Customer Reviews

Why Christians Can't Trust Psychology

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This is an eye-opener. Dr. Ed Bulkley has written a book that should be read and taught in every ministry training school, or church. As a devoted student of God's word, I have always approached secular psychology with an air caution. Now, I have greater reason and sound documentation to remain cautious. This has not only confirmed my suspicions of the failures of human psychology, but it has strengthened my faith in the all-sufficiency of the word of God to heal the human heart, mind, and soul.

I had a similar experience to one of the examples made up in the book of having a minister refer me to psychiatric help before talking to me first. I had already had psychiatric treatment that wasn't what I needed. I now have a minister who understands the situation better and I am fine, someone who was helping family and talking to people who did not understand the situation. It makes a big difference when people do. I think the minister was sincere but mislead by the "facts" of depression so overly accepted by many ministers nowadays.

Reading this book was like taking a huge breath of fresh, crisp, country air. The author points the reader towards the all sufficiency of Scripture in all of the problems the christian will ever encounter. The Bible really does have all the answers we need and this book refreshingly backs this up.

I believe all Christians need to read this book. We need to stop putting our trust in man. The bible still has the answers once we follow its teachings. Neither Psychologists nor Psychiatrists can positively help Christian solve their problems. Trust God's Word, the Bible. This books helps us to understand that. Pastors, Christian leaders, and Christian Psychologists need to get a copy of this book and read it thoroughly. Its great, It is an eyeopener.

Finally, a well written, to the point with no personal attacks whatsoever book using the power of the Word of God and surprisingly the words of actual secular psychologists and psychiatrists to make the point that "the Word of God IS alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit and of the joints and the marrow and is a critic of thoughts and intents of the heart." A clear choice is presented and there's no gray area in Bulkley's conclusions. God is either woefully missing what every believer needs in the Bible to satisfy Romans 12: 1,2 or He is telling the truth and has provided EVERYTHING we need as believers to think clearly sans psychology/psychiatry. Pick one and good luck with adding secular humanism's ideas and its "science" of psychology to Christianity at the Bema.

This book has tactfully exposed the deception Christians are experiencing by the untruths or half-truths of godless psychology. I had no idea how pervasive the so-called "science" of psychology is in some "Christian" counsel. I understand now why so many believers suffer and fall away from the church after referal to an integrationist counselor. I thank the author for explaining how psychology and Biblical truth are never compatible. The two belief systems have opposiing views of man's condition, sin, salvation, suffering, etc. Let's get the word out to the church that integrating Freud, Jung, Maslow (and others) with absolute truth in Christian counseling must end.

I found that this book greatly increased my confidence in the Bible as the only reliable source for God's solutions to life problems. Although I believed that for myself, as a Bible teacher I had become intimidated by the Christian counseling community. The title is unfortunate in my mind. It is not a negative book. It's overall effect is to help you understand how God changes people. It is very positive in it's proclamation that God has given us everything we need for life and godliness. That message drives you to the scriptures with great hope and confidence.

EVERY PERSON UNDERGOING PSYCHOTHERAPY NEEDS TO READ THIS BOOK AND EVERY CHURCH NEEDS A COPY ON THE PASTORS DESK.

Dr. Bulkley, himself a PHD level psychologist, has compassionately pulled back the curtains to reveal the dark foundations and guiding principals of the humanist philosophy known as psychology. He brilliantly interweaves the informational text with a heartrending and authentic story of a suffering woman who's life illustrates the harm caused by profit driven "professionals" who have created a multi-billion dollar business.

Dr. Bulkley reveal psychology for what it is, a philosophy and a religion, not objective science. All of his conclusions are based on extensive quotations by recognized experts in the field.

This book is fair and objective in all respects and deserves honest consideration.

Brilliantly constructed work that uses a combination of biblical exegesis and gripping, relevant examples from the counseling realm to expose how we are led astray by the 'science' and subtleties of psychology. While genuinely acknowledging that organic mental illnesses do exist and require treatment, Bulkley explains clearly why counseling never seems to end! By inventing labels, sinful behaviors that have existed since the beginning of time have now become a diagnosis that requires psychological treatment and counseling. This of course absolves us from any wrongdoing and makes us all victims.

"When we accept the doctrine that we need more information than God has given in His Word, we open the doors of our hearts and minds to the god of this age, who is at work filling us with his lies."

Either Christ is all sufficient, or he is not. God has either given us everything we need for life and godliness, or he has not.

If it were not for the author's acid rhetoric and his seeming disdain for anything that is not in the Bible, this book might actually have some corrective function toward Christian counselling. As it stands, however, it is probably not worth the cost, because most of us have heard it all before. Psychology is no good, and every problem we have in life is because of some sort of sin. Bulkley sounds too much like the counsellors of Job. I do agree with him that it is problematic when Christians rely exclusively on psychology for solving their emotional problems, but I do not agree with his Bible-only solution. I do think that integration of Christian faith with psychological insights is possible, but it must be done with great sensitivity to the Scriptures, and musn't contradict them. I think that successful integration does require probably more training in Scripture than many Christian counsellors are getting. For a more helpful approach, I would recommend "Christ-Centered Therapy", Zondervan, 2000, by Neil Anderson. This book makes some of the same points Bulkley does but offers better solutions without so much of the ranting and raving.