Sin as Root Cause

Rom 5:12
 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned—
The world view of man and the Biblical world view of man is vastly different. Most modern philosophy and most secular psychology is built on the premise that man is basically good. With this as their premise then, the answer to most problems comes from looking within and tapping into the id or that inner person who is basically good.
To be fair, there is a lot that we can learn from secular psychology and some of their methodology is very useful and helpful in dealing with certain issues. In 1 Thessalonians 5:21 the Bible tells us to, “Test everything. Hold on to the good.” With this is mind I believe that there are many techniques that we should study and utilize.
On the other hand, Christian psychology is based on the premise that as a result of the fall of Adam in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world and sin creates separation between man and His creator. This gap causes an imbalance that leads to a multitude of problems.
If we look at things strictly from this standpoint it would be easy to conclude that because secular psychology in based on a false premise that we should discount it completely and only use Christian psychology.
It is not that simple. In fact, a lot of Christian psychology has evolved from secular psychology and has been modified and adjusted according to the Christian worldview and the Word of God.
I think there is a place for both.
Let me put it this way. If you have a cold you go to the doctor and they tell you to take an aspirin, drink lots of fluids and get plenty of rest. When you do that you feel better because doing those things help alleviate the symptoms. Sooner or later though, you are feeling miserable again because the root cause, the cold, has not been addressed.
Secular psychology does a lot to alleviate the symptoms of mental health issues, but only a right relationship with God can address the root cause of our problems.
2 Cor 5:17-19
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
It is this process of reconciliation that brings us into a right relationship with God and begins the healing process.
Rom 12:2
 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
After reconciliation and a right relationship with God, we can begin to look at addressing issues of the mind through that relationship.

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