Customer Reviews

Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded?: Helping (Not Hurting) Those with Emotional Difficulties

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A truly thought-provoking and compassionate discussion of emotional illness in the Christian community. Carlson disagrees with popular legalists, some of whom have attracted a large following, that the only sources of emotional illness are such things as unrepented sin, lack of faith or insufficient prayer. He establishes three categories of causes: physiological, psychological and spiritual. While some cases of emotional illness may be entirely an individual's own "fault" through some form of spiritual neglect or disobedience, these cases are probably very rare. In a majority of cases, there is a combination of causes involving all three of the areas mentioned above. The bottom line is that many if not most emotional illnesses involve a physiological cause which can only be eliminated with properly, professionally prescribed medication. It is only by compassionately acknowledging the truth and understanding this physiological component that Christians can begin to respond with God's healing grace to those who are suffering. The book concludes with an excellent list of suggestions, ideas and resources for Christian communities, churches and individuals to respond positively to those in need.

As the director of a ministry that serves the chronically ill, the topic of this book caught my attention. The title is harsh and definately scares some people away, which is too bad because the content should be required reading for church workers. The question does need answered! This book is about how many people- Christian included- suffer from real emotional pain such as depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. Too often they are given "pat answers" and told to "go read the Bible" because the cause of the illness must be a spiritual problem. Dr. Carlson tackles this head on, revealing how the church body today can more effectively reach out to hurting people. If you are hurting, you will find comfort and validation. I highly recommend it and stock as part of the books we sell.

This book is the best book on this subject. I know first hand how horrible many so called Christians treat those that suffer from depression. Without medication I would not be alive today. Christian friends and family have accused me of being possessed by a demon. Nothing hurts more than a loved one or friends judging you for something you have no control over. This book is about just that. A kind word of encouragement would be nice but is not the norm amoung Christians.

Why DO we Christians shoot our wounded??? WHY?? And why do so many pastors help line-up their congregations to fire first? It's a very tragic subject. There are many Christians who struggle with emotional pain, depression, etc. and their needs are ignored or worse yet, they are treated as lepers or questioned outright or inwardly: "What sin(S) are you committing?" We - the church - should be champions of helping, NOT hurting those who are suffering emotionally/mentally but, as a whole, we don't. And some WELL-KNOWN (I will not mention a "famous" pastor in this review but he is mentioned repeatedly in this book) pastors not only champion the "What sin are you committing?" philosophy but seem to to encourage other believers to, at least, believe as they do.

ENOUGH!!! And this book written with intelligence, clarity and love echoes that cry.

I recommend this book for ALL pastors and believers.

i have read this book & suggested other read it. The book brings out good points and i would recommend anyone read it!

My only complaint about this book is part of its title, WHY DO CHRISTIANS SHOOT THEIR WOUNDED, which does not do it justice. It may make people want to step back from reading the much needed material about very real physical components of emotional and mental illness. The second part of the title HELPING (NOT HURTING) THOSE WITH EMOTIONAL DIFFICULTIES attracts readers to learn facts that can change attitudes so that sympathetic compassion can replace unfounded moral and spiritual judgments on those with psychological problems. I feel the world would be a better place if everyone would read and apply knowledge in this book. Those with psychiatric problems need considerate kindness, not mocking rejection for an illness that cripples biological brain processes and manifests itself in unusual behavior.

I haven't finished this book yet.It came highly recommended and I am enjoying it. Anyone who has struggled with depression,anxiety or your beliefs this book is very helpful.

What can i say? Truly amazin. My roommate, Brian was skeptical of Helping, Not Hurting at first. My how times have changed for him as a result. He recently introduced Helping Not Hurting to his wife, and she loved it! Thank you so much for letting me express my story!

Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded

What caused Carlson to write this book?

D.L. Carlson wrote this book motivated from the premise that Christian's are not providing healing for hurting Christians in fact he insists that they are one of the only groups of people that actually keep hurting people from finding real healing to their problems through legalistic understandings of God's Word. His goal is to give Christians another perspective on emotional hurting people in hopes that they will see that healing has broader implications than just being referred to as a "sin problem." His directive is to demonstrate the need for proper spiritual perspective in physical and emotional healing in a effort to provide true holistic ministry to emotionally damaged people.

What major issues is he attempting to deal with?

The major issue Carlson attempts to deal with is the spiritual vs. physiological vs. psychological issues when it comes to healing. He believes that many Christians view every problem in this life as simply a spiritual problem and that only Biblical solutions are best for these problems. Carlson says this is true only in some cases and even these cases are very rare. As he writes, Carlson perceives this as a major fault since many Christian churches use proof-texting, shallow understanding of scriptural words, and extremist theology to reason this perspective which only puts "bandages" on deeper problems that wound many Christians through the course of life. These Christians choose to label emotional problems as only a sin problem which licensed professional counselors will only contribute to. Utilizing real life stories that illustrate dramatic points and current medical information on the source of emotional illness, Carlson demonstrates that emotional problems do have spiritual beginnings in a broad sense (that is original sin) but that many if not almost all emotional problems also have environmental, biological, or decisional beginnings as well. Carlson make an excellent point here.

Is Carlson's reasoning concerning this set of issues convincing to you? Why or why not?

Carlson's reasoning used in his book is not very strong, although his major point was discovered. His stories, although illustrative, were just a little too subjective and his scientific research was not very objective, however study in these areas (especially from a Christian perspective) is only beginning to progress. He seems to be struggling himself with finding an ecumenical system that would bring together scientific research, biblical study, and environmental evolution into harmony that would seek to heal the whole person as we become more like Christ. This is a postmodern challenge in healing for the present time, yet his goals seem to begin a process of debate even though they are rather immature. And finally, it almost appears that he is writing to a group of people who are

already on a bandwagon together than to people who a genuinely looking for help, he could have taken a different angle in writing this book since it appears that he is setting out to start a revolution rather than provide hope for the hurting. Carlson spends a great deal of time in his book discussing this research on the what exactly causes emotional illness scientifically however he does not spend much time discussing the spiritual ills which is actually the cause of the whole problem in the first place. If part one provided a stronger case then possibly the rest of the book would have easily been more convincing. Carlson could have responded to scripture more as well. Providing some scriptural basis for his position and if possible using a few of the interactions of Jesus with emotionally hurting people. Also, if Carlson could have provided both sides of these healing perspective (the legalistic Christian perspective and the holistic person perspective) and then as well provided the pro's and con's of each this would have been helpful to decipher as possible solution. Carlson does appear a bit one-sided throughout his book as if he has some sort of vendetta.

If you were going to write this book, having had similar experiences to Carlson's, what most important message would you have?

If I were writing this book, I would put emphasis on what he began with yet would lean in more directions than he did. His presumptions in the preface were perplexing and to hear more on these three issues (how and why they come about) would help to provide a stronger direction for the book as well as provide freedom for some Christians whose corrupt belief systems rule their lives and others. I would have discussed more about the result of bad belief systems in the lives of all people and how they can infect churches. Providing more reasons why "Christian Shoot Their Wounded" could be beneficial (since their are more than three) and how these systems root their way into our life would also help some individuals and churches to begin the process of nurturing others and self on our journey in becoming more like Christ as we confront our emotional pain.

What spiritual resources for treating medical illness would you have like Carlson to have emphasized?

Carlson could have provided us with resources that he was familiar with that he has seen or used that have been beneficial to healing hearts and minds. In this area he

could have emphasized extensively the positive aspects of spiritually healing that would contribute to bettering of the Christian person. Even though he touched on this in the last section more time could be spent here. Simply stating that spiritual resources could not heal some people is not enough. Many non-Christian authors make similar generalizations but giving a few good resources would be fantastic.