Is Mental Health a Biblical Concept?

Is Mental Health a Biblical Concept? [1]

By: Garrett Higbee

Selected Quotations:

“I think it is important to note that our epistemology, anthropology, and etiology differ from our secular counterparts, who are measuring secular well-being. We see personal sin at the root of mental dysfunction and sin’s effects on this world causing tremendous suffering. We are not ignorant of human weakness and, in effect, mental illness as a result of the fall (Gen. 3), but we measure and treat it differently. Our truth as Christians is not simply based on objective and empirical evidence but also on the unseen (Eph. 6:10-12) and the authority of Scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”

“Secular scientists, while often well-meaning in their pursuit of mental health, are searching in vain without understanding the power of the Cross to redeem relationship and peace with our Creator. Thus, if we pursue mental health through means of addressing symptoms and focusing on self-esteem, self-help, and self-sufficiency, we too will reap misery in the end (Matt. 10:39).”

“I believe we must continue to develop ways to reframe issues and guide our people to a biblical worldview of mental illness (Col. 2:8). While causality may vary, based on Scripture, we believe that every “mental illness” has a spiritual origin (Jer. 17:9; Rom. 1:20-24). Having a holistic and biblical perspective of man, we cannot let mental health assessment, standards, and care be abdicated to the secular therapeutic community as it has for over a century.”

“God left us the key to true mental health in His Word, the gospel. The standard for wellness is a heart redeemed by and satisfied in Christ (Ezek. 11:19). A life where we are growing a Christ-like character, mindset, and demeanor is a believer’s “new normal” (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20, Phil. 2:1-5) and the baseline for mental health in a biblical worldview. There is a paradigm shift from being conformed to a set of criteria that the world calls functional to being transformed through progressive sanctification (Rom. 12:1-2). But how? First, by abiding in Christ in deep dependency (John 15), second, by being mindful of Christ in all that we do (2 Cor. 3:18), and third, by being renewed in our thinking primarily through His Word (Eph. 4:22-24). Scripture does not mention mental health but does use words like shalom, joy, soul rest, contentment, and blessed to describe a person at peace in Christ (Ps. 4:8; 119:165; Prov. 3:17; Isa. 26:3; 32:17; John 20:21; Acts 10:36).

[Emphasis mine}

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1. https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2022/04/25/is-mental-health-a-biblical-concept/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-mental-health-a-biblical-concept

The Unity of the Transcendentals

What a mindful! The unity of the transcendentals! It sounds like a notion developed by someone with too much time on their hands.  I hadn’t ever recalled hearing of such a concept.  The unity of the transcendentals. This is what  Dr. Albert Mohler entitled his lecture in the series Truth and Consequences, produced by Ligonier Ministries and shown in the Elk Point Baptist Adult Sunday School class on Sunday, May 1st.

So what is it, or are they?  The transcendentals are those universal virtues of the good, the beautiful, the true and the real.  They have been understood in the history of Western thought to be indispensable categories for understanding the world.  Mohler points out that the unity of the transcendentals is a foundational theological belief for the Christian because it points to the One who is good, beautiful, true, and real. The concept of unity suggests that they are indivisible.  You can’t have something good, if it’s not true or real.  Scripturally they are seen clearly in Paul’s letter to Philippi:

Philippians 4:8 (ESV): “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”

Our culture craves beauty but has no clue what beauty is because it denies basic truth about God and the world as He created it.  Instead we fabricate fake beauty; we manufacture our own truth; we consider it our right to create our own reality; and so on.  All this due to a denial of God and His Word.  Dr Mohler gave an example.  He said that from the Christian worldview, a Down-syndrome child is more beautiful than a exorbitantly made-up fashion model. The former carries the Imago Deo, the latter is a fake.  Yet the former is aborted (killed) in thousands by our culture.  

Another important thing that Dr. Mohler said was that truth is never bad news.  In relation to the gospel, telling someone about the truth of their sin is necessary to point someone to Christ. The fact that Christ is presented as the solution to the problem of sin makes the bad news of sin, while a harsh reality, good news in actuality. He illustrated that point by showing that a physician’s news that one has a malignant tumour is “hard” news but if there is a remedy it is not bad news.  It is never unloving to give hard news (the Truth) if you have a solution.  So-called “bad” news becomes good because it is true.  And if it is true then it is beautiful and real.

The transcendental realities of the good, the beautiful, the true, and the real are not just philosophical mambo jumbo, they are deeply theological, because they speak of the character of God.  This Christian worldview is the only worldview that can hold together in a logical, cohesive, comprehensive package because it is based on the reality of a God who is the good, the beautiful, the true, and the real. Other worldviews cannot claim the same ability, therefore they are fractured, inconsistent, confusing and lack all logical integrity.