How can the Bible inform the pastoral care of people with mental health challenges? This book suggests that many if not most readers of Scripture a adopt a "foundationalist" hermeneutic, which runs the risk of reducing Scripture to a book of instructions and pastoral care to a matter of dispensing advice. For people suffering from mental health challenges in general and depression in particular, however, this approach can be counterproductive, adding to spiritual and mental distress rather than helping to alleviate it. Here, Marion Carson offers an alternative way of reading Scripture for pastoral care that draws on the work of biblical studies as well as pastoral theology. Focusing on Rom 5:1-5, in which suffering and hope are explicitly linked, she argues that a hermeneutic based on character ethics can help Christian communities of faithful, hopeful, and loving people to develop sensitive and nuanced approaches to pastoral care and so to be "agents of hope" to those who are feeling hopeless because of severe depression.
Industry Reviews
“As the number of people who struggle with and are impacted by mental health challenges continues to grow, seemingly exponentially, so does the need for thoughtful biblical resources to guide those who are entrusted with providing pastoral care to them. I warmly commend Darkness Receding, even as I pray that reading Romans 5:1–5 carefully and repeatedly with Carson towards Christian character formation will enlighten those who presently sit in the darkness of depression and will empower them to know and experience the Dayspring from on high.”
—Todd D. Still, Charles J. and Eleanor McLerran DeLancey Dean, Baylor University, Truett Seminary
“Marion Carson here offers a terrific fresh account of engaging with Scripture in the pastoral care of people with depression. She knows the two fields of New Testament studies and Pastoral Care well and combines them with great effect. She powerfully contrasts the ineffectiveness of individualistic readings—which treat the Bible simply as a collection of instructions—with more effective readings which recognize how Scripture enables growth in Christian character, even amidst the ups and downs of life. Warmly recommended!”
—Steve Walton, Senior Research Fellow in New Testament, Trinity College, Bristol, United Kingdom
“Darkness Receding is a standout contribution to the challenge faced within all communities: ‘How to care for the person suffering from severe depression?’ This treatment is fresh, informed, measured and constructive. It rightly places responsibility, neither on the sufferer, nor the overworked pastor. The community, as recipients of God’s gifts of faith, hope, and love, comes into its own when it is companion to the sufferer, patiently holding out these rich graces, not as exhortations, but as gifts.”
—Andrew Clarke, Leadership Development Lead, Scottish Baptist Union
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