Since the beginning of the biblical counseling movement in 1970, biblical counselors have argued that counseling is a ministry of the Word, just like preaching or missions. As a ministry, counseling must be defined according to sound biblical theology rather than secular principles of psychology.
For over four decades, biblical theology has been at the core of the biblical counseling movement. Leaders in biblical counseling have emphasized a commitment to teaching doctrine in their counseling courses out of the conviction that good theology leads to good counseling…and bad theology leads to bad counseling.
A Theology of Biblical Counseling is a landmark new book that unpacks the core theological convictions that underlie sound counseling, and practical wisdom for counseling today. Dr. Heath Lambert shows how biblical counseling is rooted in the Scriptures while illustrating the real challenges counselors face today through true stories from the counseling room. A substantive textbook written in accessible language, it is an ideal resource for use in training biblical counselors at colleges, seminaries, and training institutes. In each chapter, doctrine comes to life in real ministry to real people, dramatically demonstrating how theology intersects with the lives of actual counselees.
Heath Lambert is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fl. He also serves as Associate Professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Formerly, he served as Executive Director of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. He is the author of several books including Transforming Homosexuality; The Biblical Counseling Movement After Adams; Finally Free; and A Theology of Biblical Counseling. He is also the co-editor of Counseling the Hard Cases: True Stories Illustrating the Sufficiency of God’s Resources in Scripture and has contributed many other chapters and essays to various publications. From Gordon College he earned the Bachelor of Arts (2002). From The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, he earned the Master of Divinity (2005) and the Doctor of Philosophy (2009).