A variety of psychotherapies masquerading under Christian terminology are devastating the church by turning Christians from God to self. Among the most deadly are regressive therapies designed to probe the unconscious for buried memories which are allegedly causing everything from depression to fits of anger and sexual misconduct and must be uncovered and "healed." These offshoots of Freudian and Jungian theories rooted in the occult and which have destructively impacted society for decades are taking their toll within the church.
One popular variety of regression therapy is called "inner healing" and was brought into the church by occultist Agnes Sanford (see The Seduction of Christianity ). It was carried on after her death by those she influenced, such as lay therapists Ruth Carter Stapleton, Rosalind Rinker, John and Paula Sandford, William Vaswig, Rita Bennett and others. At first most prevalent among charismatics and liberal churches, inner healing has spread widely in evangelical circles. There it is practiced in a more sophisticated form by psychologists such as David Seamands, H. Norman Wright and James G. Friesen as well as a number of lay therapists like Fred and Florence Littauer. The Littauers' extreme insistence that rare is the person "who can say he truly had a happy childhood" would seem to condition their counselees to recover unhappy and traumatic memories.
Even if it were safely and accurately possible, should one probe into the past in order to dredge up forgotten memories? Memory is notoriously deceitful and self-serving. One is easily talked into "remembering" something which may never have happened. Inner healing, like other forms of psychotherapy, creates, by its very nature, false memories. Furthermore, why must one uncover memories of past abuse in order to have a right relationship with God? Where does the Bible say so? And if parts of the past must be "remembered," why not every detail? That task would be hopeless. Yet once the theory is accepted one can never be certain that some trauma is not still hidden in the unconscious—a trauma holding the key to emotional and spiritual well-being!
In contrast, Paul forgot the past and pressed on toward the prize (Philippians 3:13-14) promised to all those who love Christ's appearing (2 Tim:4:7-8). The past is of little consequence if Christians truly are new creations for whom "old things are passed away [and] all things are become new" (2 Cor:5:17). Searching the past in order to find an "explanation" for one's present behavior conflicts with the entire teaching of Scripture. Though it may seem to help for a time, it actually robs one of the biblical solution through Christ. What matters is not the past, but one's personal relationship to Christ now.
(From the February 1993 Berean Call Newsletter)
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