Emotions -- friend or foe? You may be surprised.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009 at 1:08PM Emotions can't be trusted.
Strong emotions will lead you into sin.
Believing the right things is more important than feelings.
Just do your duty, whether you feel something or not.
Love is a 'verb.'
Reason and the intellect are more trustworthy than the heart.
What do you think of these typical typical responses to emotions and their place in the Christian life? Are these statements true?
I've discovered a book called, Feel -- the power of listening to your heart, by Matthew Elliott. His claim is that much of what the Christian community has taught about emotions, is in fact, not biblical. The Church has bought into secular psychology and philosophy rather than a biblical position on the place of emotion in our lives. It's actually a bit surprising.
The author claims,
I realized this idea [the suspicion and villification of emotion] was the prevailing Christian view of emotions - and this "Christian" view was essentially platonic [from Plato], a secular perspective in line with the view of Descartes, [William ]James, and - if you can believe it - none other than Charles Darwin." p.20
What have you been told about emotions and their place in the Christian life?
I'll be following up this conversation on emotions in upcoming posts.
Reader Comments (2)
That's a great post! I can't tell you how many times growing up in church I was told to beware of my feelings. Yet, the strange thing is, every major shift in my walk with Christ and every move away from things that were unhealthy began WITH A FEELING! Whether it was a feeling of discontent, of yearning, or that something wasn't quite right, my feelings were actaully the very cue from God that moved me deeper with Him. As I've grown in Christ I've come to see that my emotions are often sign posts that read, "This requires further research!" My emotions cause me to ask Father, "Why am I feeling this way?" And often he answers by taking me on a journey that uncovers some truth I needed to know. Feelings often act as a discernment meter in my life as well. An uneasy feeling toward another person is sometimes a big warning sign. Anger at times tells me I'm being taken advantage of or wronged in some way or Satan is running the show. Peace tells me "Go ahead!" When Christ is in us, He is in everypart of us, not just our logic. IN FACT, I have actually gotten into more trouble leaning entirely on logic and ignoring my feelings than I ever have by paying attention to my feelings. Stick that in your ear religion!!!! LOL!
Loren, you've reminded us of some great stuff here! --You really should be involved in podcasting and setting people free from religious assumptions :P
Love what you said here, "Yet, the strange thing is, every major shift in my walk with Christ and every move away from things that were unhealthy began WITH A FEELING! Whether it was a feeling of discontent, of yearning, or that something wasn't quite right, my feelings were actaully the very cue from God that moved me deeper with Him."