Solomon Lecture Series, Lecture 1: An overview of Spirituotherapy
The following post contains some highlights from the first lecture in the Solomon Lecture Series, presented by Dr. Charles Solomon. The entire lecture series is available, here, at Grace Fellowship International.
There are some forms of Christian counseling that rely on the principles of psychology combined with the Scriptures as the basis for guiding their clients through life’s challenges. Psychological principles can be useful but are meaningless unless they point the believer to the cross to deal with their flesh. Dr. Solomon states that without leading the client to the cross, instruction from the Bible can be simply a source for strengthening the client’s flesh. Dr. Solomon believes that psychology should be descriptive and not prescriptive. Psychology does have its purposes, such as helping clients discover why they are who they are. Unfortunately, many seminaries teach their students integrationist therapies where the use of psychology goes beyond the descriptive. Rather, they use psychological principles as prescriptive, that is, in determining therapeutic approaches. In contradistinction, practitioners of Spirituotherapy are looking for transformational change of the client, which is accomplished by the Holy Spirit, through the Word of God alone.
In Dr. Solomon’s lecture, he described the overview of his Spirituotherapy model. First, the counselor determines why the client is there and then, using the client’s life history, seeks to determine why their flesh patterns are wired as they are. The history taking process is typically 30-45 minutes. Then the counselor would go over the previously administered Taylor-Johnson Temperament Analysis results to show out of what source the client is living. He would use the wheel diagram to look at the client’s fleshly identity, allowing the client to see the centrality of their self-life. The more the flesh is exposed, the better the therapeutic outcome when the client is led to the cross. Psychological symptoms, such as depression, are not the problem according to Dr. Solomon, rather, the flesh is the problem. The counselor should try not to attempt to alleviate their fleshly symptoms as it will delay the client’s encounter with the cross. Additionally, the counselor looks to see if the person has totally surrendered to Christ or if they are still fighting with God.
Dr. Solomon instructs us to use the line diagram to show the client their true identity in Christ. They can be taught how to live out of that identity, through faith, rather than their false identity in Adam. He emphasized that just as the individual came to accept Christ through faith, the client can appropriate their true identity in Christ as Life, through faith. Their true identity in Christ can be found on the resurrection side of the cross. Essentially, the client has to lose their self-life in order to really live. As an aside, Dr. Solomon says there is a difference between soul care versus soul cure. Counseling that strengthens the flesh is soul care. In contrast, the Spirituotherapy counselor is looking for soul cure. I found this to be a very important distinction that never occurred to me and one which I will strive to remember during my ministry.
Dr. Solomon states that the Bible does not teach us to die to self, rather, it teaches us to die to sin. I found this to be fascinating as I always interpreted verses like Galatians 2:20, Luke 9:23, Galatians 5:24 and Mark 8:35, to name a few, spoke about dying to self. In any event, Dr. Solomon teaches that we reckon that death to be true in order to “get rid of the flesh.” At this point, he states that terminology needs to be set straight. Dr. Solomon notes that there is a distinction between the flesh and the old man/old nature and the power of sin. Although he does not define these terms in this particular lecture, he does define each of these terms in his books and at the Spirituotherapy Workshop.
In conclusion, the message and the goal are the same, that is, to lead the client to the cross, to among other things, guide them to exchange their self-life for Christ’s life. The client is exchanging their old identity for their new identity. In other words, they are exchanging their false identity for their true identity. Dr. Solomon states, “It’s literally amazing what death (the cross) will cure.”