(We are departing from Mark’s gospel for a period of time, perhaps until next Fall. Why, you ask? Partly because we have written on Mark 11-16 in two series of posts that utilized a “Harmony of the Gospels” approach. You can find these posts here:
· In the Shadow of the Cross (Triumphal Entry to Olivet Discourse) 6/8-7/13/2018
· 31 Days at Gordon’s Calvary 7/14-8/20/2018
· The Resurrection of Christ 2/15-3/29/2016
We still plan to continue our journey through Mark. But the posts are tied to preaching at our church in Montana and we have just begun Chapter 11. So, as I say, I am anticipating picking this up again in the Fall.
For now, I am going to do a variety of posts until such time as we again begin a series of studies. We hope you find these helpful.)
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I was recently given a book and asked to read it and share my thoughts. The title, Can Christianity Cure Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder? (Ian Osborn, MD, Brazos Press, 2008) tells you the subject and probably why I was asked to read it. Brazos is a subsidiary of Baker Pub. Group, an evangelical printing house. I didn’t happen to notice that until I finished. I had some struggles in the early chapters of the book that were mostly resolved by the latter chapters. Osborn’s suggested therapy was (Ch. 9) sounded good to me because it reflected a Biblical approach to issues of the soul.
A major portion of the book details Martin Luther, John Bunyon and Therese Martin of Lisieux (Ch. 3-5). All three suffered from what Osborn believes were extreme forms of OCD. All three found sufficient relief through the truth of the Bible and their faith in Christ (Ch. 8). At that point I had come to a conclusion: of course Christianity (the Christian faith of Christ Himself that is taught in the New Testament) can bring a Christian to the place where he is not plagued by OCD. Notice, I did not say “cure.” Osborn acknowledged that there is no known cure. Modern therapies cannot cure the disorder. Here is what he says. “OCD has been shown to be one of the most treatable of all mental disorders. … None of them (the therapies), unfortunately, completely cures a patient’s obsessions and compulsions in the manner say, that penicillin eradicates pneumonia” (p129). The NT does not guarantee healing of any disease. God delights to heal, and we can pray for that, and sometimes we may be convinced He has done something in our bodies. But God also does not heal, as with the Apostle Paul himself (2 Cor. 12), who sought God to remove some sort of malady (Paul called it a “thorn in the flesh”). God refused, but at the same time assured Paul that, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness (12:9). Thus, God can cure OCD, but He might not, but He gives grace to walk faithfully with Him through it all.
One thing about the three individuals highlighted in the book is that they lived in a time when, what we might call emotional or mental illness was considered a spiritual issue. When their minds were going afoul, they naturally turned to the Scriptures. One of the problems for Christians, in my view, is that they might not understand how the Bible and God’s grace and the Holy Spirit can be helpful in our illnesses because modern man has changed the names. The Bible never speaks, specifically, of “obsessive-compulsive disorder.”
Ah! But then something happened. A friend had told me he had been diagnosed with “scrupulosity,” a form of OCD where the person worries and feels guilt over moral and religious issues. To be honest, I kind of chuckled inside, because I had never heard of such a thing. But then, in the book by Osborn, he used that term. Now I was wondering: is this something common? All trials are “common to man” (1 Cor. 10:13). Then, in my Bible reading today, I came across … well, we are out of space for this post. So please join me in the next post and I’ll share what I read.
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