Biblical Psychology Study Guide

Moralistic View of Suffering

Suffering stems from not living rightly

Self-Transcendent Views of Suffering

Suffering comes from unfulfilled desires. (Extinguishing the desires is the Buddhist solution)

Fate and Destiny view of suffering

Fate or the will of Allah (Islam) or the will of God

Fate and Destiny view of suffering

Light v. Darkness; injustice sin, and pain are due to evil satanic forces

Western Cultural View of Suffering

Seen as an accident or senseless

• Interrupts personal freedom and pleasure

• Grief, sorrow, and anxiety need to be “cured”

• Highest goal is preventing suffering

Christian view of suffering

Permission to express grief; Suffering is unjust; Not necessarily due to sin; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 is dominated by grace; It is an instrument of God with benefits

Suffering as an instrument of God

When times are good, we are to be happy, but as times are bad, we can consider God.

Who said that suffering is part of the divine idea

Henry Ward Beecher

Varieties of Suffering

• Suffering we bring on ourseles

• Suffering from doing good

• Suffering of loss

• Suffering of mystery

Biblical Examples of the Suffering we bring on ourselves

Jonah and the fish

• the storm at sea

• The worm and the east wind

Reason: Jonah resisted God. God was trying to wake up Jonah from his racist hatred.

David

• Adultery and Murder

• The Son of Bathsheba and David became sick and died

Who said: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our

conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to

rouse a deaf world”

CS Lewis

Does God punish us for our sin?

Yes and no. God uses the brokenness of the world to wake us up and bring us to repentence.

Examples of Suffering for good

Jeremiah

Paul - 2 Corinthians 11:23-29

It helps us to wrestle with forgiveness

Examples of the Suffering of Loss

Mary and Martha in John 11

The purpose was to find comfort in hope.

• 1 Thess. 4:13

• 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Examples of Suffering of Mystery

Job, in Job 1-3 was being put into a place where he just followed God just for God. Not for anything else.

Benefits of Pain

• Learning Rejoicing in suffering

  • Romans 5:3-5

  • James 1:2-4

• Not happy emotions

• Dwell on who God is

• Understand that God is doing something Good

Shame

• Many people are influenced by it

• Presents differently in different people

• Masquerades as less painful emotions like anger, anxiety, inadequacy, shyness, etc.

Indicators of Shame

• Eyes are downcast

• Desire to disappear

• Self-protection by avoidance

• Self-contempt

Shame v. Embarassment

Embarassment is temporary and superficial while shame shuts down an activity.

The difference between shame and embarrassment is the level of intensity

Shame brings a desire to shut down the personality so that we do not have to deal with a humiliating interpersonal situation.

What is self-contempt

Putting ourselves down during shame or feeling worthless as a result of it.

Why would we inflict this pain on ourselves

when we are already in pain?

• We hate shame

• It keeps us from entering into vulterability

• Follows wrong beliefs.

Definition of Shame

The subjective experience of being exposed as naked

Godly Shame

• Desired to lead us to repentence

• Allows us to recognize the relationship with him

• Legitimate when it involves sin

Shame v. Guilt

Guilt happens when a rule is broken which results in punishment

• Guilt is objective

• Shame is subjective

What is illegitimate shame

Shame that is experienced over behavior that stems from develpmental mistakes to learning new skills

Environments that help develop illegitimate shame

• Derision, and verbal abuse

• Being identified by one part of who he/she is.

Dealing with Shame

• Must be accurately labeled and experienced

• Needs to be unraveled and dissasociated with someone’s identity in Christ

• Self protective patterns that have been acquired to minimize shame and conempt.

What happens when we fall off the side of dignity

Pride

• Behavior - bragging, “confidence”, focus, back to self

• Control - overcompensates for inferiority feelings

• Relationships - drives people with their impressiveness

• Secondary gain - many “friends”, respect, doesn’t have sinfulness or problems to deal with.

what happens when we fall off the side of depravity

Self-contempt

• Putting self down

• I must make up for any feelings of inferiority

• I am not meeting the standards

• Pity in relationships and then the driving away of people

• Secondary gain - supportibe “friends”, sympathy, they also don’t have to deal with their sinfulness.

How does Isaiah 6:1-8 bring the concepts of dignity, depravity, and dependency together?

The holiness of God (vv. 1-4)

 What was Isaiah’s response (v. 5)

 What does the live coal symbolize? (v. 6)

 Redemption is painful but good! (v. 7)

 God’s question and Isaiah’s response (v. 8)

 Godly confidence

 Eph. 3:12

Five Benefits of Suffering

• it produces strength

• produces character and hope

• It produces faith

• It produces deep joy

• It teaches us to wait on the Lord