The Big Idea 

There are 4 generations of biblical counselors. Are you a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or “prequel” generation biblical counselor?

Going Deeper

For a follow-up on today’s post, check out, 2 Ways of Thinking About Our Biblical Counseling Identity. Learn 3 central questions you need to address in order to richly answer the question, “Who am I as a biblical counselor?”

3 Generations and Before 

What do Star Wars, Star Trek, and Biblical Counseling have in common?

They each have 3 generations.

They also each have predecessors. We might say they each have a “prequel.”

3 Generations of Star Wars and Before 

• 1^st Generation: The 3 original Star War movies from the 1970s and 1980s.

• 2^nd Generation: The 6 subsequent Star War movies—3 prequels and 3 sequels.

• 3^rd Generation: The ever-growing myriad of movies, TV shows, comics, graphic novels, and books that exist today.

• Prequel/Before/Historical Predecessors: George Lucas, the creator of the Star Wars universe, has spoken many times about various sci-fi predecessors who influenced him, such as the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials from the 1930s and 1940s.

3 Generations of Star Trek and Before 

• 1^st Generation: The classic Star Trek TOS (The Original Series) from the 1960s.

• 2^nd Generation: Star Trek TNG (The Next Generation) from the 1980s and 1990s.

• 3^rd Generation: The ever-growing myriad of movies, TV shows, comics, and books that exist today.

• Prequel/Before/Historical Predecessors: Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek, often explained that not only did early sci-fi, especially The Twilight Zone, influence him, but also westerns. Roddenberry envisioned Star Trek as “Wagon Train to the Stars.”

3 Generations of the Modern Biblical Counseling Movement and Before 

• 1^st Generation: The launch of the modern nouthetic counseling movement by Jay Adams in the 1960s and 1970s, and continuing today. NANC—the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors—was the original organization promoting nouthetic counseling. You can read about this 1^st generation in many places, including in David Powlison’s, The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context. 

• 2^nd Generation: The development of nouthetic counseling in the 1980s-2000s and continuing today. David Powlison and his colleagues at CCEF and at Westminster Theological Seminary were in the forefront of this second generation, now called biblical counseling. The vast majority of 2^nd generation biblical counseling leaders were influenced and trained by (many earned their D.Min. in BC) Powlison, CCEF, Westminster, the Journal of Biblical Counseling, and the writings of Powlison and other CCEF leaders. During this second generation, NANC became ACBC: Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. You can read about this 2^nd generation in many places, including in Lambert’s work, The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams. 

• 3^rd Generation: The 3^rd generation of the modern biblical counseling movement is a growing, diverse group. Rather than being trained predominantly by Adams (like the 1^st gen), or by Powlison (like the 2^nd gen), this generation is being trained and influenced by a wide array of authors, churches, leaders, and schools. Thus, they tend to see their “allegiance” less to any one modern leader such as Adams or Powlison. For one introduction to this 3^rd generation, you can listen to Brad Hambrick’s webinar, A Redemptive Counseling Perspective on the History of Biblical Counseling. 

• Prequel/Before/Historical Predecessors: There’s a reason that we call the current field of biblical counseling the modern nouthetic biblical counseling movement. It hasn’t always existed. It’s a new, 50-year-young movement. The modern movement has 1,950 years of historical predecessors in the history of Christian soul care, one-another ministry, and pastoral care. The personal ministry of the Word began in Genesis 1-3 and continued throughout the Bible. For a few introductions to this long history of pre-modern biblical counseling, see the following posts: When Did Biblical Counseling Begin? And, 12 Top Resources on the History of Biblical Counseling, Pastoral Counseling, and Soul Care. And 3 Books on Biblical Counseling in Church History. 

Tracing Our Biblical Counseling DNA 

Have you done one of those genealogy DNA tests yet? I’ve done two. Fascinating what I’ve learned about my lineage.

What’s your biblical counseling lineage, DNA, genealogy? What stream do you trace your biblical counseling to?

Of course, any and all biblical counselors first answer this question with, “I trace my biblical counseling to the Bible!”

Agreed.

Then, humanly speaking, are there others in the body of Christ who have influenced your approach to biblical counseling?

1. Are you a 1^st generation Jay Adams nouthetic counselor?

2. Are you a 2^nd generation David Powlison biblical counselor?

3. Are you a 3^rd generation more recently and diversely trained biblical counselor?

4. Are you a prequel/before/historical predecessor biblical counselor tracing your lineage beyond and before America in the 1960s?

Tracing My Biblical Counseling DNA 

Physically, I have a diverse genealogical DNA. I have a lot of Romanian and Eastern European DNA. I have some German DNA. I have a lot of English-Irish DNA. According to one of the two DNA tests I took, I have a good deal of Jewish DNA.

Spiritually, as far as biblical counseling, I would put myself primarily in the prequel/before/historical predecessor DNA of biblical counseling. But I also have quite the mixture.

My Biblical Counseling Lineage 

Here’s a summary of Bob Kellemen’s biblical counseling DNA.

1. Bob Kellemen’s 1^st Generation Biblical Counseling DNA: I came to know Christ in 1974 under the ministry of Pastor Bill Goode. Pastor Goode, who later became the NANC Executive Director, trained me and other youth in our church in nouthetic counseling. However, I never “self-described” as a “nouthetic counselor,” as early on I saw areas where I thought the model should be further developed to become more biblically comprehensive.

2. Bob Kellemen’s 2^nd Generation Biblical Counseling DNA: Unlike the vast majority of 2^nd gen biblical counseling leaders, I did not study under David Powlison. However, I had the privilege of ministering closely with David in numerous settings. I have great affinity for his model and the model of CCEF. However, it is more alignment with than studying under.

3. Bob Kellemen’s 3^rd Generation Biblical Counseling DNA: Rather than studying under the 3^rd generation leaders, I have had the privilege of equipping many 3^rd generation leaders. I served as a biblical counseling professor at two seminaries and one Bible college; I taught adjunct at over half-a-dozen Bible colleges and seminaries; I’ve written a couple of books read by 3^rd gen biblical counselors; etc. By God’s grace, I have many younger 3^rd generation biblical counselors who consider me something of a “mentor.” I consider many of them to be spiritual sons and daughters.

4. Bob Kellemen’s Prequel Generation Biblical Counseling DNA: If you force me to make a selection among these four streams of biblical counseling, then I will select this 4^th stream. What human being has most influenced my approach to biblical counseling? Though I’m grateful to so many pioneers in the modern nouthetic biblical counseling movement, like Bill Goode, Jay Adams, David Powlison, John Bettler, Steve Viars, Randy Patten, Paul Tripp, Ed Welch, Mike Emlet, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Garrett Higbee, Deepak Reju, etc., I trace my lineage further back. If I were not a biblical counseling professor, I would have wanted to become a history professor. I love history. I love church history. Clebsch and Jaekle’s book, Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective, first introduced me to the history of what we now call biblical counseling, one-another ministry, pastoral care, pastoral counseling, soul care, spiritual direction, etc. Since then, I have spent over forty years studying the history of Christian soul care. My Ph.D. dissertation was on Martin Luther’s pastoral counseling. For over a quarter-century, I taught a graduate course on The History of Christian Soul Care. I’ve written three books on soul care in church history. I trace my biblical counseling lineage to the Church Fathers, the Church Mothers, Luther, the Puritans, the black church in America, and many more.

What Difference Does This Make? 

In our modern biblical counseling conversations, we are often asking, What Makes Someone a Faithful Biblical Counselor? Or, what makes biblical counseling truly biblical?

We frequently draw lines around lineage.

If we are not careful, we can almost become like the Corinthians. Instead of saying, “I am of Paul. I am of Apollos.” We say, “I am of Jay Adams.” Or, “I am of David Powlison.” Or, “I am of ________” (fill in the blank with your preferred current biblical counseling leader).

I also fear that we get even more narrow, drawing the line ever more toward one “wing,” or “camp,” or “group,” or “leader.” We imply things such as,

“If you are not of Jay Adams, David Powlison, Cornelius Van Til, and if you do not ascribe to this document, and if you do not align with this group, and if you do not accept this definition of biblical counseling, and if you do not use these exact words in your description, then you are not a true biblical counselor.”

We have become very modern/American in our line-drawing. We insist that everyone who claims the title, “biblical counselor,” must be able to trace their lineage to the Mayflower of the modern biblical counseling ship, or else they are rejected and deemed outsiders to the true (modern) biblical counseling movement.

My Goal, Desire, Prayer 

Perhaps today’s history lesson of three current generations of modern biblical counselors, and one historical, 1,950-year-old generation of pre-modern biblical counselors can assist us toward more healthy conversations about biblical counseling.

Join the Conversation 

1. Are you a 1^st generation Jay Adams nouthetic counselor?

2. Are you a 2^nd generation David Powlison biblical counselor?

3. Are you a 3^rd generation diversely trained biblical counselor?

4. Are you a prequel/before/historical predecessor biblical counselor tracing your lineage beyond and before America in the 1960s?