by Bret Capranica | May 11, 2016 | Culture, Psychology, Technology
On my shelf and unread for many years is David Wells’ third book in his four-book series on theology and culture, Losing Our Virtue. It is now on the side arm of my reading chair and I am beginning my way through it. Even though it was written in 1998, his analysis of the contemporary Christian culture remains spot-on and vitally important for our consideration. The ills he outlines in the book not only remain nearly twenty years after he composed them, but are more more advanced in their expression and negative impact on the church. Even the contemporary reactions of a new generation to the former generation’s narcissism, remain narcissistic (perhaps I will address how I see that in a future post). Here are a few quotes from his first chapter, “A Tale of Two Spiritualities.” Wells begins to outline a few similarities between the culture of Martin Luther some 500 years ago and our contemporary era (though 20 years removed from today). Technology also reduces all of life to the productive order, to measurable benefits, to the calculus of cost an profit, and what is most efficient rapidly becomes what is ethically permissible or right. In a technologically dominated world, what is real is what is found along the flat plane of human management, where effects can be strictly controlled by our own causes. The use of technology greatly enlarges the sense of autonomy, of being at the center of one’s own world and of pulling the strings of its circumstances, through it is probably also the case that different generations look on technology in slightly different...
by Bret Capranica | Dec 30, 2007 | Psychology
I saw this hilarious Bob Newhart clip on counseling some time ago. I’ve had some great laughs with ministry partners about how it too well reflects my own counseling approach (desires?!) . But, David Powlison speaks to this clip and seriously provides some good reminders (as he always seems to do). Though – I still think the clip is hilarious! Between Two Worlds: David Powlison on Bob Newhart’s “Stop It!”...
by Bret Capranica | Apr 23, 2006 | Culture, Psychology
Top News Article | Reuters.com In our culture’s quest to wrest human responsibilty from any objective moral standards, out comes another scientific study that says scientists know where the brain determines what we choose. Now that they have found it, the poor victims of compulsive gambling and eating disorders will no doubt soon have medications that will cause them to choose right instead of wrong. Oh no! wait. Who now will choose what is right and wrong? The moral delima is not quite over. Who will choose which behavior is excessive and which behavior is merely expressive? If new drugs can be deveoped that cause people to make better choices, will scientists be able to instill something in the medication that provides the foundation for right and wrong? Silly? Yes, I think so too. It is silly to think that finding the part of the brain that grappels with choices will now lead to a revolution in behavior. Yet, the quest for a victimized humanity continues. What will be...
by Bret Capranica | Jul 12, 2005 | Culture, Psychology
Excessive gambling among victims of Parkinson’s disease can now be linked to one of the most popular drugs used to treat the malady. In fact, a number of excessive behaviors, like sex and shopping, can also be attributed to the drug Mirapex among Parkinson’s patients. The article linked above gives a number of “testimonies” of people caught up in virtually unrestrainable urges to excessively gamble (among other excessive behaviors). As soon as they stopped taking the drug, the urge was not as strong. As you might expect, a California attorney is filing a class action lawsuit against the drug company. This is an amazing drug. What the study did not indicate (at least the article citing it) was whether any of these people ever had any excessive impulses before the drug. A biblical evaluation would suggest that the impulse has always resided within. The behavior was no doubt already a part of their lives. Perhaps the drug so affected these people that their will to be self-controlled simply succumbed to the already residing desire to sin. Jesus said, “That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.” [Mark 7:20-23] According to the popular “course of this world,” it appears that the excessive nature of our American behavior can never be a result of indwelling sin. In other words, we must find any...
by Bret Capranica | Jun 22, 2005 | Psychology
Finally, a level-headed evaluation of the biased approach a number in the psychobabble world use to classify people as mentally ill. This Weekly Standard article by Paul McHugh is an objective evaluation of how mental illness diagnosticians flee from objective evaluation standards in determining who is mentally ill. Recent mental health evaluations have suggested that well over half of the nation’s population is plagued with some form of mental illness. What I find depressing is that without critical evaluation of the applied studies, many will blindly embrace the results and elevate these doctors as mental health inerrantists. I don’t doubt that chemicals become imbalanced, especially when life is lived outside of the centrality of Christ. In reading John Piper’s recent work, When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight for Joy, I believe he provides a helpful note: “Spiritual emotions, which are more than physical, can have chemical effects, and not just the reverse. It is true that chemicals can affect emotions. But too seldom do we pray and plan for the spiritual to have chemical effects. As legitimate as sedatives and anti-depressants may be in times of clear chemical imbalance, we should not overlook the truth that spiritual reality may also transform the physical and not just vice versa” (p 182). A chasm that cannot be crossed does not exist between the spiritual and the physical. They are inextricably linked. To avoid the spiritual (the centrality of Christ and His Word) will inevitably lead to physical (including mental) consequences. And the opposite must also be true. Life lived in Christ and for His glory can and will have...
by Bret Capranica | Jun 7, 2005 | Psychology
The mental illness business continues to try and draw virtually everyone into their net. According to the referenced report, most mental illness begins around age 14 and is typically detected through “mild, easy-to-dismiss symptoms such as low-level anxiousness or persistent shyness . . .” Ah yes, if this is so, we are all sick. Mental illness now embraces approximately forty-six percent of the people surveyed by a recent study. We’re getting closer and closer to having not only a majority of people mentally sick, but my guess is that the Mental Mob won’t be content until we’re all dubbed as struggling with or victims of mental illness. What is facinating about this report is that the suvey “excluded rarer illnesses such as schizophrenia and autism.” Generations prior to our “enlightened” society knew that discouragement is not an illness. Persistent shyness may be fueled by pride and the fear of man. I know it was and often is in me. The Psalms reflect life at war with circumstances and victory won through an intense battle to trust in God. Rather than run to a doctor upon persistent days of discouragement, begin to consider the true needs of your heart (Philippians 4:6-9) and the practical application of the forgiveness of sin through Christ and the life of sanctification that...
