The Democracy of the Dead
G. K. Chesterton said it poetically.
Tradition means giving votes to the most obscure of all classes—our ancestors. It is the democracy of the dead. Tradition refuses to submit to the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking around.
Chesterton provides a healthy reminder for all of us, especially for those of us in the modern biblical counseling movement. Long before the 50-year-young nouthetic biblical counseling movement, the church had always been about the business of helping hurting and hardened people to find healing, hope, and help in Christ.
The following resources point us to a number of seminal works that provide us with historical perspective and historical voices about the history of pastoral counseling, soul care, and the modern biblical counseling movement.
The History of Pastoral Counseling
Clebsch, William, and Charles Jaekle. Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective
Pastoral Care in Historical Perspective introduces the reader to the historical matrix of sustaining, healing, reconciling, and guiding. Clebsch and Jaekle write convincingly that any model of pastoral counseling worthy of the title must include these four elements (sustaining, healing, reconciling, and guiding). After several chapters that overview the nature of these four tasks, the authors then provide historical samples illustrating the four tasks in historical perspective.
Deckard, Mark. Helpful Truth in Past Places: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Counseling
Puritan writers-theologians were masters at understanding the nature of human beings and applying Scripture in practical ways to help people. Looking to Scripture as the final authority, the Puritans grounded their own counselling practices in a proper view of the sovereignty of God and the underlying heart issues of people. By understanding why people struggle and the provision God makes for our struggles, counsellors today will be better equipped to guide those they counsel toward God-appointed solutions.
Holifield, E. Brooks. A History of Pastoral Care in America: From Salvation to Self-Realization
Others such as Clebsch and Jaekle and McNeil have written broad histories of soul care, but none have tackled the challenge of a focused study of soul care in American religious history. E. Brooks Holifield has penned the comprehensive guide that traces the trajectory of American pastoral care. Holifield’s greatest gift in this book is his ability to synthesize large tracks of material. In particular, his subtitle communicates his understanding of the historical path taken by American pastors: “from salvation to self-realization.”
Kellemen, Bob. Counseling Under the Cross: How Martin Luther Applied the Gospel to Daily Life
Martin Luther not only reformed theology; his understanding of the gospel revolutionized soul care. In Counseling Under the Cross, biblical counselor Bob Kellemen mines Luther’s writings to help readers gain a new appreciation for how Luther richly, relevantly, robustly, and relationally applied the gospel to suffering, sin, sanctification, and our search for peace with God. Counseling Under the Cross guides pastors, counselors, lay leaders, and friends toward a rich understanding of the gospel that will directly impact their personal ministry to others. Through lively vignettes, real-life stories, and direct quotes from Luther, readers are equipped to apply the gospel to themselves and others so together they find their hope and help in Christ alone.
Keller, Tim. “Puritan Resources for Biblical Counseling.” Journal of Pastoral Practice 9, no. 3 (1988): 11-44
What Deckard’s work, Helpful Truth in Past Places: The Puritan Practice of Biblical Counseling, does in book format, Keller provides in article style. Don’t let the fact that this is “just” an article fool you. Keller’s work is robust and provides an outstanding “apologetic” for biblical pastoral counseling—then and now. He outlines how the Puritan pastors were soul physicians with a keen insight into the human condition and a compassionate and comprehensive understanding of how to care for God’s sheep.
Kemp, Charles. Physicians of the Soul: A History of Pastoral Counseling
In Physicians of the Soul, Charles Kemp seeks to search out and describe the fact that the great preachers of church history were first of all great pastors—shepherds and counselors. Pastors of today would do well to follow their example and understand that they are called not only to the pulpit ministry of the Word, but also to the private, personal ministry of the Word.
Oden, Thomas. Classical Pastoral Care, Vol. 3: Pastoral Counsel
Classic Pastoral Care provides a topical arrangement of passages from classic Christian writings offering guidance on all major topics of pastoral theology. The four-volume set features writings from more than two hundred notable Christian authors—from Abelard and Ambrose to Isaac Watts and Zwingli—arranged in thirty topical sections. Volume three, Pastoral Counsel, deals directly with the nature of the counseling relationship, the metaphors of soul care (from medicine, guidance, and education), the elements of the counseling relationship, the timing of good counsel, pastoral discernment, language and silence in counsel, truth-telling and deception, admonition and discipline.
Purves, Andrew. Pastoral Theology in the Classical Tradition
Too often pastoral care is uninformed by historical practice and is overly influenced by psychological theory and practice, according to Andrew Purves. At least one consequence of this is that it is often disaffiliated from the church’s theological heritage. Purves examines Christian writers from the past who represent the classical tradition in pastoral theology—classical in the sense that they and their texts have shaped the minds and practices of pastors in enduring ways. He reflects on texts from Gregory Nazianzus, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, Martin Bucer, and Richard Baxter. He includes a brief biography of each author, introduces the major themes in the writer’s theology, and discusses the issues arising for pastoral work.
The History of Soul Care
Ford, Coleman, and Shawn Wilhite. Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls: Learning the Art of Pastoral Ministry from the Church Fathers
Ancient Wisdom for the Care of Souls helps pastors to embrace a classic, biblical vision of ministry through the study of selected pastoral virtues and early church figures. Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory the Great both referred to ministry as “the care of souls.” Calling for a “return to the sources,” professors Coleman M. Ford and Shawn J. Wilhite ponder what a scriptural vision of ministry is, how patristic voices help inform this vision, and how pastors today can cultivate this pastoral vision in their churches. Each chapter examines an important pastoral topic―such as humility, the sacraments, and contemplative theology―and brings it to life through a constructive model and profiles of early church fathers. Encouraged by the patristic wisdom of Irenaeus, Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and more, readers learn a simple and slower model for pastoring that they can emulate as they care for their communities. A slower pace of life may, in fact, help pastors cultivate the soil of souls more richly and, as a result, return to ministry as “the care of souls.”
Kellemen, Bob, and Karole Edwards. Beyond the Suffering: Embracing the Legacy of African American Soul Care and Spiritual Direction
The African American church has always helped hurting people through the ministries of sustaining, healing, reconciling, and guiding. This four-dimensional model is the traditional and widely recognized pattern for understanding one-another ministry, spiritual friendship, and pastoral care. Beyond the Suffering offers an in-depth exploration of this rich tradition showing Christians proven ways to help people find hope in the midst of their deep pain.
Kellemen, Bob, and Susan Ellis. Sacred Friendships: Celebrating the Legacy of Women Heroes of the Faith
Sacred Friendships celebrates the incredible stories of over fifty amazing Christian women. It gives voice to the voiceless as it narrates how godly women for the past 2,000 years have provided sustaining and healing soul care along with reconciling and guiding spiritual direction. Sacred Friendships enlightens readers to the often neglected legacy of Christian women and then equips women and men to apply that legacy to their lives and ministries.
McNeil, John. A History of the Cure of Souls
McNeil provides readers with a magisterial mapping of the landscape of two millennium of soul care and spiritual direction. In a brief but pointed section on Old Testament and New Testament spiritual care, McNeil documents that God’s people have always been about the business of helping hurting and hardened people through shared conversations around the Word. He then transports readers through church history both chronologically and denominationally. For an introduction to the history of soul care, no one does it better.
The History of the Modern Biblical Counseling Movement
Fraser, Cameron. Developments in Biblical Counseling
Are you looking for a brief introduction to what the biblical counseling movement is and how it has changed over the years? In Developments in Biblical Counseling, J. Cameron Fraser turns a journalistic eye to this question and presents a concise assessment. Introducing us to the formative work of Jay Adams, Fraser outlines several themes of biblical counseling that became foundational for the movement as a whole and observes how the movement received criticisms from outside and made necessary developments from within. He points out that some of these developments have an affinity with Puritan approaches to counseling that Adams rejects but may point in a more consistently biblical direction.
Kellemen, Bob. Meet the Man Who Influenced the Early Nouthetic Counseling Movement: O. Hobart Mowrer
In this introductory article, Bob Kellemen explores the influence that O. Hobart Mowrer had on Jay Adams’ and his launch of the modern nouthetic counseling movement. Kellemen allows the primary source writings of Adams and Mowrer to speak for themselves regarding the connection(s) between Mowrer and Adams.
Lambert, Heath. The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams
Those inside and outside of the biblical counseling movement recognize differences between the foundational work of Jay Adams and that of second generation thought leaders. Heath Lambert shows how refinements in framework, methodology, and engagement style changed the face of the biblical counseling movement. Find out how the biblical counseling movement developed and how the second generation of leadership differed from the leadership of the past.
Lelek, Jeremy. Biblical Counseling Basics: Roots, Beliefs, and Future
In Biblical Counseling Basics, Dr. Jeremy Lelek offers a comprehensive approach to biblical counseling, beginning by retracing the movement’s history, then exploring its basic tenets, and finally providing helpful insight for the future of biblical counseling.
Powlison, David. The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context
Beginning in the late 1960s, a biblical counseling movement sought to reclaim counseling for the church and provide a Christian alternative to mainstream psychiatry and psychotherapy. The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context is an informative and thought-provoking account of that movement. This historical account combines careful scholarship with a unique, eyewitness insight. This book is an invaluable resource for those who want to understand the biblical counseling movement.
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