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I write on the psychological aspects of atheism, because academic psychology and academic tradition has been biased and focused on the psychological aspects of belief in God. I feel there needs to be a little balance to this issue. Recently, there has been some research that seems a little more even-handed in the study of belief and disbelief. It is a very large and ongoing study.
I have noted before, the association between a poor relationship with one’s father and atheism. Paul Vitz noted this association for the most extreme atheists. The recent study presents some data on the issue in terms of what atheists and believers say about their relationship with their fathers.
There certainly is a correlation here. It looks as if approximately 56% of atheists believe that they had a good relationship with their father, whereas, 62% of believers believed they had a good relationship with their fathers. Granted, that’s only about a 6% difference. So, while the association I’ve noted between relationship problems with the father and atheism exists. It does not appear to be the whole story. I would also point out, that in treatment, that beliefs about one’s relationships with one’s parents often changes during the course of treatment. Patients often come to see their relationship with their parents in a new light–the light of today’s understanding. So, I will admit that the relationship may be less strong than what I have presented before, but certainly does exist. This factor with the mother, is not associated. The study also did not examine the strength of belief and association with the relationship with one’s parents (which is the notion of Paul Vitz).
I’ve also asserted the following before:
4). They portray themselves as enlightened, intelligent, tolerant, moral, caring, accepting, loving, peaceable, and kind. And sometimes, they really and truly are. I’ve known them and met them. However, they are not tolerant, in general, of the beliefs of “believers.” They can tolerate anything but that.
I think the data broadly supports this assertion. You can see more graphs here.
The data does seem to show that atheists (on average), view themselves as more intelligent than the rest of the population.
So, as you can see, 68% of atheists believe they are more intelligent than the average person, whereas, 52% of Christians believe they are more intelligent than the average person. This is a stronger association than the assocation between the relationship with the father and atheism. So, this confirms what I’ve stated with respect to intellectual elitism and atheism. However, I would also state that I have never seen a study of IQ scores of believers vs. atheists. So it is at least possible that their beliefs about their intelligence are accurate. But on average, in my opinion, this intellectual elitism does exist.
I will continue to examine these issues in Part VI.
I work with a lot of folks who have a great deal more ability than they ever utilize. I often find myself scratching my head….”This person is extremely capable, but they’ve gone for years only making minimum wage.” They never ask for a raise. They put up with mistreatment in their dead-end job. They are not assertive in their personal relationships (they make no demands on their friends or spouses or boyfriends or girlfriends).
Sometimes, they had a learning disability, and came to believe that they were incompetent. Sometimes they had a speech problem (problems learning how to talk). Sometimes they had problems in developing motor skills (problems learning how to walk, had medical conditions requiring braces on their legs, had an early high fever resulting in poor motor skills, experienced a lack of oxygen at birth resulting in poor motor skills, and so forth). Sometimes, they were viewed by a parent as being completely incompetent, and told that they would be a failure. The reasons are numerous and very personal to the individual.
But the upshot, is that a person’s self-perception becomes their reality. Be willing to fail. You’ll gain more wisdom from failure than you ever will from success. God didn’t give you the skills and abilities that you have for no reason.
“The situation in the academy is such that to refer to God in any serious way would bring the legitimacy of one’s scholarship into question…..there seems to be a widespread assumption, throughout much of our intellectual community, that belief in God is based on all kinds of irrational, immature needs and wishes, whereas atheism or skepticism flows from a rational, grown-up, non-nonsense view of things as they really are.” (1)
Paul Vitz in his work on the psychology of atheism, wrote about those atheists who were intense in their passion for atheism. His thesis, is that these particular individuals, have strong psychological needs associated with their atheism. In particular this is related to an individual’s relationship with their father. It seems that this pertains more to men than women. (5)
I have worked with a number of atheists who did not have the intensity that Vitz has noted. In all cases, they have been men. However, their relationship with their father was still prominent in their relationship with God. I’m not saying that this relationship is entailed by a poor relationship with one’s father (I know of at least one person, a female, who believes in God whose father committed suicide). I know of another, a male, whose father committed suicide in front of him and struggles greatly to believe. But I noted the association (between the relationship of the fathers of men, and men themselves) before reading Vitz’s book.
Also, I have noted psychological factors distorting the faith of believers based on their experience with their father and other factors. This usually involves the realm of guilt, over things done in the past. (2)
Sigmund Freud is given both much credit and much disdain in the field of psychology. He was an atheist who had problems with his father. (3, 4) Men are approximately 7 times more likely to be atheists than women. (5) So, it seems that there is either a ‘glass ceiling’ for women and atheism, or some other factor is at work. I, for one, believe it is some other factor.
I think it has to do with the fact that men have the tendency to, identify with their fathers, and women identify with their mothers. God is represented as a male figure in the Bible, and because of these tendencies of identification, males are more likely to project their feelings onto God than females. I realize that this point is highly speculative, and that there may be other explanations.
(1). Paul C. Vitz. Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism. (1999).
(2). Hindsight is 20-20 and guilt, The Country Shrink (2008 )
(3). Some Psychological Aspects of Atheism, The Country Shrink (2008 )
(4). Paul C. Vitz. Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism. (1999), pp. (47-48 )
I quoted this old proverb previously in On Feeling Defective:
“For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.”
This quote has often been used by my mentor. I used this to describe my approach to treatment. But, as I’ve been thinking about this more, it also applies to all of our lives. Sometimes, we get caught up in intellectual arguments. Sometimes, we get caught up in our desires. Sometimes, we get caught up in the everyday details of everyday life.
But, I think what you want to do in a lot of situations, is to find that nail. It may be extremely difficult. And there are times when there is no nail. But, most often the nail is there if you are open, and dig enough. Most often for believers, you might find that nail to be God. Not, that all your problems will be solved. I don’t mean to say that like many televangelists do, but I do think that nail that God provides can often help to win that war in your life. Regardless, I think it is important to focus on “What is the most important thing?” Whether this be your outlook on life, or a difficult situation that you face.
Milton Erickson, MD, was the worlds foremost expert on the application of hypnosis to resolving emotional problems. Often, Erickson employed the therapeutic metaphor in order to promote the unconscious resolution of a patient’s problems. He often did this by telling stories, that on the surface, appeared to be just a story….but in actuality nailed the crux of the patient’s psychological problems on an unconscious level.
He had polio. He was not expected to live through the night. The doctor told his mother this in front of him. Now he thought that was awfully unkind to be saying to his mother and in front him him…the soon to 
be deceased. He could only move his eyeballs and talk to some extent. He got his mother to rearrange his room so that he could see out the window. He explained that this was so that he could see the sunrise. He stayed awake all night long staring out the window, just waiting for the sunrise. He wanted to prove that doctor wrong. He lapsed into a coma for awhile after seeing the first light of day. He had done it…proved that insensitive doctor wrong. But that was only the start of the battle….he was left with only being able to move his eyeballs and nothing else. So, he began to learn to be a very keen observer of people….what else did he have to do?? He learned that his sister could say ‘Yes’ when she meant ‘No,’ and say ‘No’ when she meant ’Yes.’ He learned to identify each family member from the specific pattern and sound of their footsteps. He learned how babies learned to move and walk from watching his infant sister. Now he figured that we all have unconscious memories for learning how to move and explore the world. Because we all had to do this, and this is just what he did. By watching his baby sister, he re-learned what he already knew. So after about a year or so, he got to where he could crawl. At that point, he purchased a canoe. On his own, he paddled the canoe 1200 miles down the Mississippi river….at times pulling the canoe behind him over sandbars while crawling. By the end of the trip, he had gained enough physical strength to walk and carry the canoe over his head! Later in life, he developed an active case of polio again, and was bound to a wheelchair. Even though he was in immense physical pain, he continued to work with teaching and treating patients. He could barely breath or talk, but continued working with every ounce of his strength.
Now, some people are kind of naive. If you are, you may or may not be aware of it. Others are rigidly skeptical…their first position is disbelief. Folks are usually not fully aware of how rigid they are. I remember I was at a 
workshop for the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis. One of the presenters was talking about his experiences with Milton Erickon. One day, Dr. Erickson told him that in order for him [Dr. Erickson] to keep teaching this individual, he [the student] would have to do something different. He told him that he was to climb ‘Squaws Peak,’ and to go into the desert. He was to keep looking until he found a Boojum tree. Dr. Erickson said something like, “It’s spelled bujoom. No, bojum. No, bojam. No, boojam. No, Boojum. Yes that’s it. Boojum.” And then he [Erickson] told him [the student] that when he saw this Boojum tree, he would think to himself, ‘That’s not a tree. It’s impossible!!!” And while he was considering that impossibility, he was to look around and identify the ‘creeping devils.’ He explained that some people don’t believe they exist, but he was pretty sure that this student might be able to find them. So, the student went up Squaws Peak, and into the desert. He kept driving until he saw the weirdest thing. He didn’t even know what he was looking for. But when he saw it, he thought, “That’s not a tree. It’s impossible!!” And while he felt completely confused, because this was exactly what was predicted by Dr. Erickson, he began to look around on the gound. He saw the strangest cactus….a cactus that grew horizontally and then bent up. He knew this must 
be the ‘creeping devil,’ and now knew they existed. He could only speculate about the reasons that Dr. Erickson had him do this, although it appears plain to me. It didn’t really matter if his conscious mind knew or didn’t know. His unconscious mind did know….and the necessary changes were made as I could see from his current personality.
Now, I believe God designed us with incredibly complex minds that have self-corrective mechanisms built into them. I believe that within each individual, there are all the resources and knowledge needed in order to resolve the patient’s difficulties. All that’s needed is the mobilization of those unconscious resources. As Dr. Erickson explained, “It’s not what the patient doesn’t know that’s the problem. It’s what they know, that they don’t know they know.” In other words, each individual has gained a great deal of knowledge about themselves and the world that they have forgotten conscious, but have not forgotten unconsciously. When that information is utilized effectively by the unconscious mind, the individual’s difficulties can be resolved. This can happen when a patient is asleep and dreaming. This can happen when they are eating breakfast and staring off into space. This can happen when they are walking down the sidewalk and seem to become less aware of what is going on around them. This can happen at any number of times when it is most appropriate….and I have seen this happen any number of times…and delight in the surprise of patients when it occurs….
You know, I wanted to keep the dialogue focused on psychology….but, I understand that the atheists were not really interested in that. So, let’s open this post wide open. If you are here to read in this post about psychology, please read my other posts. This one will entail theology, philosophy, and science.
Jim Lippard, of “The Lippard Blog,” has delivered a number of intelligent and cogent arguments, that require the use of philosophy (primarily), logic, and science in order to address. I aim to do that to the best of my ability here. Maybe I won’t do philosophy or logic justice, because I am neither a philosopher or extremely educated in all aspects of logic (apart from the intracacies of computer science and cognitive psychology, which includes some of the major logical errors that people make)….but I will do my best.
Jim states:
“Your point 2 is a philosophical claim to the effect that morality requires the existence of at least one god. What is your support for that argument, in light of the fact that of the many meta-ethical frameworks for morality that philosophers have come up with in the last several millennia, the only one that actually requires the existence of a god is the divine command theory, which the vast majority of philosophers (since Plato’s “Euthyphro” 
agree is not a sufficient ground for morality?”
Please feel free Mr. Lipper [slip of the keyboard later corrected to Lippard], to lay out your objective notions of morality apart from God. I am waiting eagerly.
As for “Euthyphro,” I note as an aside, that the issues discussed throughout this fictional account, have to do with problems with one’s father….Seems like I had something to say about that before, but I suppose that has nothing to do with why atheists find it so compelling…since I engaged in “arm-chair” analysis.
So, we come back to naturalism, that everything that occurs is the result of natural law. That everything is the result of matter and energy. There is nothing more to nature than can be explained by the laws of nature.
Now, one law of nature is causality. You have made an unconvincing argument that such a thing as free will might exists apart from the supernatural. I ask you to back up that claim. With nature, the laws of cause and effect are inexcapable. The macroscopic world does not follow quantum mechanics where predictions are probablistic. Quantum mechanical effects occur only in the most controlled of conditions. Even if you make a claim based on quantum mechanics, you would need to make an assertion about how this might result in free will. I assume that you believe that you have logically and freely chosen your atheism. However, this cannot be the case within the worldview of naturalism. If you have a different worldview, please feel free to make it explicit. Within the laws of causality, you have no more chosen to be an atheist than a snowflake has chosen to form, the complexity of which you deem as sufficient for nullifying ideas of intelligent design. From the beginning with the “big bang” all things were set in motion to occur in exactly the way they occured with no possibility for any alternatives, no possibility for any free will.
So, as a result, people who come to believe in God, do so because of how things played out in the evolution of the universe. And people who don’t believe in God, do so because of how things played out in the evolution of the universe. Now if everything occurs in a cause and effect chain, what is your basis for determining anything is moral or amoral? You only say so because of the cause and effect chain. You are just matter and energy, what are the moral imperatives of matter and energy?
Can you explain consciousness? You cannot. Science has not even scratched the surface here. You may make appeals to quantum mechanics, but they are only appeals and unsupported by any objective data. Anything you say that would support free will is only an assertion with no clear empirical backing. So the fact that you choose to be moral in certain ways is only a result of the random interaction of particles and matter. Completely meaningless. If you harm another human being, so what, you’ve possibly changed the state of matter. Big deal. States of matter change all the time. What is the objective moral opposition to murder from a materialistic perspective? “Thou shalt not knowingly change the state of matter???” You may say that you may incur punishment as a result. But what does mere matter and energy care about something that changes it’s state. Apparently it does…
Now, Euthyphro’s dilemma was based around inconsistencies in the Greek pantheon. Yet, you want to apply this dilemma to the beliefs of Christians.
For a discussion of Euthyphro’s dilemma from a Christian perspective, see this link.
http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47024
So, you accuse me of not providing any evidence for my position, when you have not provided a shread for your own….that atheists can have an objective basis for morality. I eagerly await you and your fellow atheists to provide such an objective basis.
“Freud saw psychology as a scientific replacement for religion. Psychological theory replaces outmoded religious beliefs about the human person. And psychoanalytic techniques replace religious practices.” (1)
Freud noted that the, “analysis is not complete” until the patient’s religious views were analyzed. I agree, but in the opposite way that Freud envisioned.
There are often clear psychological reasons that a person becomes an ‘atheist.’ Most often, the thing that gets in the way of faith, is the relationship with the individual’s father. Specifically, if the father was harsh and cruel, the individual will often come to impute or displace these characteristics onto God. They will often see God as “harsh and cruel.” The father doesn’t necessarily have to be harsh or cruel, there can be many factors and varieties of the problematic relationship.
“God can’t exist because there is evil in the world.” Many atheists come to believe that there is no God, because of the fact of “evil” in the world. And, that if there is a God, he must be cruel because of the bad things he allows to happen (murder, rape, natural disasters, and so forth).
I’ve heard it said, “If there was a God, then why do so many bad things happen to good people.”
They can’t conceive of a “heavenly father,” who loves them and who cares about the world. They ‘project’ their feelings toward their earthly father onto God. They believe that there is such a thing as “good people.”
So far, I have not seen a single atheist who does not have relationship problems with their father. Or often, if they believe, their belief is distorted by their relationship with their father. They project (direct or displace) their feelings toward their father onto God.
I’m not saying that this is the only psychological reason that one becomes an atheist, but it is the one I have observed frequently.
It’s interesting to look at Freud as an example.
In his 40s, Freud “had numerous psychosomatic disorders as well as exaggerated fears of dying and other phobias” (Corey 2001, p. 67). During this time Freud was involved in the task of exploring his own dreams, memories, and the dynamics of his personality development. During this self-analysis, he came to realize the hostility he felt towards his father (Jacob Freud), who had died in 1896…(2)
Charles Darwin is also noted as having a problematic relationship with his father. In the course of researching for this post, I discovered that I am not the first to connect the idea of problematic relationships with the father and atheism. It turns out there is a book entitled, Faith of the Fatherless: The Psychology of Atheism
Many times, I have seen patients resolve their emotional conflict about God in the context of their feelings toward their fathers. When they come to see that they have displaced their feelings toward their earthly fathers onto the heavenly One, they are often able to develop a relationship with God, without the emotional baggage.
(1). http://www.jcu.edu/philosophy/gensler/RE/R-F2–00.HTM
(2). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigmund_Freud
See also, Some Psychological Aspects of Atheism Part II and Part III, and Since atheists are about the only ones responding to my post.
Freud thought there were only two variables important for successful treatment….time and money. While I agree with those two variables, I think there is more to the story.
Most importantly, you need to find a counselor, psychologist, psychotherapist who is the best fit for you. You may have a negative emotional reaction to a psychotherapist, and don’t base your decision just on this. First, ask yourself if you are responding this way because they told you the truth or that they challenged you to make changes. If there are other reasons you had this reaction (such as they really don’t seem to have a clue or completely misunderstand you), you may want to find a different psychotherapist. I even tell my patients that I am probably not the right shrink for everyone, and that if they feel like I am not, then they should feel free to seek treatment from someone else. Shrinks have personalities and patients have personalities….sometimes, they just don’t work well together.
Be willing to work to overcome your difficulties. As Milton Erickson said, “You must remember, that all change takes place within the patient.” Sometimes, even if you are uncertain if suggestions will be effective, you must have a willingness to try the suggestions. AND, you must be willing to see that you have benefited from suggestions. Some folk are so negativistic that they say they attempt a suggestion and it, “Made it worse.” It doesn’t matter what the suggestion is…the response is always the same. If that’s your response pattern, then you will not succeed in treatment.
Be willing to challenge your shrink. The most successful patients I worked with were extremely challenging to me. They were skeptical. They were defensive. They were hostile at times. But in the end, they were able to see the truth. They were able to accept feedback. They were willing to try things and believe that their effort might prove beneficial.
Think about your sessions after they are over. If you don’t do this, you will receive very little benefit. Psychotherapy has to have enough emotional significance to you that you do not forget everything that took place after the session is over. Psychotherapy is not just for venting and complaining. If you use it just for this, you will not find a long-term benefit. Psychotherapy is for the resolution of emotional difficulties, and this is never easy. If your treatment is too easy, it’s unlike you will benefit in the long-term.
If you have faith in God, feel free to ask if your shrink believes. They are often taught to respond with answers such as, “What would this mean to you if I answered one way or the other?” You have a right to a non-defensive answer to this question, because it is such an important aspect of people’s lives. If your shrink doesn’t respect the power of the Almighty and you do, then you are unlikely to have a good match.
I wrote before that my major professor in graduate school told me that I “was the most intelligent and hardest working student [he] had in 20 years of teaching.” I also noted that this was likely because he didn’t know I believed in God, and packed a 357 magnum under my bed.
It’s actually somewhat amazing to me that many intelligent people are not more rebellious or independent. If they are college educated, and also have graduate degrees, they come to believe, often by the subtle influence of professors, that belief in God is frankly stupid. The more educated you are, the less need you have for belief in God. It’s a crutch for stupid and uneducated people. I’ve heard that numerous times by ‘intelligent’ and ‘educated’ people.
I don’t find my belief in God to be a crutch. Frankly, it’s a lot more difficult than being an atheist or agnostic. Belief requires commitment….and commitment always requires effort and energy. Disbelief only requires hostility, and that’s easy for human beings. It’s deep in our bones…in our hearts…in mine….and in yours…
A friend of mine who is also a psychologist, was initially agnostic. He had some bizarre beliefs in my opinion, that ‘God’ was just ‘energy,’ and energy was everwhere and resulted in the universe. We’ve had many intelligent discussions about God. I remarked that, ‘Who doesn’t believe in energy.’ He’s slowly changed his beliefs about God, without any awareness that he has done so. Fine with me.
We were on a fishing trip one time, and I asked him, “John, take a look at your car sitting there. Do you think that evolved through random interaction of particles?” He replied, “No, of course not. That is the result of human intelligence, which evolved.” I responded that human intelligence was infinitely more complex than that car, but yet it was clear to him that the car had been designed. He responded….”Hmmmm….” The next time I saw him, he was thinking about going to church because of his daughter, but wanted to make sure it was liberal enough and was thinking of voting for John McCain. I assured him that the liberal Methodist Church and John McCain would meet the needs of any liberal.
Now Obama is a genuine LIBERAL. And I pointed out to my friend that we could look forward to universal health care, consistent with the Veteran’s Administration model with Obama. We both did our internship at a VA, and it was clear to both of us as to the work ethic in the VA. I pointed out that in universal health care, the best doctor gets paid the same as the worst doctor. So, what’s the incentive to be the “best doctor.” There is none. My father, a Vietnam vet, had to wait 2 years to get botched surgery that took 7 1/2 hours. It was corrected in the private sector in 2 1/2 hours with a much more complex surgery and cost 20,000 dollars and was done immediately. Was it worth it? Without a single doubt.
Am I intelligent? Based on your bias, maybe or maybe not. If you buy into the whole thing that education results in reasoned and rational atheism, then my education ‘didn’t take.’ So, if that’s the case then I probably just fooled people with my grades, hard work, and pseudointellectual musings. But if you believe in God, you probably think I’m intelligent. Frankly, I could care less one way or the other. I believe what I believe…..judge me as you will. I like it when people take a stand and unapologetically believe what they believe….and not just have an opinion because they think it is the ‘most intelligent.’
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13
I was excited to find the book Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris, two 18-year-old twins who encouraged teens to break from the low expectations of teenagers. Their approach, in some ways, echoes my own way of thinking. I started my first business at the age of 17, second at the age of 18, and third at the age of 21. I worked 40-60 hours a week in my own business while taking 19 hours of college courses, and then went to graduate school. I teach the teens I work with the importance of fully applying themselves, to break free of the expectations of others, and to challenge their internal limitations. The biggest limitations that people have, come from the inside. It’s in the form of thoughts, “I can’t do it. I’m stupid. I’d probably just fail anyway. I’m a kid, I’m just supposed to have fun.” The list is virtually endless and the causes are varied. As I teach people, God did not just roll the dice one day in order to determine the strengths and abilities that a person has. You were given these things for a reason. A lot of times, people don’t even know how much they are capable of doing. I have not met a single person who truly knows how much they could accomplish. I am even talking about people who have already accomplished a great deal. One of the ways you learn about your strengths and limitations is by applying yourself with intensity and putting a great deal of effort into things. You cannot learn this otherwise. By doing so, you risk failure. Failure is an important part of life, and provides an opportunity to learn something new. When you fail, it is time to reflect on what you might have been able to do better, and how to approach it differently next time. It is not a time for “beating up” on yourself. Use your failures constructively, and by all means risk failing.
Milton Erickson, who was the world’s foremost expert on hypnosis, told a story about failure. (I might get a few of the details wrong, but they are not important to the message). He told about two classmates. One was bragging about missing only one item on a spelling test. The other was bragging about missing only 2 items. Erickson had missed 8 items. He told his classmates, “I have the advantage because I will remember the 8 I missed forever, whereas you will remember only 1 and you will remember only 2.” He used this teaching story to explain how failure strengthens memory and can be an advantage in life.
Milton Erickson also, did hard things. He suffered from polio, which he barely managed to survive. After recovering enough movement to crawl, he purchased a canoe. He paddled this canoe 1200 miles down the Mississippi river. At times he crawled over sandbars, dragging the cannoe behind him. By the end of the journey, he was able to walk with the use of a cane. He got to this point from the point of only being able to move his eyes. Most of us have never had to do something so incredibly difficult. So, we don’t even know what the limits are to what we can do. I think there have been times when I have gotten close to my limits, but never fully reached them. When I think about Erickson’s story, I don’t think I was as close as I thought I was.
When I was a junior in undergraduate school I was thinking ahead in time. I realized that I had a tremendous amount to learn about the conscious and unconscious minds in order to be able to help people in an truly effective way. I realized that I had 7 more years of school and intership ahead of me. I had heard that graduate school can be an absolute nightmare. I became utterly despondent. It was before my first class of the semester. I said to God, “Lord, I don’t think I can do this. It’s too much for me. It’s like I’m sitting down at the bottom of Mount Everest and looking up, and I think it’s impossible for me.” I was thinking about abandoning the whole thing and going back to what I knew I could do. I had been successfully running my own computer and Internet business for several years. I had no doubt I could be extremely successful at that and make a lot of money. Yet, I felt God was pointing me toward being a psychologist….using my intelligence to help people overcome their emotional difficulties instead of troubleshooting problems with machines.
So, I went to my first class of the semester. I remember it distinctly. Psychology of Old Age. As they always do on the first day of class, the professor was discussing classroom policies, procedures, and whatnot. This was about 20 minutes after my anguished prayer. The professor says, “Now my office is all the way up on the 4th floor. You can come in to talk to me at any time. Now, don’t take the stairs, and come into my office all huffing and puffing and telling me stories about climbing Mount Everest. That’s why God made elevators.” At that point in time, I felt chills throughout my body and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. I said to God, “Message received.” God would provide an elevator for me where needed. And indeed, He did. At those times when I thought things were beyond me, I got the help I needed.
Thus, the quote at the beginning of the post, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” You might doubt the power and strength of yourself, but God’s power and strength is beyond your comprehension. Now, I know I’m not sounding much like a traditional Shrink here. The research shows that only 33% of psychologists believe in God. But, such is life. I can tell you unequivocally, that the best treatment outcomes I have had are with those who believe in, and rely upon, God. I have seen people overcome things that the textbooks say are BIOLOGICAL, unammenable to treatment with psychotherapy, and the best you can hope for is a slightly better management of symptoms. I have seen people overcome personality disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, depression, and varieties of anxiety. Like I say, the most impressive results have been with believers. I’m not saying that you have to be a believer to overcome your difficulties, because I have seen non-believers make incredible progress as well. But the most impressive results have been with believers, who through faith, were willing to Do Hard Things.
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