Personality Problems Threatening the Work

A part from the personality disorders dis­cussed in the foregoing issue of the Ministry; more complex and less clearly nuder­standable mental deviations exist, we know, which have at times evaded investigation until definite harm has come to the cause as well as to individual workers. Occasionally members become unfitted for the work through some of the delusive avenues open to the mind, because they were not aware of some of the fundamentals of psychological proc­esses.

Some knowledge of mental disease becomes very desirable in our day, for the church is exposed to the influence of many teachers some of whom may be misguided by disturbed or deluded minds. Our denomination claims no creed, nor do our ministers rule the minds of their flock with an iron rod of finality in every expression of opinion. Therefore, in our democratic way of following Paul's injunc­tions, "Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things ; hold fast that which is good," we may be exposed to possibilities of deception which those who deny such gifts rarely encounter. Mindful of the lead­ings of the early days of denominational history, as well as of the innumerable evidences of provi­dential guidance along the entire way, we need not stand in a position of the slightest doubt in these matters. Experience warns us, however, that these propensities for good or evil are not to be trifled with by the inexperienced.

Abnormal mental processes, though often bi­zarre, may be as variable in scope as are normal ones. Unbelieving students may scoff at the idea that there is reality to the true gift of prophecy, simply because delusions of having that gift and of hearing God speak are relatively common. Carl Jungl sounds a note of caution as to drawing hasty conclusions in these matters:

"It is in applied psychology, if anywhere, that today we should be modest and grant validity to a number of apparently contradictory opinions; for we are still far from having anything like a thorough knowledge of the human psyche, that most challenging field of scientific inquiry. . . . The psyche is still a foreign, almost unex­plored country of which we have only indirect knowl­edge; it is mediated by conscious functions that are sub­ject to almost endless possibilities of deception."

A case report which serves to illustrate some of the lessons we may learn from confirmed mental patients furnishes us considerable insight into what possible dangers could confront an inexperienced, enthusiastic gospel worker. This interesting, somewhat unusual report is provided by a psychiatrist of the Brooklyn State Hospital. ² Three colored people—a mother, daughter, and son-in-law—all developed a mental disorder simul­taneously, folie a trois. The active, aggressive member was the daughter, who told the other two that she had heard God's voice telling her she was to be His "messenger," and that she should with­draw and live in secret with her husband. The latter was to be "the power and strength," and her mother was to be "the keeper."

Many bizarre psychotic behavior patterns, with strange religious aspects, developed. All worldly possessions were disposed of by the young couple, who lived for a long period seminude on the floor under the bed, in the single room belonging to the mother. It was approximately three years before this strange situation was discovered, when the landlord came along to ask the mother to move, not knowing of the existence of the other two. It was found that the family had in earlier times at­tended churches but had shown no fervent attitude toward any particular religious cult, and, as speci­fied in the report, had never heard of "Father Di­vine."

conscious thoughts of a distorted mind, therefore, may have as much of a basis in reality as those unconscious drives which exist in every normal human being, and while they prove nothing in themselves, they surely do not disprove anything.

Now, another lesson presents itself. Should the mother-patient referred to have pressed the issue of the Sabbath among her neighbors, and identified herself with a church such as ours, imagine the essential discomfiture on the part of any sincere member, who, not knowing the rest of her family picture, might have credulously declared the daugh­ter to have received the message from God. No such thing did occur in this instance, but similar situations are not unknown to our people. Timely counsel, especially when young members are in­volved, would spare much confusion and grief. Identifying certain unusual powers, unless long time-tested and well proved, with the truths of the third angel's message, can be sorry business in­deed.

The message of Nahum to the church of our day, so clearly depicted in Nahum 2, even to the striking description of modern travel and warfare, could never receive more timely study, along with the other prophecies pointing to our day. "Keep the munition, watch the way." Verse 1. These fortifications, to us embodying perhaps in a special way the law of God, become the defenses of char­acter, both individually and collectively, and must not be broken down. True, "they shall stumble" (verse 5), but "the defense shall be prepared." God's people in their zeal may make embarrassing mistakes from time to time, but if they will "watch the way" they have the assurance of ultimate vic­tory when the "day of His preparation" ends. How frequently are the "watchers on the walls of Zion" admonished to be alert, ready ! And who are the watchers, if not you and ./P

Have Seventh-day Adventists anything of which to be ashamed when it comes to a question of faith in the power of prophecy? Dr. Krause once declared to the graduates of the School of Medicine, University of Maryland:

"I wish I could get all of you to know the prophets, from Samuel to Paul, and particularly such men as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, Amos, and Christ, whom I vis­ualize as living, practical men, the forward lookers of their times, whose formula daily applied would solve all our problems. 'And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.' This formula is the essence of our conception of God. Would that we had such articulate giants to influence our postwar world and to help us win and keep the peace! . . Would that the nations would follow the lofty precepts of the Old Testament and the New Testament, teaching release and help for the many in colonial bondage. How much does the modern world need prophets with courage and right­eous candor!"

Of what are we reminded in these words, unless it be the voice and pen of one whose life and work alike witnessed to the rare gift of the Spirit of prophecy? As the years have come and gone, those of us whose forebears bore testimony to the power of that gift realize what an influence it has wielded in our lives. In Mrs. E. G. White's own words we have the following:

"I have a work of great responsibility to do,—to im­part by pen and voice the instruction given me, not alone to Seventh-day Adventists, but to the world. I have published many books, large and small, and some of these have been translated into several languages." ⁴

Those who have studied the life of this godly woman know in what humility she uttered these thoughts. Scores of literary-minded scholars of the world have expressed themselves similarly about her work. May God forgive if any of us have at any time lightly regarded these admoni­tions for our day.

As fundamentalists, our views along lines of mental hygiene must naturally differ from those of many modern schools of thought today. It is in­vigorating, however, to find many leading minds in psychological thinking which bear out almost to the letter the precepts and ideals cherished by us throughout our existence. Jung and Adler alike contribute much to our aspects of mental hygiene, although they have divergent views on several things, and serve all the more to substantiate certain logical deductions and inferences. Speaking of the unnatural discharge of tensions with which the Freudian school seems so preoccupied, Carl Jung writes:

"This being so, what is the use of paddling about in this flooded country? Surely, straight thinking will grant that it is more important to open up drainage canals. We should try to find, in a change of attitude or in new ways of life, that difference of potential which the pent-up. energy requires. If this is not achieved, a vicious circle is set up, and this is in fact the menace which Freudian psychology appears to offer. It points no way that leads. beyond the inexorable cycle of biological events.

"This hopelessness would drive one to exclaim with Paul: 'Wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?' There is nothing that can free us from this bond except that opposite urge of life, the spirit. It is not the children of the flesh, but the 'children of God' who know freedom. . . . That is what Freud would never learn, and what all those who share his outlook forbid themselves to learn. At least they never find the key to this knowledge. . . . We moderns are faced with the necessity of rediscovering the life of the spirit ; we must experience it anew for ourselves."

"Everyday reasonableness, sound human judgment, and science as a compendium of common sense certainly help us over a good part of the road ; yet they do not go beyond that frontier of human life which surrounds the commonplace and matter-of-fact, the merely average and normal. They afford, after all, no answer to the question of spiritual suffering and its innermost mean­ing. . . We are living undeniably in a period of the greatest restlessness, nervous tension, confusion, and dis­orientation of outlook. . . . When conscious life has lost its meaning and promise, it is as though a panic had broken loose and we heard the exclamation: 'Let ug eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!' It is this mood, born of the meaninglessness of life, that causes the disturb­ance in the unconscious and provokes the painfully curbed impulses to break out anew. . . .

"Among all ray patients in the second half of life—that is to say, over thirty-five,—there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. . . Here, then, the clergy­man stands before a vast horizon. But it would seem as if no one had noticed it. It also looks as though the Protestant clergyman of today was insufficiently equipped to cope with the urgent psychic needs of our age. It is indeed high time for the clergyman and the psychothera­pist to join forces to meet this great spiritual task. . . . Where are the great and wise men who do not merely talk about the meaning of life and the world, but really possess it ? Human thought cannot conceive any system or final truth that could give the patient what he needs in order to live: that is, faith, hope, love, and insight."⁵

Undoubtedly the most frequent dread facing an individual is the thought of dying. This seems to be almost equally true of infidels as of believers, de­pending on their conception of the state of the dead. Perhaps the unbeliever is more apt to be driven by a feeling of futility than fear, however, as he grows old. What a serene, healthy prospect, then, may the believer who has a grasp on the eternal verities enjoy as he dwells on the realization that this life is merely a preparatory school for the greater life above. What wealth of purpose it brings to both young and old, especially the older, although we realize that in our day death comes with equal fre­quency to both groups. Jung refers to this hope in a striking way:

"As a physician I am convinced that it is hygienic—if I may use the word—to discover in death a goal to­wards which one can strive; and that shrinking away from it is something unhealthy and abnormal, which robs the second half of life of its purpose. I therefore con­sider the religious teaching of a life hereafter consonant with the standpoint of psychic hygiene."

This confirmation of the fundamentals by a man perhaps more experienced in dealing with human minds than any other man living, brings into view a remarkable program for God's people today. Who are better equipped than we to bring peace and purposefulness into the minds of thousands of yearning souls who are living in the fog of spirit­ual confusion and despair ? To whom have loftier truths ever been entrusted other than the remnant church, whose every doctrine—from "the state of the dead" to "the home of the saved"—and whose every precept breathes hope and faith? Our med­ical ministry, provided for the benefit of a dying world, has its own significant place. Again I quote Major Krause, addressing medical gradu­ates, and speaking as if to our own College of Medical Evangelists graduates:

"True spiritual progress can only be achieved through pain and suffering. God manifests Himself less through improvements in standards of living, social and labor reform. We need a rebirth of the faith in the God of the Jews of the Babylonian captivity and in the God of the Garden of Gethsemane."

Our responsibilities thus become opportunities for a work which will ever widen and deepen until the task of soulsaving shall have been completed. To be practical, sensible Christians, waiting for the coming of the Lord, calls for patience, toler­ance, forbearance. Rebellious elements, the "chaff" growing with the "wheat," will remain with us till the harvest, but God's true people will stand vindi­cated as they complete the work. Their labor of love will not have been in vain. They will be wit­nesses of the power in the life that finds its source in the surrender of the will, the impulse, and the temperament to One who has declared, "My strength is made perfect in weakness."

As we realize our dependence on Him, to dis­cern between the true and the false, we shall neither grow proud nor be abased, but maintain a diligent, watchful, hopeful outlook, being discerning instruments to be used according to His pur­pose. No personal, selfish interests will then enter in to blind the worker against delusions and snares, whether the product of human devisings, subtle deviations in a warped mind, or deceptions engendered by the great deceiver himself.

¹ Carl G. Jung, Modern Man in Search of a Soul (Lon­don: Kegan, Paul, Trench & Trubner Co., Ltd., 1941), PP. 65, 86.

2 Folic^. a Trois—Psychosis of Association," The Psy­chiatric Quarterly (New York State Dept. of Mental Hygiene), January, 1944, PP. 138-152.

³ Bulletin, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, April, 1943, pp. 217, 220.

4 Testimonies, Vol. VIII, p. 236.

⁵ Modern Man in Search of a Soul, pp. ¹39^-142; ²59^- 269 ; 129.