Christian and Biblical Counseling is important to spirituality and development. Individuals need spiritual guidance and aid throughout their life from a Biblical perspective. However, spiritual care is not mental care. Biblical Counseling is for salvation of the soul but it is not a clinical book for mental health. When these things are confused and interwoven, it becomes a serious problem and misuse of the Word of God.
Biblical Counseling is important but it has its purposes and limitations. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification
Furthermore, Christian Counselors who are not Clinical or Licensed Counselors cannot help those suffering from pathology. They require proper training at the clinical level. Some clinical and licensed counselors may specialize in Christian Counseling and can treat individuals but they still should know where Scripture starts and ends when treatment is involved for pathology.
Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification and see if it matches your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification.
Just war theory looks at the difference between murder and killing, invasion and defense, and aggression versus protection. Good nations and good people must stand firm against evil in a fallen world. It is hence sometimes the duty of the just to defend the weak against the evil of aggression.
Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Christian Counseling.
The recent war in Ukraine is an atrocity that screams to heaven for justice. Vladimir Putin has disregarded all norms of civilized war and like the “Hitlers” before him has become an international war criminal hiding behind a large nation and army. His war in Ukraine not only fails the standards of justification according to civilized nations and secular society but completely fails all standards of Christian conduct.
This is amazing since many right extremist Christians once hailed him as a good Christian man. His own puppet regime church in Moscow quietly ignores his atrocities as he unfolds an unjust war in Ukraine and the true un-Christian mask is removed from the face of this dictator. Putin has no care for just war or anything remotely Christian and his behavior in past wars such as in Syria, Georgia, Chechenia and other regions also show the atrocities towards civilians and un-needed death that follows his immoral orders.
The just man and woman though ask questions how a Christian may take up arms against such monsters. In WW2, millions took up arms against Hitler and were forced into bloody conflict. Hence how does one retain Christian teaching of “Thou Shall not Murder” in response to unjust aggression. It seems almost comical to call upon violence to stop violence within Christian teaching. It seems contradictory but due to the fallen world we live in, we do not have the luxury of living in a white and black world and unfortunately, sometimes, force is needed to stop a greater evil. This blog will review Aquinas’ theory on just war and also look to understand what it means to be a Christian during war.
What makes a war just? Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification
Self defense is a key concept. One is always entitled to defend oneself within appropriate response as the matter dictates. If one tries to assault another, oneself is entitled to resist and fight back, even if injury is incurred upon the aggressor. The intent was never to hurt another person but to protect oneself. The secondary result in defending oneself is the injury to the aggressor. This falls within a remote and often unheard moral concept known as the Double Effect. An action with good intention produces two ends, one good and one not good. The good result is willed while the not good result is a byproduct. Hence in self defense, one’s primary vocation to life which is self-preservation is undertaken. In this endeavor, one seeks to preserve one’s life through appropriate force against an aggressor which results in one’s preservation but also the byproduct of injury to the other.
One often can become confused since Christianity if improperly interpreted produces a pacifism in all cases. Christ did say to turn the other cheek and warned those who take up the sword will die by the sword. Do these words contradict self defense and defense of the weak? Christ never came as a political savior to the Jews despite the horrific treatment they received from the Romans. Christ was a spiritual redeemer and presented no political doctrine. What he intended to teach was how we deal with people in our daily life. We are to accept wrong doing patiently from our neighbor. We are to turn the other cheek rather than seek revenge. We are not to take up the sword in revenge or fight with others over trivial things.
Christ, never presented self defense of Himself, in His holy passion. He accepted the brunt of sin as the sacrificial victim. It was His vocation.
This does not apply to closing one’s eye to cruelty in this world against the weak or self defense of ourselves. As long as the intent is just and the force appropriate, then it is justified to help others with the use of force. Sometimes helping one’s neighbor requires a rise of force. Is this not true of the great Archangel Michael and his holy war against Lucifer?
Hence, the 5th Commandment rightly states, “Thou shalt not murder”, not kill. The intent to kill is never primary but always secondary. The intent is to defend oneself or others against great evil that causes greater harm if one would not act.
In case of WW2, we clearly see the allies response to Hitler as a just cause but lets review the criteria of just war from the Angelic Doctor, St Thomas Aquinas and apply it to both WW2 and war against Putin.
St Thomas Aquinas outlined the measures to justify force against an aggressor within Christian morality. Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Program
Aquinas points out that all violence against evil must be a last resort. Diplomacy must be exhausted. Other venues to avoid bloodshed must be examined before a defense is established.
Aquinas dictates that the war must be pursued by legitimate authority against the opposing force.
Aquinas requires the war to be a just cause. Hence defense of oneself or others is a prerequisite for any violence
Aquinas considers probability of success as also a notion, unless of course the war is for one’s very survival itself such as the case of Ukraine.
Aquinas lists right intention as a key as well. The intention is to restore peace and repel the aggressor. Revenge is not sought but only justice
Aquinas elaborates that proportionality be equal to the aggression. Hence justice demands only the required violence to end the conflict and not punish beyond the initial offense of the aggressor. This also mirrors modern laws which outlaw certain weapons. This also includes mercy to surrendering combatants.
Aquinas finally demands that the war and violence only be directed at military operations and not against civilians. This mirrors modern day war which considers attacks on civilians to war crimes.
Like Hitler, Putin fails on every criteria.
Hence the WW2and today’s war against Putin is justified. Christians must pray for an end of war, forgive their enemies, and promote peace, but if war is needed, good individuals must arise. The quote attributed to Edmond Burke but truly stated from John Stuart Mill proclaims, “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”. That is the rally cry to end pain and suffering when evil arises with the appropriate force of good Christian men and women to take up arms when history calls.
Please also review AIHCP’s Christian Counseling Certification and see if it meets your academic and professional goals. The program is online and independent study and open to qualified professionals seeking a four year certification in Christian Counseling
One of the most frightful aspects of Christianity is exorcisms. Exorcisms though have a deep rooted history in Christianity dating back to Christ. Christ himself cast demons out and taught the apostles how to. Today, the practice continues in the Church, but most especially within the Catholic Church.
Demons play a dangerous role in our spirituality. Exorcisms cast them from our body. Please review our Christian Counseling Certification
The article, “Exorcisms have been part of Christianity for centuries” takes a closer look at exorcisms and their history in the church. The article states,
“The Exorcist,” a horror film released 45 years ago, is a terrifying depiction of supernatural evil. The film tells the story of a young American girl who is possessed by a demon and eventually exorcised by a Catholic priest.”
As Christians, we are always looking for ways to develop a closer relationship with Christ. Many turn to many devotions, such as the Sacred Heart, others find recourse to the Eucharist. Some delve deeply into scripture and meditate upon the life of Christ and his message. In order to grow, we must all have a closer and more personal relationship with Christ.
The Sacred Heart of Jesus. Please also review our Christian Counseling Training
The article, “21 Ways to Revive Your Relationship With Christ” lists a variety of ways we can remember Christ and become closer. The article states,
“Even the most dedicated Christian may sometimes struggle with their relationship with God. They love Christ and want to be close to Him, but for whatever reason, they have begun to drift away from Jesus. It may have been the result of a tragedy or simply from allowing spiritual growth to take the backseat while they focus on more immediate seeming concerns. Once your spiritual growth stagnates, however, it can be difficult to find your way back to Christ.”
By becoming closer to Christ, we can become better Christians and bring Christ to the world. Christ is our Redeemer and as our Redeemer, we need to find faith in Him, and what better way to strengthen faith than to become closer. Please also review our Christian Counseling Training.
The teenage years and later adolescent years can be filled with turmoil for the teen. Physical changes, social dealings, and trying to find identity can create havoc in study, home life and moral values. In adhering to these moral values, teens can struggle if not properly supervised or cared for by a loving parent. It is essential to encourage values and practices to keep the teen on track.
Raising teens with good Christian morals is a vocation. Please also review our Christian Counseling
The four moral virtues, which when applied to teenage life can be very beneficial. If they do not always manifest, as long as the seed exists, their advancement no matter how dormant they may seem may reemerge in early adulthood. The reason being is that many of the norms of teenage behavior due to hormones and development prevent their manifestation.
For instance, the virtue of prudence is associated with wisdom. Wisdom is not for the young, but we hope at least, our teens are able to form logical and good moral decisions against the most blatant of wrongs. We hope they will utilize prudence in not drinking and driving, or not taking drugs, or not being involved in various serious illegal activities. It is difficult to expect a teen to show prudence in all decision making, but as chemicals in the brain stabilize and the mind develops, clear thinking with prudence can develop later if it is already there.
In the case of justice, teens can sometimes have a distorted view of right and wrong. They may not have the ability to understand all the angles of what one should or should not do in their relations with others, but if parents can at least instill the basics of the Ten Commandments as a paradigm, then a good foundation can prevent disaster.
Fortitude is an important moral virtue as well, but many teens fall to depression, or give up so very easily. Teens need praise and self esteem boosting. They need to be told they are can succeed and when things go wrong, to properly adjust and persevere. The virtue of fortitude helps someone deal with spiritual, mental and physical problems.
Finally, the virtue of temperance is definitely a struggle for teens who are experiencing urges and pressures to experiment and push the limits in many ways. Drinking and sex are all temptations that overwhelm a teen. Temperance is put to the ultimate challenge with these urges both internal and external. Unfortunately, through consistent bad habit, the virtue of temperance can be extinguished in a young soul if not protected. Satan understands how he can influence the youth during this difficult phase and corrupt their innocence.
So the moral virtues are extremely important at any phase in our life, but especially important in the teen years. While hampered due to the phase of life, teens with parental guidance can overcome many of the temptations associated with this age.
We pray our teens will have virtue in their life to know the differences between right and wrong
Parents need to though understand that mistakes can occur. It is up to parents to properly manage their teens during this period and understand the conflict. Culpability for the moral offenses can even be less before the eyes of God, but although teens are experiencing these new feelings, it is important to still hold accountability. As parents, we stand before God for what our children become and it is important to help our children weather the storm of the teen years with proper guidance, restrictions and consequences.
A good moral life can be developed despite the storm of adolescence, but parents need to be willing to take the time and effort to water the seeds of virtue that were planted at Baptism and childhood. The world and Satan will take your child if you let it, but it is ultimately up to you to say “NO”
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Christian Counseling and Ecumenism: What Type of Dialogue
Christian Counseling and Christian Dialogue with the world involves a sharing of ideas and values, it does not mean denying core beliefs of Christ or trading them for other ideals. In essence, many mistake Christian ecumenism as indifferentism. People interpret that since Christians are open to dialogue, then they are willing to compromise or water down. When people discover that this dialogue is not about compromise but sharing the truth, then Christians are accused of evangelization under the guise of ecumenism.
The problem lies in what Christian Ecumenism really is. It is a dialogue with the world, but it is not a compromise of truth. It also is not direct evangelization but a more passive form. A form where the Christian does not come as a missionary but a brother. The dialogue seeks to find common cultural and religious ideals that can begin a relationship of understanding that seeks unity instead of division. Christian Ecumenism looks to unite all of God’s creatures and hopes to expose the truth of Christ to other brothers and sisters as equal partners in God’s world.
So many past images have existed where missionaries treated the indigenous people as savages. While both sides have their stories from history, Christian Ecumenism looks to other people as enlightened and equal in human dignity. While Christian Ecumenism can never lower Christ to Buddha or Mohammad, we can find value in some of the moral teachings in our open dialogue in understanding other people.
Christians involved in ecumenism do not seek to convert via debate but via example. The open dialogue allows Christians an opportunity to share the gospel in an non-evasive way via example. Through interaction, the ideal is not to weaken one’s faith but to understand others and to show others the value of Christ through action.
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Christian Counseling and a Certain and Right Conscience
Christian Counselors need to constantly remind people of sharpening their conscience. Our consciences can become weak overtime when we are overexposed to secular life and immoral conversation, pictures and friends.
Keeping a strong conscience requires examination and prayer
With this in mind, it is extremely important to watch our company and to constantly train ourselves to feel the slightly prick from the slightest sin. By examination of conscience each night, we can review our daily activity and acknowledge if our actions conformed with Christ. We should not fall into the despair of scruples, but maintain a healthy reaction to each failure. In our failures is our human nature and Christ does not wish to haunt us with them but merely to acknowledge them and have a firm purpose of amendment.
It is truly amazing when one begins to realize the “pleasures” of past that are truly seen in their true light. The will pursues these illusionary goods, as Eve purused the forbidden fruit. With a sharper conscience, we are more attuned with the Holy Spirit and his grace. We are able to detect the dirt of sin and the littlest stain on our soul upsets us. This is the type of certain and rightly formed conscience we need.
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St. Ignatius Loyola presented a disciplined version of meditation that while disciplined also gave freedom to the soul to explore numerous images of contemplation about Christ and sin. As founder of the Jesuits, he incorporated a military type religious movement that not only characterized his order but also his meditation techniques.This disciplined form of meditation is key in helping the soul overcome the weakness of one’s fallen nature and creating a soul better equipped to reform and avoid sin.Christian Counselors as well as merely spiritual counselors can all find value in the writings of St. Ignatius and his spiritual exercises in regards to meditation.
One of the primary themes found in meditation by St. Ignatius is his great emphasis on sin and repentance. Many of the contemplations deal directly with the soul’s sins and how horrible sin is to the life of the soul.Hence many reflections revolve around the passion of Christ, Hell, and how sin has corrupted the human race.It is St. Ignatius’ goal to inspire within the soul a complete aversion of sin via perfect contrition that burns for the love of Christ. This Christocentric form of meditation is obviously best suited for Christian Counseling but the rich spiritual nature of the meditations and exercises can also be applied to general spiritual counseling because it focuses on discernment and vocational choices as well. While Christocentric, the primary goal is help the soul escape sin and rid itself of earthly attachments.This is the key for most meditative processes.
Ignatian spirituality can also be applied to the Lenten season or the Great Fast. St. Ignatius in his “Spiritual Exercises” laid out important guiding principles in proper fasting.
St. Ignatius points out that there is interior fasting which deals with the formation of moral character and exterior fasting which deals with sacrifices and penances of a bodily fashion. This exterior fasting is a result of the interior fasting and yearning of the soul to show penance.
According to St. Ignatius, denial of superfluous things is not fasting. Fasting does not include giving up special treats, but is a sacrifice that revolves around ordinary things that we deal with everyday. This is not to devalue sacrifices, but it is important to delineate between exercises in temperance and true fasting.
St. Ignatius listed three primary ways one can fast. The first he listed was food intake. In this, Ignatius reflects the values of the Church and its mandates for denial of meat and other meals during a proper fast day. The second type of fasting deals with denial of sleep. Sleep deprivation or removing basic comforts for sleep are encouraged for those who wish to fast this way. However, St. Ignatius emphasizes that one should not eliminate sleep if it hurts one’s health and prevents them from functioning in one’s daily duty. Finally, St. Ignatius stated that temporal suffering can be applied as long as it does not permanently harm the body. Examples of sack clothe that are hidden underneath one’s clothes is a perfect example for this.
Ultimately St. Ignatius believed fasting was meant to show Christ how much we love him and how much we wish to carry our crosses with him. St. Ignatius felt that such fasting would benefit the soul by teaching it mastery and discipline over the passions. He also saw fasting as important for petition and reparation for sin. Christian Counselingsessions should also utilize these concepts.
