Monday, May 20, 2013
What Can They Teach Us Generally
Justin Taylor looks at a Tim Keller book on "What the Puritans Can Teach Us about Counseling". It is a good post, but two thought ran through my mind. One, why are we struck a bit dumb by the idea of reading the Puritans and two, why counseling.
As to the first question, I cannot help but reflect onthe concept of fashion as it applies to faith. The Puritans are viewed as too stiff and uptight to have much to offer and yet, their tradition is rich and thorough. They are simply out of fashion. There is something wrong in Christianity when fashion has that much say. Why an we not just look at the Puritans, or any other movement dispassionately and rationally and extract the good and discard the bad? Most movements are born of a needed correction, they simply take on a life of their own and go a bit far. In so doing the needed corrective gets lost in the wash. That's a crying shame.
Which brings me to the second question. Counseling is one of those areas that antithetical to the put your head down and work hard ethic of the Puritans. It seems there is an effort to say that the Puritans were not antithetical to counseling. It is obvious they were not antithetical to caring for one's emotional life, but counseling is a different matter. Puritans were also a tight knit community and much of that care for emotional life came in the context of that community and not "professionals" like counselors. Seems to me that THAT might be the idea to take away.
Better relationships, not better professionals.
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As to the first question, I cannot help but reflect onthe concept of fashion as it applies to faith. The Puritans are viewed as too stiff and uptight to have much to offer and yet, their tradition is rich and thorough. They are simply out of fashion. There is something wrong in Christianity when fashion has that much say. Why an we not just look at the Puritans, or any other movement dispassionately and rationally and extract the good and discard the bad? Most movements are born of a needed correction, they simply take on a life of their own and go a bit far. In so doing the needed corrective gets lost in the wash. That's a crying shame.
Which brings me to the second question. Counseling is one of those areas that antithetical to the put your head down and work hard ethic of the Puritans. It seems there is an effort to say that the Puritans were not antithetical to counseling. It is obvious they were not antithetical to caring for one's emotional life, but counseling is a different matter. Puritans were also a tight knit community and much of that care for emotional life came in the context of that community and not "professionals" like counselors. Seems to me that THAT might be the idea to take away.
Better relationships, not better professionals.
Technorati Tags:puritans, counseling, community
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