This book was written in 1983 and has been slightly revised since. Remember it is a history of this subject as its title suggests. I found it a fascinating and instructive read as I was conducted through the last five hundred or so years of history in America concentrating upon the issue of pastoral ministry and the developments that have taken place. The subtitle of the book is “From Salvation to Self-Realization” and this is a telling statement as it encapsulates the shift that has taken place. There are many intriguing links that emerge in this book, especially between the sociological changes in the different periods and the way that these formed and shaped changing patterns of pastoral ministry. There are distinct shifts evident, and these are tied to definite developments in the social fabric. Probably the last sixty years or so have been characterized by the attempts to synthesize the emphases of scripture concerning man and his fall and need of salvation with the findings of those in the disciplines of psychology and psychotherapy. An uneasy alliance emerges as a result of these attempts. The popularity of the writings of Paul Tillich come to mind, he appeared to bring the two together quite well. However, it would seem that those in both the disciplines are unhappy. Those who love the doctrines revealed in scripture are disturbed at the shifts they see when psychological insights are added to the mix and those in the latter area reject much that comes from a more Christian and religious basis. My reading of this book did several things for me, among them was the fact that I could see how much the church and in particular its ministers had been influenced by the varying world situations in which they had lived. They grappled with the effort of pastorally helping people in a changing of the world that pressured them in ways they did not realize and was shaping the people they sought to help. Another lesson to me was the impossibility of truly blending that which is scriptural and from the Spirit of God with that which is the result of man’s efforts at discovering and codifying man’s soul in the way these other disciplines practice that. Some would regard it as simplistic to say ‘that which is Spirit is Spirit and that which is flesh is flesh”, but there is a challenge there which needs to be applied to the realm of pastoral ministry which this book seeks to address. Every pastor nowadays when seeking to help any person in need by way of counsel will inevitably is operating within a framework that they have derived maybe from 17th century perceptions or from those that are rooted in the 20th century or maybe seeking to synthesize both. Today the emphasis is on the ‘therapeutic’, in many Americanized churches; the healing of the self is all the intent. To bring people into Christ in whom is true wholeness is by passed. Whether this can be found in scripture is questionable. All in all this is an intriguing book to go through and one, which entwines a whole number of elements.
