Foundations for Thinking Biblically About Psychiatric Disorders
True story: someone recently told me that my daughter, diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder, isn’t experiencing psychotic episodes, she is likely being oppressed by demons. My guess is that if you are, or are caring for, someone with psychiatric disability (e.g. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Bi-Polar Disorder, Anxiety), you too have been on the receiving end similarly narrow, unhelpful, and misguided opinions. In fact, I’m guessing you could fill a book (or a blog!) with the advice you have received on the subject, from both friends and strangers, professionals and amateurs. I myself have received all kinds of advice, some welcome, some not so much. Some of the advice has stemmed from the assumption that mental illness is not really an illness at all, but merely a “heart issue”. Other advice I have recieved stems from the assumption that any uncomfortable, inconvenient, or disruptive behavior, emotion, or thought is 1) inherently bad and to be avoided, and 2) the result of some disorder or another, and not a symptom of a sinful heart in a broken world. Still a third category of advice I have received stems from the assumption that 1) God created the entire person, body and soul, and that 2) that body and soul were both broken in the fall, and that 3) that body and soul will be restored in the new heavens and new earth. The advice with roots in these three essential truths has seen me through every single appointment, medication, therapy, behavioral strategy, meltdown, compulsive cycle, and psychotic episode.
This third category is beautifully laid out in Michael T. Emlet’s biblically wise and compassionate book, Descriptions and Prescriptions: A Biblical Perspective on Psychiatric Diagnoses and Medications. In it he urges Christians not to be “too cold” or “too warm” toward psychiatric diagnoses and medications, neither dismissing the potential for psychiatric disorders and psychotherapeutic solutions, nor diagnosing every disordered thought or behavior as a consequence of illness. He doesn’t exclude the potential for bodily impact on thought and behavior, nor does he relegate every disordered thought and behavior to the brain and its functions. Using Biblical wisdom to guide his understanding of brain science, he has proposed a middle way, which will be the premise of this article, and the two that follow in this series, entitled “Let’s Talk About Psychiatric Disorders” (I know, clever, right?).
Brain science Evaluated Through the Lens of Scripture
When speaking with Christians regarding the tricky topic of psychiatric disorders, I have often found myself interfacing with one of two unbiblical extremes:
Extreme #1: Brain science is irrelevant to the life of a Christian. This extreme ignores the reality that God created all things, including the brain and all of the brain matter, neurophysiology, neurochemistry, and natural processes it contains. Furthermore, it disobeys God’s call to be students of creation, disregarding His will that we do what we can to understand it. Adhering to this extreme is tantamount to saying that dialysis is irrelevant to the Christian with kidney disease. This extreme represents a failure to steward God’s creation, a disobedience to one of God’s very first commands to mankind to “fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).
Extreme #2: The Bible is irrelevant to brain science. This extreme undermines the authority and sufficiency of Scripture and contradicts God’s assertion that in it we have all that we need for life and godliness. This does not mean that it provides a handbook on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, in the same way that it does not provide instructions on how to fill a cavity, treat the common cold, or how to cure cancer. It does, however, provide principles through which to interpret the circumstances we find ourselves in and the godly response to them. So while OCD is not mentioned in Scripture, Scripture does provide us with guidance regarding the way to conceptualize OCD, where to go for help with OCD, and where our ultimate comfort lies if you suffer from OCD. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All wisdom. Understanding, treating, and managing Psychiatric Disorders requires nothing if not wisdom. If we are to take Scripture seriously, we must align ourselves with this fundamental belief: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wise thinking in regards to Psychiatric Disorders.
The Biblical approach to understanding psychiatric disorders is not in choosing either Scripture or brain science, but in embracing both, with Scripture as the lens through which to understand the science. Ed Welch says it well in his timeless masterpiece, Blame it on the Brain: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience: “As sophisticated and impressive as the brain sciences are… they sit under something even more spectacular. They are under Scripture, and the results of their research should be evaluated through the interpretive grid of biblical categories.” Notice that this statement implies that brain science issophisticated, impressive, and has a lot to teach us. It also implies that the results of their research should be evaluated and considered in terms of considering the whole person that God has created. This falls in line with the aforementioned command to be diligent students of God’s creation. God does not call us to brain science orScripture, He calls us to brain science, evaluated through the lens and authority of His Word.
Three Truths to Help Christians Think Biblically About Psychiatric Diagnoses
By taking the approach outlined above, Emlet points out that God’s people will be equipped to understand and care for those impacted by disordered thoughts and behaviors in a way that neither misses ministry opportunities (i.e. considers the heart’s role in disordered thoughts and behaviors) nor points to incomplete solutions (i.e. considers the brain’s role in disordered thoughts and behaviors). This Biblical approach considers the whole person, defined by Scripture, as an embodied soul. In other words, our approach to psychiatric disorders must recognize and appreciate body and spirit, simply because the Bible does. In order to think Biblically about psychiatric disorders, we must keep three clear Biblical truths in mind:
The Bible clearly teaches that body and spirit were created and deemed very good by God.
The Bible clearly teaches that body and spirit were equally corrupted by the fall.
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus began the work of redeeming the wholeperson- body and spirit- and that He will complete that work when He comes back again.
In the coming days, we will work through these truths in order to “think God’s thoughts after Him” when it comes to this tricky and hotly debated topic. We will also bring truth to struggle and explore the implications of these truths for understanding, loving, and caring for image bearers who find themselves with a psychiatric diagnosis. I hope you’ll join me.