Psychology has always had a dangerous foothold in Christian churches, but is it making a comeback? An interesting Twitter conversation with a young man this week had me thinking maybe so.

Now I’m not a Calvinist, but a man put up a post on Twitter stating that young men should read some of the Calvinist authors of old like Calvin, Spurgeon, etc along with reading their bible. Would not be my first choice, but anyone that knows history knows God did work mighty things through these men and so it woudn’t be a bad thing. I would always recommend to everyone to just read your bible. Everything you need is in it.

After reading the post, I immediately noticed a young man post a correction stating that young men should read Dr. Henry Cloud on boundaries and some other author on emotions because without first doing this, you can’t live out the Christian faith through just biblical knowledge. This is where this young man went wrong and does not understand the level of brainwashing he has been subjected to in the form of psychology. In fact, he is so ignorant of the bible that he demonstrated in several tweets he considers Christian orthodox views that have been around for over 2,000 years to be wrong and they are only there because of “authority figures” that have twisted the scriptures to mean certain things that Jesus would not agree with.

Like I usually do, I did not put my spin on any scriptures, but instead just copied and pasted the text right into the reply tweet. Time after time, the young man said I was ignorant because I was quoting scripture. At the same time, this young man claims to be a Christian. This is called syncretism and is largely fed by all types of individuals that have backgrounds in psychology and philosophy. This Henry Cloud gentlemen has made himself quite the business writing psychological dribble for the lazy Christian community that look to wordly answers instead of biblical ones. In fact, he has sold 150 million copies of his books. This young man considers that to mean he has authority, not realizing what it really means is he has been duped and is trying to enter the Kingdom by the wide gate that leads to destruction. Remember, there are many on that path…maybe 150 million? Others in this circle include the likes of Jordan Peterson, which I found odd that at some point in our tweeting this young man began copying Mr. Peterson on the exchange, almost like he is some type of savior to this young man.

The turning point in the tweet exchange came when I asked him a simple question. Who knows more about the emotional health of people, Jesus or Dr. Henry Cloud? The young man gave away his weakness at that point by not answering the question. If he says Dr Cloud, he then has to admit he has another savior other than Jesus Christ. If he answers Jesus, then he must admit his first tweet was incorrect and actually his whole belief system is suspect in the light of scripture. He literally denied Jesus in favor of a book on psychology. And that is the problem with individuals like Henry Cloud and Jordan Peterson. They do not have the authority to be teaching scripture or interpreting what it means.

All you have to do is read the introduction to any one of Henry Cloud’s books to see what his game is and that it’s being a wolf within the church. He can’t help himself and almost immediately starts misquoting scripture. Here is an example:

In his book “12 Christian Beliefs That Can Drive You Crazy – Relief From False Assumptions” Henry Cloud says on Pg. 25 in the Kindle versions, “Psychological symptoms are God’s way of letting us know that something is wrong. Depression, anxiety, eating disorders, substance abuse, and compulsive behaviors are all symptoms of a deeper problem. These symptoms the Bible calls ‘fruit’: ‘Likewise every good bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit (Matt. 7:17-18). In other words, bad fruit is not the problem, but only a symptom of the problem.”

Even the briefest of studies would reveal that Henry Cloud has totally taken this verse out of context. Fruit in scripture has nothing to do with psychological symptoms. What they do have to do with is the salvation of a person. Fruits of the Spirit are the attributes of the saved. They are qualities lived out in the life guided by the Spirit. In contrast to this would be the works of the flesh mentioned in Galatians 5. These are qualities of the unsaved. Again, not psychological symptoms God has given to people to see what they need to fix, but rather sins paired with guilt they need to repent of. When Jesus says a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, He is saying that the saved person will bear fruit in keeping with repentence and an unsaved person can’t save themselves either. (Matt. 3:8).

Sinners don’t need psychology, but a renewed spirit. 2 Tim. 2:25-26 says “with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will.”

It was sad to see this young man so thouroughly brainwashed. Unfortuantely for him, it will be only tougher to get back to the truth as time passes. All sin leads to a hardening of the heart.

Psychology is incompatible with Christianity in several ways:

1. Christianity teaches a truth that sets people free; psychology teaches a lie that keeps people in bondage to their sins.
2. Christanity teaches Christ alone through faith alone. Psychology teaches humans are their own saviors and that psychology holds the true answers to absolve man of sin.
3. Christianity has its roots in the God of the Bible. Psychology has as its roots Carl Jung and Sigmund Freud – 2 very disturbed men who were spiritists and sexual deviants. All psychology traces its roots back to these 2 men.
4. Christianity teaches the sacrifice of ourselves for the needs of others; psychology teaches the sacrifice of others for my needs – a selfish, secular humanist worldview.
5. Christianity has a long record of spiritually and physically healed people (thousands of years); psychology never cures anyone and most people end up on medications beacuse of the mental decline they experience during psychological therapies.
6. Christianity stands on the truth of the Bible; psychology must teach people to avoid the Bible or twist its meaning to support their mental sicknesses.