By Prasha Maharjan

Counseling means giving advice to a person having practical problems (McLemore, 5).  In the Christian world, the word ‘counsel’ is seen both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Scripture refers God to be the perfect counselor and when Christ ascended to Heaven, God gave believers the Holy Spirit as their Guide or Advisor. People in the past generations might have very well used the Old Testament, especially the wisdom literature for guidance. It was a basis for morality and justice. Even Jesus counseled using the Old Testament during His time.  Certainly, counseling simply meant advising, and perhaps it was a guide to live a problem-free life as well.

Dr. Jay Adams in the year 1970 developed a model of counseling derived from biblical principles. Nonetheless, Biblical counseling, of the kind represented by the Nouthetic school of counseling, is unbiblical, not because it does not use the Bible (which it does, and often effectively), but because it is not biblical enough. That is, it leaves out certain aspects of human life and function that are essential to having a holistic Biblical perspective. Continue reading Nouthetic Counseling – Scripture as a Standard guideline for Directional Counsel →