4 Reviews of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling

4 Reviews of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling 

It was a rewarding process to serve as managing editor for Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling: Changing Lives with God’s Changeless Truth.  

A Biblical Counseling Coalition book published by Harvest House, you can order a copy at my RPM Ministries Bookstore at 35% off by clicking here.  

For a sample chapter, endorsements, quotes of note, an author interview, and more, visit my Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling page.  

Though just released, reviews are already starting to be posted for Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling. Periodically I will post snap-shots of these reviews, along with direct links to the full review. If you are interested in reviewing Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling please send an email to info@biblicalcc.org along with a link to your review site. 

A Great New Resource 

Nathaniel Claiborne, who is a prolific reviewer of Christian books, writes that Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling is “a great new resource with 40 contributors writing about a practical theology and methodology of counseling in the local church.” 

He also shares: 

“I really appreciated the chapters on anthropology because they show a sensitivity to mind-body interactions that many people think biblical counselors either are either insensitive to or ignorant of. Here we see careful nuance and thoughtful reflections on how counselors can approach counselee’s sensitive to how we are created as a psycho-somatic wholes. Beyond these chapters, there is much to be gleaned in this mini-systematic theology for counselors. Chapter 5 is a rather imaginative dialogue rather than essay form, and Stuart Scott’s chapter on gospel balance is much needed in many churches today.” 

Visit Nathaniel’s site to read his entire review of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling here.  

Theology and Counseling 

Elizabeth Hankins is another prolific reader and reviewer. Of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling, she writes: 

“Yes! Theology matters. The study of this personal God and how He relates to His creatures makes a substantial impact on how one lives life. The authors of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling understand and are committed to this truth. So much so, that Part I of this book begins with an introduction to the classic doctrines found in a systematic theology, laying a theological foundation for Christian living and preparing the reader for the practical implications found in Part II. The contributors to Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling do an excellent job demonstrating the relationship between theology and counseling. The theology is biblical, readable, and relevant to daily life. Furthermore, the material serves to whet one’s appetite for further study of God’s Word and His work.” 

“But what of counseling? Does counseling matter? In Part II, Mark Dever and Deepak Reju contend that ‘Counseling is a subset of discipleship and deals with the more problematic and difficult aspects of life to handle…’ (p. 251). If that is the case, counseling is part of what is commanded in Matthew 28 when Jesus instructs His followers to go and make disciples of all nations. You see, ‘counseling’ is meant to encompass ministering the Word to one another and disciple-making, which makes a book like Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling important and helpful for all Christians.’” 

Visit Elizabeth’s site to read his entire review of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling here.  

Practicality at Its Best 

At the Broken Bride blog site, we read the following about Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling: 

“Another thing this book does well is assign priority to theology as the foundation for good methodology. Far too often, practical books give lip service to the importance of theology but head straight to the methodology so the practitioner can learn how to ‘do’ something. Soul care, if it is to accomplish God’s purposes, requires a thorough understanding of a comprehensive and solid Biblical theology in order to build fences that keep sheep safe. MacDonald, Kellemen and Viars, as contributing authors and as editors, in cooperation with many other contributing authors, have built sturdy fences.” 

“An additional and perhaps unintended gift this book gives is an awareness that the biblical counseling world is far bigger than any of us might previously have imagined, and what began back in the 80s as a one-man attempt to expose the deceptive, hollow errors of psychology has blossomed into a movement that holds significant promise not just for the church but also for society at large as its basic tenets are grappled with, grasped and applied.” 

Read the entire review of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling here.  

Necessary for Every Christian; Pure Gold 

At the blog site Found a Christian by His Grace, the reviewer states: 

“This book is a necessity for every Christian, pastors especially but not exclusively. We all need to study counseling. I knew from the introduction that this was going to be an excellent book. John Piper’s beginning chapter The Glory of God: The Goal of Biblical Counseling was pure gold. Dr. Piper defines Christ-centered counseling for us and sets a high standard that the rest of this 480 page book maintains. ‘Biblical counseling is the God-centered, Bible-saturated, emotionally-in-touch use of language to help people become God-besotted, Christ-exalting, joyfully self-forgetting lovers of people.’ Pure Gold.” 

Read the entire review of Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling here.  

Join the Conversation 

If you were reviewing Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling what one-paragraph summary of the book would you craft? 

RPM Ministries: Equipping You to Change Lives with Christ’s Changeless Truth