#142 The Holy Spirit and Common Grace
Do you agree or disagree with Kim-van Daalen’s presupposition that “secular psychotherapy may be of value, precisely because the Holy Spirit may use it to bring about blessings” (p. 230); why or why not?
I would say that Kim-van Daalen is correct to assert that “secular psychotherapy may be of value, precisely because the Holy Spirit may use it to bring about blessings.” But I would not stop there. It would seem that the Holy Spirit may use all things to bring about blessings. In the Old Testament God used non believers to teach the Israelites lessons all the time. Such as when God hardened Pharaoh's heart to teach the Israelites His power. The point is that God may use all things for His glory. We should seek out how God may use any circumstance we find ourselves in for the glory of God. Such as in Philippians where Paul is imprisoned but God still used that circumstance. You could even say that the Holy Spirit may have used Hitler to bless His people. This is an equally true statement. In either case we can only go off of the observed results. I may observe that secular psychotherapy is not generally used by God to bless His people as it does not lead them closer to God, but may be used to help them avoid their spiritual issues. I can also observe though that secular psychotherapy has been used to bless many people on the brink of death back to life and then towards godliness. This is especially observable with addiction. Kim-van Daalen suggests that, “the stance Christians should take towards secular psychotherapy involves critique, analogical comparison, dialogue a careful evaluation of the presuppositions, translation, reconstruction, and being God’s representative.” This seems immensely reasonable in my opinion. As long as we remember the true standard is God’s and not our own.
How do the primary concepts in this article contribute to your present growth and development process?
The concepts in this article force me to reconsider my own presuppositions about the nature of grace. My understanding of how we grow now, the process of sanctification is has grown. Before taking any counseling classes I believe I would of described the process as moral and ethical growth leading to salvation and then begins a process of sanctification that does not end in this life. Now I would say that we are all in a process of sanctification. Which is to say all people including non believers God is calling closer to Himself and to be better people. Some people make it to salvation and continue form there others become good people yet deny the basic truth of God.
Lydia Kim-van Daalen. "The Holy Spirit, Common Grace, and Secular Psychotherapy." Journal of Psychology and Theology 40, no. 3 (Fall, 2012): 230.
Lydia Kim-van Daalen. "The Holy Spirit, Common Grace, and Secular Psychotherapy." Journal of Psychology and Theology 40, no. 3 (Fall, 2012): 234.
