James Sire on "Is Christianity Just a Psychological Crutch?"
In this blog I wanted to address the age old question often brought against the Christian faith, "Is Christianity just a psychological crutch?" I love the way James Sire answers it, so I will review his brief reply to the question and encourage you to read Sire yourself.
Sire begins by defining the question with more fundamental questions. What is the Christian faith? What is a psychological crutch? When, if ever is Christian faith a psychological cruth? Is Christian faith ever only a psychological cruth?
Sire answers the first question, "What is the Christian faith?" by showing that it is more than an emotional draw to a made-up God. Rather, it is a body of doctrine that is rooted in actual historical events. True Christianity involves an assent that God is triune, that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Jesus physically arose from the dead, and that faith in Christ can lead to the washing away of sins and eternal life. If all one wants is a psychological crutch, then this body of doctrine is really unnecessary.
Sire then answers the second question, "What is a psychological crutch?" A crutch is a device that helps a person who has a handicap and needs help. The term seems most often to be used in a demeaning way. Only the weak-minded need this sort of crutch is the underlying assumption. And so a psychological crutch is an emotional tool that helps weak people cope with life.
Next Sire gets to the nitty-gritty with the question, "When, if ever, is the Christian faith a psychological crutch?" The answer, of course, is tricky, because most believers agree that the Christian faith does bring unbelievable amounts of comfort and help and provides hope that overcomes even death. Plus we agree that we are weak and sinful and handicap and need help in ever way.
But here is what Sire adds, "Of course, Christian faith is much more than a psychological crutch--so much more that most of us find it odd to use the term. Christianity, we believe, is simply the truth about reality. It is the truth about God, about us and about the universe. It seems strange to use the word "crutch" about the truth. But the truth of the matter is that for us the truth is the crutch that holds us when otherwise we would sink even more deeply into the pit of error. Of course, we seldom refer to our faith as a crutch. We don't like the connotations of the term. Rather, we talk about growing in Christ, of deepening our relationship with God, even of occasionally being swept up in ecstatic worship of our Savior and Lord. We forget the crutches when we are walking and even running with Jesus--even when we are running with crutches."
Amen! Sire answers one more question, "Is Christian faith ever only a psychological cruth?" And the answer is yes - for some people. But note carefully that some people can make a psychological crutch out of anything. In fact, I believe this question can be turned on its head and used against atheists and agnostics. They feel the weight of their own sin and guilt and imperfection before a holy God, and as a way to cope with that guilt, without surrendering their own autonomy, they create a theology (or an atheology) that dismisses God altogether. This is more of a psychological crutch, in my opinion, than the Christian faith.
Sire begins by defining the question with more fundamental questions. What is the Christian faith? What is a psychological crutch? When, if ever is Christian faith a psychological cruth? Is Christian faith ever only a psychological cruth?
Sire answers the first question, "What is the Christian faith?" by showing that it is more than an emotional draw to a made-up God. Rather, it is a body of doctrine that is rooted in actual historical events. True Christianity involves an assent that God is triune, that Jesus was born of a virgin, that Jesus physically arose from the dead, and that faith in Christ can lead to the washing away of sins and eternal life. If all one wants is a psychological crutch, then this body of doctrine is really unnecessary.
Sire then answers the second question, "What is a psychological crutch?" A crutch is a device that helps a person who has a handicap and needs help. The term seems most often to be used in a demeaning way. Only the weak-minded need this sort of crutch is the underlying assumption. And so a psychological crutch is an emotional tool that helps weak people cope with life.
Next Sire gets to the nitty-gritty with the question, "When, if ever, is the Christian faith a psychological crutch?" The answer, of course, is tricky, because most believers agree that the Christian faith does bring unbelievable amounts of comfort and help and provides hope that overcomes even death. Plus we agree that we are weak and sinful and handicap and need help in ever way.
But here is what Sire adds, "Of course, Christian faith is much more than a psychological crutch--so much more that most of us find it odd to use the term. Christianity, we believe, is simply the truth about reality. It is the truth about God, about us and about the universe. It seems strange to use the word "crutch" about the truth. But the truth of the matter is that for us the truth is the crutch that holds us when otherwise we would sink even more deeply into the pit of error. Of course, we seldom refer to our faith as a crutch. We don't like the connotations of the term. Rather, we talk about growing in Christ, of deepening our relationship with God, even of occasionally being swept up in ecstatic worship of our Savior and Lord. We forget the crutches when we are walking and even running with Jesus--even when we are running with crutches."
Amen! Sire answers one more question, "Is Christian faith ever only a psychological cruth?" And the answer is yes - for some people. But note carefully that some people can make a psychological crutch out of anything. In fact, I believe this question can be turned on its head and used against atheists and agnostics. They feel the weight of their own sin and guilt and imperfection before a holy God, and as a way to cope with that guilt, without surrendering their own autonomy, they create a theology (or an atheology) that dismisses God altogether. This is more of a psychological crutch, in my opinion, than the Christian faith.
1 Comments:
Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason analyzed the "is Christianity a crutch?" argument and came up with substantially the same argument. If we understand Christianity correctly, the answer has to be "yes" because without Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, we are dead. At the same time, the question is used to suggest that it is only a crutch, meaning that it is devoid of any real truth. Such is the argumentative style of many skeptics -- they argue to confuse and not to enlighten.
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