Jacksonville, FL (WD) - The Association of Certified Biblical Lawyers (ACBL) last week released their "95 Theses for an Authentically Christian Commitment to Legal Counseling", just days 2 weeks after the Association of Christian Biblical Counselors (ACBC) released THEIR 95 Theses for Christian Counselors. Both of these sets of theses are released to coincide with this month's 500 anniversary of Martin Luther posting his 95 theses condemning the Catholic Church's use of indulgences.Mr. A.C. Pout, head of the ACBL, said that it is time for Christian attorneys to commit to using the bible as the only source of legal counsel and rejecting "secular legal theory", just as the ACBC has told Christians everywhere that "secular psychology" is not necessary, but the bible is wholly sufficient for any counseling session.
"Modern, secular legal practices are not affirmed by the Holy Scriptures," said Mr. Pout. "No one has ever proved that the Holy Scriptures are not sufficient to provide a complete legal system for all people, all societies, everywhere."
According to Mr. Pout, ACBL's 95 theses include a commitment to the returning to tried and tested and God-ordained Old Testament legal practices, which the ACBL claims are keys to a wholesome society, and spiritually content citizens. The legal practices ACBL pursues including a uniform flat 10% tax or "tithe" to the government, death penalty by stoning for murder, adultery, bestiality, male-male sexual intercourse, wives not found to be virgins on their wedding night, and when a man meets a betrothed woman in town and sleeps with her.
"These are ALL legal practices prescribed in the Lord's holy scriptures," said Pout. "To proclaim that they are not sufficient for today's society is to reject the sufficiency of scripture. I call on all lawyers who are rejecting the sufficiency of God's word to repent. In our legal system we have a huge bibical sufficiency problem, and the ACBL seeks to correct it."
The ACBL will be holding their annual conference in Jacksonville in November. The theme of the conference will be "How Then Shall We Lawyer?"
Dog, I get the satire, but here's an angle on this that you likely haven't thought about and may not even be aware of.
ReplyDeleteThere was a time when, if members of a church needed counseling, they could go to the pastor, who would counsel their members, devoting their time to them, praying with them and doing what they could to comfort and encourage them and give them guidance through their problems. And of course, the pastor did not charge them for this. Counseling was a large part of what pastors did. Though I do not know, I suspect this is still true in the Catholic Church and in mainstream Protestant denominations.
But in the contemporary evangelical church, not so much. Those guys aren't going to do anything without getting a good financial return on their investment. Nowadays, you can still get "Christian" counseling, but you're gonna pay for it. Just google "Christian counseling [your city]", and depending on the size of your city, several entries will pop up for licensed "Christian" counselors ready, willing, and able to put you on the right path, for a hefty fee. Indeed, at every major evangelical seminary, there is a degree program for "Christian counseling." So the evangelical church apparently doesn't even consider counseling something that is primarily pastors' responsibility anymore. No, that is the work of for-hire "Christian Counselors."
So what do these "Christian Counselors" do? Well, I can only speak from my personal experience, but the ones I've visited, they work from pretty much the same playbook as any "Non-Christian Counselor" who offers counseling services without proclaiming to have a special calling from God. In other words, it's mostly psychology. The ones I have experience with just throw in a little "Christian" stuff like tossing in a Bible verse here and there, starting or closing the session with a prayer, etc. I don't know just how much training on Biblical teaching these people receive in seminary, but I suspect their programs are heavy on the psychology and very light on the Bible.
I don't necessarily disagree with your (presumed) position that the Bible doesn't offer all the definitive answers to life's problems. But I think the guy who wrote the "95 Theses" you linked to has a legitimate beef with the "Christian Counseling" movement. These people are not offering Bible-based counseling. They are offering the same psychology-based counseling services that you can get anywhere else (and often at a much more reasonable price). And it's downright dishonest and sleazy for them to use the "Christian" label in order to attract more customers.
I understand. Just laughing out loud over someone who claims the bible is "wholly sufficient" for all psychological counseling. It is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteThe biblical tithe was ten percent of the gross, twice each year, plus an additional ten percent of the gross every third year. Or 23.33 percent of the gross, not the net!! That would be a higher rate than almost any business or farm pays today, and approximately what a middle income person would pay without significant deductions.
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