Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded?: Helping (Not Hurting Those With Emotional Difficulties)

Rating:
Summary: This book can save lives...
Review: This book is the best book on this subject. I know first hand how horrible many so called Christians treat those that suffer from depression. Without medication I would not be alive today. Christian friends and family have accused me of being possessed by a demon. Nothing hurts more than a loved one or friends judging you for something you have no control over. This book is about just that. A kind word of encouragement would be nice but is not the norm amoung Christians.

Rating:
Summary: Helping Not Hurting
Review: What can i say? Truly amazin. My roommate, Brian was skeptical of Helping, Not Hurting at first. My how times have changed for him as a result. He recently introduced Helping Not Hurting to his wife, and she loved it! Thank you so much for letting me express my story!

Rating:
Summary: Good. Helps to put things in perspective
Review: Why Do Christians Shoot Their Wounded

What caused Carlson to write this book?

D.L. Carlson wrote this book motivated from the premise that Christian's are not providing healing for hurting Christians in fact he insists that they are one of the only groups of people that actually keep hurting people from finding real healing to their problems through legalistic understandings of God's Word. His goal is to give Christians another perspective on emotional hurting people in hopes that they will see that healing has broader implications than just being referred to as a "sin problem." His directive is to demonstrate the need for proper spiritual perspective in physical and emotional healing in a effort to provide true holistic ministry to emotionally damaged people.

What major issues is he attempting to deal with?

The major issue Carlson attempts to deal with is the spiritual vs. physiological vs. psychological issues when it comes to healing. He believes that many Christians view every problem in this life as simply a spiritual problem and that only Biblical solutions are best for these problems. Carlson says this is true only in some cases and even these cases are very rare. As he writes, Carlson perceives this as a major fault since many Christian churches use proof-texting, shallow understanding of scriptural words, and extremist theology to reason this perspective which only puts "bandages" on deeper problems that wound many Christians through the course of life. These Christians choose to label emotional problems as only a sin problem which licensed professional counselors will only contribute to. Utilizing real life stories that illustrate dramatic points and current medical information on the source of emotional illness, Carlson demonstrates that emotional problems do have spiritual beginnings in a broad sense (that is original sin) but that many if not almost all emotional problems also have environmental, biological, or decisional beginnings as well. Carlson make an excellent point here.

Is Carlson's reasoning concerning this set of issues convincing to you? Why or why not?

Carlson's reasoning used in his book is not very strong, although his major point was discovered. His stories, although illustrative, were just a little too subjective and his scientific research was not very objective, however study in these areas (especially from a Christian perspective) is only beginning to progress. He seems to be struggling himself with finding an ecumenical system that would bring together scientific research, biblical study, and environmental evolution into harmony that would seek to heal the whole person as we become more like Christ. This is a postmodern challenge in healing for the present time, yet his goals seem to begin a process of debate even though they are rather immature. And finally, it almost appears that he is writing to a group of people who are

already on a bandwagon together than to people who a genuinely looking for help, he could have taken a different angle in writing this book since it appears that he is setting out to start a revolution rather than provide hope for the hurting. Carlson spends a great deal of time in his book discussing this research on the what exactly causes emotional illness scientifically however he does not spend much time discussing the spiritual ills which is actually the cause of the whole problem in the first place. If part one provided a stronger case then possibly the rest of the book would have easily been more convincing. Carlson could have responded to scripture more as well. Providing some scriptural basis for his position and if possible using a few of the interactions of Jesus with emotionally hurting people. Also, if Carlson could have provided both sides of these healing perspective (the legalistic Christian perspective and the holistic person perspective) and then as well provided the pro's and con's of each this would have been helpful to decipher as possible solution. Carlson does appear a bit one-sided throughout his book as if he has some sort of vendetta.

If you were going to write this book, having had similar experiences to Carlson's, what most important message would you have?

If I were writing this book, I would put emphasis on what he began with yet would lean in more directions than he did. His presumptions in the preface were perplexing and to hear more on these three issues (how and why they come about) would help to provide a stronger direction for the book as well as provide freedom for some Christians whose corrupt belief systems rule their lives and others. I would have discussed more about the result of bad belief systems in the lives of all people and how they can infect churches. Providing more reasons why "Christian Shoot Their Wounded" could be beneficial (since their are more than three) and how these systems root their way into our life would also help some individuals and churches to begin the process of nurturing others and self on our journey in becoming more like Christ as we confront our emotional pain.

What spiritual resources for treating medical illness would you have like Carlson to have emphasized?

Carlson could have provided us with resources that he was familiar with that he has seen or used that have been beneficial to healing hearts and minds. In this area he

could have emphasized extensively the positive aspects of spiritually healing that would contribute to bettering of the Christian person. Even though he touched on this in the last section more time could be spent here. Simply stating that spiritual resources could not heal some people is not enough. Many non-Christian authors make similar generalizations but giving a few good resources would be fantastic.