THE JOURNAL of

Biblical Counseling

Volume XXV, No. 2

Spring 2007

David A. Powlison

Editor

THE CHRISTIAN COUNSELING AND EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION

GLENSIDE, PA.

© 2007, The Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation

All rights reserved. No portion of this publication should be reproduced, copied or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from The Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation. Inquiries should be made in writing, addressed to CCEF, 1803 East Willow Grove Ave, Glenside, PA 19038.

In This Issue:

From the Editor’s Desk

The Practical Theology of Counseling

David Powlison

Private Ministry

Cure of Souls (and the Modern Psychotherapies)

David Powlison

Part I: The Counseling Revolution

Part II: Epistemological Priorities

Part III: Our Theory of Motivation

Part IV: Educating, Licensing, and Overseeing Counselors

Sturdy Truths for Single Parents

Robert D. Jones

Public Ministry

Did He Die for You?

Timothy J. Keller

When Independent Counselors Do Pastoral Care

Edward T. Welch

From the Editor’s Desk

The Practical Theology of Counseling

by David Powlison

Scripture is not an anthology of odd bits that the church happened to collect over time and chose to bind together under one cover. Scripture coheres. It reveals the one true God and His gracious purposes. It reveals Jesus the unique Son and only Savior. It reveals the mind and power of the one life-giving Spirit.

Of course, the unity of Scripture does not imply homogeneity. God speaks timely, pointed, personalized truth. He does not speak in timeless abstractions. Scripture is not a textbook on ethics or theology or preaching or counseling. It is the sourcebook. The Lord says a different thing to wandering Abraham than to childless Hannah, to exiled Ezekiel than to a blind man on the Jericho-Jerusalem road. He speaks into the experiences and in the idioms of different people, times, places, and cultures. He speaks through different human authors, so their personalities, life experiences, and tendencies come through. God identifies and addresses different kinds of life-or-death choice. He expresses Himself variously in histories and commandments, psalms and letters, proverbs and apocalyptics. No book or genre says everything. In each case, God highlights different things about Himself, appropriate to His unfolding purposes and to the needs of each immediate context.

Because Scripture reveals God at work, the Scriptures are practical theology. We read truth in action. We witness relevant truth. We hear an applied revelation. Let me say it again, the Scriptures are practical theology.

So we work with Scripture, seeking to understand how what applied directly to others applies now also to us. Good exegesis aims to understand the original context and purpose of each passage and book. Good theology traces both continuities and developments within God’s self-revelation. ...