At the end of each year, I collate lists of top books. For example:
Today’s post is a tad different. Rather than biblical counseling books, per se, I am focused on books written by Christian authors and published in 2023 on the topic of mental health and mental illness.
I list these four books in alphabetical order by the author(s). I provide links to the books, along with a brief summary. I also provide a link to a review of each book, along with a summary of the review.
Of Benefit to Each of Us…
If you are a pastor, church leader, or biblical counselor, these books can help you develop a Christian way of thinking about mental health and mental illness. You may or may not agree with each point of each book, but we can all benefit from the thought-provoking perspectives in each book.
If you are a family member or friend of someone struggling with their mental health, these books can be beneficial to you in helping you to think through a compassionate, comprehensive Christian way of ministering to those you love.
If you are struggling with mental health issues, these books, especially those focused on personal testimony, can be a source of hope and encouragement for you.
Bryant, John. A Quiet Mind to Suffer With: Mental Illness, Trauma, and the Death of Christ. Lexham Press, 300 Pages.
Suffering has been made holy by Christ’s proximity to it.
A Quiet Mind to Suffer With is both a personal testimony of the author, as well as a testimony to Christ’s healing hope. Author John Bryant writes:
“This is the story of Christ’s nearness to my own suffering―my mental breakdown, my journey to the psych ward, my long, slow, painful recovery―and how Christ will use even our agony and despair to turn us into servants and guests of the mercy offered in his gospel.”
The Southwestern Journal of Theology, published by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, named A Quiet Mind to Suffer With the Book of the Year, Honorable Mention, in the Counseling category.
Christian author, pastor, educator, and counselor, Matthew A. LaPine, writes,
“This is a stunning book, so rare and so beautiful. I cannot recommend it highly enough. John Bryant does two things that are very hard to do at the same time. He represents the raw agony and disorientation of healing from OCD. And he puts this struggle within a hopeful theological frame. I cried a lot during this book. It will encourage those who suffer and help others to understand the struggle. The book is honest, vulnerable, gripping, and hopeful at the same time.”
Christianity Today named A Quiet Mind to Suffer With their book of the year in the category of Christian Living/Spiritual Formation. Writing about the book for CT, Shar Walker notes:
“I’ve sat for hours with friends with severe mental illnesses, not understanding in the slightest how they feel or what’s going on inside them. This book gave me a small glimpse into their world and the hope that exists in the life and death of Jesus. It is profound and deeply troubling, lovely and heart-wrenching. I’m both grieved and grateful when I think of the suffering Bryant endured to give us something so wise, true, and beautiful. This book sheds conventional genres, somehow combining memoir, poetry, lecture, sermon, and essay all in one. I left wanting to know more of the patient, quiet trust in Jesus that Bryant found in the halls of the psychiatric ward.”
Murray, David, and Tom Karel. A Christian’s Guide to Mental Illness: Answers to 30 Common Questions. Crossway, 256 Pages.
A mental health Q&A from a Christian perspective.
How should Christians approach the topic of mental health? What is the most Christlike way to care for those who suffer? A Christian’s Guide to Mental Illness answers 30 commonly asked questions about mental health from a Christian perspective. Intended for caregivers, this accessible resource will equip family, friends, and churches with wisdom for caring for individuals with mental health illnesses. Authors David Murray and Tom Karel use a holistic approach as they share personal stories, professional expertise, and biblical wisdom to tackle difficult questions―ultimately providing hope for the hopeless and rest for the weary.
In the Journal of Biblical Counseling, 37:3 (2023): 65-81, Michael Gembola in his Books Notes: Volume 2, provides a review of A Christian’s Guide to Mental Illness. In part, Gembola writes:
“The format serves the purpose in this well-written book. Clear takeaways, summaries, and short case studies at the close of each chapter make this book an excellent guide—one that brings clarity amid the complexities of mental illness. The summaries are arranged in this order: problem, insight, action, and steps. The authors’ personal stories of suffering, or of those close to them, are included in sidebars and helpfully illustrate the larger points. The book draws heavily from a large study by Lifeway, yet also pairs this research with pastoral applications. Murray and Karel deal with the full range of what ails people, both the physiological and spiritual. They also address mysterious situations where the cause is not clear such as when a person is spiraling downward morally and is depressed—with the former potentially precipitating the latter. Here the moral nature of human existence is presented with a hopeful framing…. Overall, Murray and Karel serve their audience well by providing ‘a holistic team approach’ and ‘a balanced and more biblical approach to mental illness.’”
Noble, Alan. On Getting Out of Bed: The Burden and Gift of Living. IVP, 120 Pages.
We aren’t always honest about how difficult normal human life is.
In chapter 1 of On Getting Out of Bed, Alan Noble shares:
“Understanding the source of our modern dis-ease can help us resist it and work for a more human society. If I didn’t believe that, I wouldn’t have written a book on the subject. But however you explain the difficulty of living in the modern world, whatever theory you accept, you’re still stuck with the reality that a normal life includes a great deal of suffering. Ultimately, you must have some reason to put up with such a life, some reason for still getting out of bed even when you know it will mean pain. That’s another thing I’ve discovered: getting out of bed in the morning can be incredibly hard.”
At The Gospel Coalition, Kristen Kellen, professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, reviews On Getting Out of Bed. In part, Kellen writes:
“As I read Noble’s book, I tabbed pages to come back to. By the end, easily a third of the pages were marked. This speaks to the poetic power of Noble’s writing. Anyone walking through a season of suffering, particularly mental affliction, will benefit from this book. Noble puts into words what many of us already know but desperately need to be reminded of. The book is both a comfort in trials and an encouragement to choose to go on living.”
Thorne, Helen, and Steve Midgley. Mental Health and Your Church: A Handbook for Biblical Care (A Ministry Guide to Mental Illness, Anxiety, Depression, Trauma and Addiction). The Good Book Company, 144 Pages.
Helping you and the whole church family understand, nurture, and support those with mental-health conditions.
This wise, compassionate, and practical book is written by Steve Midgley, psychiatrist and Executive Director of Biblical Counselling UK, and Helen Thorne, Director of Training and Resources at Biblical Counselling UK. It will help readers understand and respond with biblical wisdom to people who are struggling with their mental health.
At The Gospel Coalition, Australia, Karl Hood reviews Mental Health and Your Church. Here’s a snapshot of his review.
“Mental Health and Your Church is what it sets out to be—a handbook for churches. It’s sufficiently deep and detailed to give plenty of good ideas for leaders trying to equip their people to follow Paul’s call to mutual ministry when he says: ‘We urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all’ (1 Thess. 5:14). This comprehensive call to care for each other encompasses the range of mental health issues that we face. Whatever the problem, and whatever resources external to the local fellowship might be involved, we are all called to love each other practically from the heart with wisdom—with the word of Christ dwelling deeply in our conversations. Thorne and Midgley have drawn an attractive and realistic vision of what this could look like in your church and mine.”
Some “Older” Resources
If these four new resources are of interest to you, then you may also find this “older” resource, that I developed in 2015, of some help.
Mental Illness and the Church.
You also might find this blog post to be helpful.
12 Biblical Counseling Resources on Medication, Mental Health, and Mental Illness.
Here’s a third resource of mind that you may find helpful.
