I have changed my mind. Today, I suggest that most of our reading should focus on serious Christian booksincluding commentaries by scholars; novels by luminaries such as George MacDonald, C.S. Lewis, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and G.K. Chesterton; issue books by critical thinkers (e.g.Philip Yancey on grace, John Owen on sin in believers).
At least half of a counselors Christian reading time should, I suggest, be spent with deceased authors (the likes of Augustine, Teresa of Avila, Jonathan Edwards, and, of course, C.S. Lewis). Living authors who fail to stand on the shoulders of spiritual giants from the past should be read sparingly. New technology may be better than old technology. But new thinking about spiritual matters, uninfluenced by old thinkers, is rarely worth much.
I am currently pouring over Jonathan Edwards, Discourse on the Trinity. It is heady stuff. Few weeks go by without devoting chunks of time to wading through John Owen, the great Puritan. Abounding Grace, John Bunyans autobiography, is on my nightstand. I just began James Houstons, The Prayer Life of Teresa of Avila.
One much needed clarification. I am assuming substantial time in the Bible itself is a given. No other book is similarly God-breathed. My suggestions on how to spend your reading time are to be understood as applying to above and beyond essential time in Scripture. What is essential? For me: studyperiodically intensive, but at least weekly; meditativedaily.
More than ever, I believe that beneath what we call psychological disorder, you will find (if you look hard enough) disappointed desire that looks for satisfaction from sources other than God and self-obsessed energy that literally hates God. The latter reveals itself most commonly in self-protection, the relational sin that values our immediate sense of well-being over dying to oneself for the glory of God (which, I might add, results in the deep hope of eternal wellbeing).
We too often define psychological problems as the result of: (1) emotional pain that is relievable through benevolent human contact, and (2) maladaptive defensive patterns that are changeable through insight and responsible, supported effort.
But psychological problems at their core involve: (1) disappointed desire that only participation in the inner life of the Trinity can resolve, and (2) culpable self-protection that requires forgiveness from Christ.
Organic problems, whether visibly physical like diabetes or psychologically disguised as, for example, schizophrenia, require medical treatment. But beneath every non-organic personal difficulty, diagnosable as borderline disorder or sexual addiction or any of the several hundred other labels in the latest DSM, lies a true psychological problem, a problem in the interior world of the sufferer.
Better integration of psychology and theology holds no interest for me. A true Christian psychology does, because a truly Christian psychology focuses on depth spirituality. Spiritual writers who think within a biblical worldview about matters such as the meaning of personhood and its perversions, and who wrestle honestly with human experience and the inextinguishable longing for transcendence, are the best guides for entering the soul in order to draw people into God.Take help from telephone therapist .
Read a little psychology to catalyze and clarify your thinking. Read a lot of spiritual literature to move into the mystery of how the Spirit works to transform fallen image bearers into the likeness of Christ. And do all your reading on a foundation of consistent time in the Word. Then you will recognize the narrow path that leads to spiritual formation. And you will want to take the journey.
