前几天翻译的关于基督教对心理学的五种回应进路的文章，是Dr. Eric Johnson主编的《Psychology and Christianity: Five Views》的导言的一部分。
发在神学生群里，没说谁写的，芳洲就问，“是不是我的老师 Eric Johnson写的？”
我说是的。后面就再也无人说话了。
第二天，梦潇告诉我，美南神学院去年已经解雇了Dr. Johnson，所以严格说来，他是芳洲从前的老师了。在美南浸信会的神学院里，这样的事情并不是第一次发生。早在2010年，Paige Patterson领导的美西南神学院就以财政状况不佳为理由，将本来并行的“圣经辅导”和“基督教心理学”专业砍掉了一个。尽管圣经辅导方向只有两个教授和10来个学生支持，而基督教心理学则有5位教授和200多位学生支持，但是被砍掉的却是能够让学生拿到辅导职业执照的基督教心理学专业。按照Patterson的解释，学校是培养在教会里服侍的工人，而拿执照的学生不太为教会服务，所以不需要培养他们。
为了这件事，从前的校友Dr. New专门写了一封公开信，直指这种不让学生拿执照的做法并不是更靠近基督，而是更靠近基要主义，对学生在教会的服侍来说不会有好处，也不会让这个专业更有吸引力。
去年，美南神学院也发生了同样的事情。
学校辅导专业的另一位教授，Heath Lambert，在ACBC （Association of Certificated Biblical Counselors) 的大会上公开指责Eric Johnson是一个坏神学家，一个极坏的咨询辅导者……
他这样说Dr. Johnson:
“The reason that he is wrong, the reason that his counseling advice is bad is because he has not been faithful to the teaching. He has not been faithful to the Word. He is a horrible theologian.”
甚至质疑Dr. Johnson是否得救：
“…you know when I was reading this some [9 years ago] when the book came out, and I was deeply troubled by it, and I was angry about it, and I was frustrated about it ,and then I realized something about this man. This isn’t just a demonstration of faithless teaching. It is a demonstration, is it not, of 1 Tim 4:16 of faithless living? It broke my heart when I realized that. This is a man, who denigrates Psalm 94 because he’s never experienced the consolations of Psalm 94. He can’t teach Psalm 94 because Psalm 94 never got into his bloodstream. He is a bad theologian because he doesn’t understand the teaching and the teaching never changed his life, and so he is a very bad counselor…. If we refuse to allow the Word of God to take root in our heart and change us then the overflow of that unchanged heart to broken people will be just as corrupt as [Johnson].”
有兴趣的人可以看看Lambert的讲道视频。有人甚至说他读圣经的时候，都有一种嘲弄的语气在里面。
Dr. Johnson本来是美南神学院的终身教授。但是2014年，学校取消了终身制，虽然大概是因为财政原因，但是这样一来也就很方便可以排除异己了。于是，2017年9月，正好是Dr. Johnson用一年学术年假完成了自己的新书God and Soul Care，正要发布的那天，他说自己要离开美南了。下面是他后来的声明：
For a number of reasons, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has determined that Christian psychology is not compatible with the version of biblical counseling that they want to promote in their counseling department.As a result, I will be finishing up my teaching at the end of this semester, and then assuming the title of Senior Research Professor until I obtain another teaching job.
I want to thank my friends, colleagues, and former students who have given me and my wife tremendous support over the past few weeks. I am extremely grateful for the years I have spent at Southern Seminary, and I wish it God’s best in the years to come.
网上有人发起请愿Petition Against the Wrongful Firing of Dr. Eric Johnson，要收集1000个签名来谴责Lambert。后来，Lambert自己道歉了，但是拒绝承认是他施加了压力，让美南解雇了Johnson.
于是，只有校长Dr. Albert Mohler出来说，解雇的原因不能明说，但是
“I have tremendous respect for Dr. Eric Johnson. What I said to the faculty in private, I will say to you in public: I have no reason to doubt his character, his commitment to Christ, or his sincerity in signing our theological documents.”
于是大家就更不解了，因为若不是因为一个教授的信仰和品行，为什么解雇一位全国知名的、在学校长期任教的专家？
连今日基督教也发了文章报道这事。Has Christian Psychology Lost Its Place at Southern Seminary?
当然，我不是辅导专业，这种事情就不发表专业评论了。我买了Johnson的新书，700多页，也许以后会看看。亚马逊全5星好评。典型的评论是这种样子：
Truly the most theologically rich, practically applied, personally impactful book I've read in my counseling program so far. Each chapter delves into rich theological truths, makes application to therapy, and relates to secular counseling theory. It is a long book, but worth every minute spending reading. If you are a Christian or Biblical counselor, don't miss this one!As theologically rich and biblical as any systematic theology I've read. At the same time, there are practical counseling ideas at the end of each chapter, soul care practices that relate to the content of that chapter. I cannot recommend this book enough for theologians and counselors alike.
If I could give this book - and Johnson's companion book "Foundations for Soul Care: A Christian Psychology Approach - 10 stars, I would. I received Eric Johnson's new book just a few days ago, but have already read a large portion of it. Dr. Johnson is a unique scholar in that he integrates clinical practice with foundational biblical and theological truths. What is magnificent about this book is that Dr. Johnson brings the processes for the care of souls - the processes and wonders of the holistic human being as seen and proven in much clinical practice - under the authority of scripture, thus strengthening the biblical view of humans as holistic beings. Johnson PROVES that many clinical psychology and counseling practices do not oppose or deny Scriptural truths, but indeed they STRENGTHEN biblical truths regarding soul care. While there are those who oppose this approach, anyone who takes time for an honest and open-hearted reading of this book will only fall in humble and awesome wonder of God who "fearfully and wonderfully" created men and women in all their complexity. I couldn't recommend this book any more highly.
God and Soul Care, by Eric Johnson, is sure to be a foundational text in the world of Christian psychology. Arguably, it is as important as his exceptional Foundations of Soul care (2007). Massive in scope, comprehensive in vision, and deeply practical in application, every person who considers her or himself a Christian psychologist (or biblical counselor) will want to absorb this book. Similar to Foundations, this book contains a vocabulary not for the faint of heart, yet reading with a dictionary at hand is worth the effort. In my familiarity with Dr. Johnson and his works, a few things are evident. First and foremost, he prizes the glory of God above all things. He holds a high view of scripture, which will be quickly evident to any reader. However, scripture is not a mere afterthought here with prooftexts added to secular thinking; Johnson has a rich Trinitarian theology. The influences of John Piper, to whom this book is dedicated, are evident throughout this book. Together with this rich theology, Dr. Johnson also develops a broad anthropology that carefully considers spiritual, psychosocial, and biological variables. He not only gives considerable weight to each person bearing the image of God, but the ways in which psychopathology may present – sin, suffering, and biopsychosocial damage. I particularly appreciated his focus in the following areas: Trinitarian relating, the importance of Union with Christ, and the grounding of a therapeutic system in a comprehensive biblical worldview. To say that there is nothing like this on the market is not a stretch. A text that is both theologically and anthropologically rich honors God and offers considerable promise for the healing of souls.
至少在美南浸信会看起来目前是这个趋势。
其实Johnson的基督教心理学，是一个以圣经为基础重新构建的心理学，比混合辅导离圣经辅导的距离更近一些。但是，那些坚持圣经“足够”的辅导员和学者，是连Johnson也容不下了。
只能说很遗憾。但是那些在美南需要咨询的同学们，是比我更遗憾的。听说有人都不敢去找现在剩下的教授咨询了，因为按照圣经咨询的实践，一切问题都是罪的问题，去找辅导就是去面壁使劲想自己在哪里犯了罪需要悔改了。
圣经辅导并不是一帆风顺。
著名的John MacArthur牧师领导的加州恩典社区教会，曾经因为使用圣经辅导来辅导一位名叫Nally的年轻人，后来结果不好，Nally自杀了。
Nally的父母在Nally的遗物中找到一盘录音带，标题是“圣经辅导的原则”。里面说“自杀的基督徒也可以上天国。”
法庭案卷中相关部分，大家自己看吧：
In opposition to the motion of Pastor Rea, Pastor Thomson, Pastor Cory, and Grace Community Church, plaintiffs introduced evidence that a tape by Pastor Thomson for a collection entitled “Principles of Biblical Counseling” contained the following statement: “ ‘And the suicidal says, “I am under such tremendous pressure, now I've got to have to [sic ] pleasure of release! Now!, I don't care about the future.” That's characteristic of human nature. So it is very characteristic of the suicidal that it is his fear of judgment that drives him into the death after which he will face that judgment, if he's an unbeliever. And after which if he is a believer, he'll go to be with the Lord. Yes, there'll be a loss of reward, but because of the Lord and his grace he'll go to be with the Lord. In fact, suicide is one of the ways that the Lord takes home a disobedient believer. We read that in the Bible. That death is one of the ways that the Lord deals with us. In the First Corinthians Eleven, verse 30 it says, “For this reason because you are not judging sin in your own life, many among you are weak and sick” and what, “a number sleep!” What's that mean? They've gone to bed? They've gone to bed for the night! What's that mean? Sleep? They're dead! That's right. And suicide for a believer is the Lord saying, “Okay, come on home. Can't use you anymore on earth. If you're not going to deal with those things in your life, come on home.” ’ ” Depositions relied upon by defendants indicated that Pastors MacArthur, Rea, and Cory used counseling techniques similar to those used by Pastor Thomson and that each of the individual defendants was aware of Kenneth Nally's depression and his suicidal tendencies.
这个案子旷日持久，甚至专门有人写了一本书来讨论：Clergy Malpractice in America: Nally v. Grace Community Church of the Valley
从1979年发生到1989年高等法院拒绝重审，没有再追究教会的责任为止，一共延续了10年。
这也算是圣经咨询的一次大胜，因为他们不让Nally找心理医生，又说自杀是回天家的好方法，最终放任Nally自杀身亡；但是法庭将有关的辅导过程视为宪法第二修正案保护的宗教言论自由，所以没有让参与的牧师和辅导员负任何法律责任。
大概是从此以后，圣经辅导就在教会和神学院里更为得势了。
In 2013, 48 percent of self-identified evangelical, born-again, or fundamentalist Christians said they believe that conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia can be treated with prayer alone.
2013年，百分之48的自称福音派、重生的基督徒或者基要主义基督徒说，他们相信双向躁郁症和精神分裂症可以通过祷告就得到医治。这是Lifeway 研究院的调查结果。
有一本书专门说这个问题：The Failure of Evangelical Mental Health Care: Treatments That Harm Women, LGBT Persons and the Mentally Ill
当然，不管是法律文书还是心理学技术讨论，都不是我等普通吃瓜群众可以搞明白的。
我的负担是宣教士和牧师的压力管理和精神健康。我希望有学习基督教心理学的专家一起同工，帮助中国的宣教士和传道人家庭。
这些争议就留给辅导专业的学生去头痛去吧！
