no "ism" assigned to it of which I'm aware, but most branches of psychology do: humanism, behaviorism, Jungianism, etc.

After my son changed his behavior, I was sold!  Although I has a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering Degree, I enrolled as a graduate student majoring in psychology. After a few semesters, because of the practicality of it, I changed my major to "Family Counseling". This coincided with the therapy my son had. It really seemed to coincide with my interests and that was my major until all the course requirements were met.

There was one "problem" with my education. God led me to read my Bible cover to cover for the first time. His timing was perfect. My Bible study was in synchroneity with the psychology curriculum, but certainly was not harmonious. Each psychology "ism" was at odds with scripture. (Detail at a later time). My reading scripture at that time was no accident. It was me being reproved by God!

Miriam-Webster calls psychology "the science of mind and behavior". This is an erroneous. The Latin definition is the combination of two words: "the study (ology) of the soul (psyche). This is the definition which I was taught in my course material! Since the soul is the person's "spiritual" aspect, it should be obvious that psychology is "religion", not a "science", but is an attempt to apply science to a religion to legitimatize the non-religiosity its adherents claim for it. What is religion, then? It's belief(s) in god(s), who is/are a spiritual being(s).  Christianity is the belief in God, but other religions have beliefs in gods.

Psychology was institutionalized by legitimizing it's precepts. Much of psychology is founded on several of the eastern religions which are offshoots of  Vaishnavism. There's that "ism" popping up again! In this case the worship of Vishna, the Supreme God of Hinduism. Yes, what I'm saying is that Hinduism has severely impacted psychology. If one studies Jungian (or Analytical)  Psycholgy, for instance, they will find it steeped in several of these eastern religions. Other branches have less influence, but they are full of non-Christian religious ideas!

Miriam-Webster's definition of psychology calls it a "science", that being "a study of the natural world based on facts"! Psychological experiment is always based on a hypotheses. It is never proven. It just fails to be disproven. That's a precept upon which the hypothesis is investigated. Since the hypothesis is never proven, it's not factual. Hence, psychology is not a "science"!

In an attempt to make the hypothesis "sound" scientific, it is made testable. The standard method is to operationalize the test. A test of "anger" for instance would require that "degrees of anger" be assigned. Let's say no anger=0 and crazy anger=10. That's how it's done, but the subjective part of that is how the "anger degree" is assigned. The onlooker can be misled and self-reports are unreliable. Hence, the methodology skews the results because of bias.The "scientist" who runs the experiment may also have "desired outcomes". The research is skewed to obtain wanted results. For instance the issue of "inborn homosexuality" is skewed by the researchers who are either themselves homosexual or are predisposed toward exonerating that deviation.

Furthermore, psychologists have said that it has never been proven that any person improved with counseling any more than without it! That's a profound admission which is totally ignored by everyone. It is a fair assessment, but surely moves the patient away from "science" into the realm of religion; "faith". People have faith that psychology works and sometimes it does because faith does provide comfort. However, faith is of the spirit, thus re-enforcing my contention that psychology is another religion!

When this idea first struck me, I said to Dr. Fong at Western Kentucky University, "I believe that psychology is a religion!" She responded "Are you just now finding that out?" It seems as if those "scientists" know that, but the patients don't! A "science" which claims honesty and transparency does a poor job of being honest and transparent!

By the time I finished the curriculum, discernment actually made me feel foolish that I had accepted a "false religion" for awhile; until God set me straight! However, even the most convinced Christian will look at me as if I'm a fool if I even mention that! All anyone has to do is read the original publications of all the various theorists and it's all there! God always moves me into doing things and being places to reprove me. God encouraged me to major in psychology so that I would teach the truth about it!

At the end of my classroom work, I switched my major and graduated with a Master of Arts in Education, a rather benign profession other than it's saturated with psychological requirements. What this means is that modern teachers who're required to be trained in psychology use a new religion on your children. The results of that religion are plain to see with a generation of messed up children.

If I had read one verse and took it to heart I could have saved much time!

1 Timothy 6:20 (ESV) "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."

I swerved and I swerved big time! There is no hope in what's false and here I was in the midst of dishonesty and opaqueness, since some truth was often merely skewed. People who teach "false knowledge" are "false teachers and apostles":

2 Peter 2:1 "But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction."

The "Master" is denied in psychology. They worship an unnamed God, but that God is any god, but Jesus! Most of psychology is anti-Christian! Their gods are "Reason", "Self", "Lust", "Gratification", "Lies", and "Deception". Of all their gods Deception is the worst. People believe that they are getting better, but there is one thing the religion of psychology does not have: that's eternal hope and those who think that temporal hope will satisfy are being "Deceived". Deception is of whom?

John 8:44 "You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father's desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies."

Satan uses deception. Many good people are psychologists. However, they unwittingly teach, if they ascribe to what they've been taught, a lie of Satan. God brought me to the knowledge of that! I shall stilll counsel, but it is biblical counseling. It's "nouthetic counseling". In other words I counsel using the word of God (scripture).

Galatians 6 :1 (ESV) Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted."

That, in a nutshell, is the principle of "Nouethetic Counseling".

A sinless creature is a happy creature! A person without a reason for guilt isn't guilty! A person forgiven has a reason to be joyful!  Lack of hope is the ultimate reason for depression, but there is hope in Jesus for he offers an eternal joyful life!

I'm freed from my false religion, but I never gave up Christianity. I merely placed another god "before" God (in addition to). That's mankind's sin and that's what I did. I sought forgiveness, got it and now teach against "hope in psychology".

Dr. Fong also said "Our job isn't to teach, but to remold!" The "remolding" is taking a New Person in Christ and changing that person back to the Old Person who was before! I commented to Dr. Fong "You mean you're all trying to brainwash us?' She just smiled.