- In this 1988 book published by Harvest House, Arthur spends considerable time encouraging readers to dredge-up "feelings of hurts," "unmet needs," "rejection," "wounds,"
"horrors," "emotional scars," "destructive traumas," "emotional abuse," "disappointments," "depression," etc. from the "unseen"
past, in order to lay a foundation for the healing process. According to Arthur, this is best done by the victim writing-out or
charting her thoughts and feelings of past hurts and of those who hurt her, and then meditating on them before taking them to
God. She even encourages the reader to write-out her mate's or friend's past hurts if she can't think of any of her own! In
Arthur's words, "... whatever has been buried, stuffed down, or denied, needs to be exposed so that the healing balm of
Gilead can be applied and bring healing ... it must be lanced, opened, cleaned out ..." (One wonders why it is necessary to
"lance, open, and clean-out" past wounds. Does not Arthur believe that the old man, i.e., the old Adam, is to be reckoned
dead [i.e., powerless -- Rom. 6]? The efficacy of the cross and the truth of the Word are both put in question by her insistence
upon healing the wounds of the old self.) All of this so-called "past-mapping" is clearly more
Freudian than it is
Biblical. (See
pp. 9, 15-16, 24, 27, 34, 42, 64, 68, 93, 112, 121, 128, 138, 141, 182-184, 200, 213, 253, 257, 268-269.)
- Even though Arthur does present some good material concerning one's need to put self to death and others first (particularly
a section putting-down today's psychological thinking on
self-love and
self-esteem), she, nevertheless, still uses some of the
same humanistic terminology when identifying potential past hurts in one's life (e.g., "thoughts of worthlessness"; "feelings of
never being good enough"; "emotionally sick"; "hurting because they don't like who they are"; "you may not like the way you
look; you may despise yourself"; "one of Satan's tactics is to make you feel rejected"; "painful feelings of self-hatred and
worthlessness"; etc.). (See pp. 17, 23, 89, 114, 123, 149, 168-169.)
- Arthur also teaches the humanistic concepts of unconditional love/unconditional acceptance. According to Arthur,
unconditional love and acceptance, by others and of others, is absolutely essential to the "healing" process. Arthur states that
"God loves you, my friend, no matter what you are like, no matter what you do." She even encourages the believer-reader to
unconditionally accept the unbeliever "just the way he is" or healing will
not be possible. Arthur evidently confuses the unconditional/non-performance nature of
our election and subsequent positional justification by God with these humanistic
psychological ideas of unconditional love and
acceptance. (See pp. 55, 80, 149, 171, 181, 194-199, 240, 243, 245, 248-249, 251-253, 255.)
[Though a believer's salvation is eternally secure, the Bible also teaches that the richness of our on-going relationship with God
and His Son is most certainly dependent upon a conditional element, that condition being our obedience. Unhindered
fellowship with God through prayer, experiencing God's blessing in our lives, God's use of us in ministry, and eternal rewards,
are all conditioned upon a believer's humble submission to the Spirit through the Word. (See
Brownback, The Danger of
Self-Love, pp. 109-116, and Bobgan, Prophets of PsychoHeresy II, pp.
91-96 (reissued as James
Dobson's Gospel of Self-Esteem & Psychology, pp. 65-71), for a proper,
Biblical analyses of so-called
unconditional love and acceptance.)]
- Arthur has apparently accepted some the heretical teachings of the "demon deliverance"
ministries. Arthur teaches that
since we have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16), any evil thoughts must be from the devil. She says, "Satan
made me think
those thoughts were my thoughts." (Does this not imply then that there is no need for the Christian to accept responsibility for
his own evil thought life?) And when she finds herself having thoughts contrary to Phil. 4:8, she commands the devil to depart
in the name of Jesus: "'Satan, those thoughts are not from God. You have no place in me; therefore, in the name of Jesus
Christ and by the blood of Jesus Christ, I command you to leave me alone.' Why address Satan? Jesus did. He rebuked him
[Satan] and told him to leave." Arthur ignores the fact that there is no instruction in the New Testament for believers to even
rebuke Satan, let alone command him in the name of Jesus. (See pp. 147-149, 164.)
[In a 1991 book by Arthur, Lord, Is It
Warfare?: Teach Me To Stand (see specifically ppgs. 280-323), she leaves little doubt as to the extremely unbiblical nature of her
teaching in this area.]
- Some of Arthur's teachings on "why people get angry" are also based on psychological concepts rather than
Biblical ones.
For example, Arthur teaches that some people get angry because they are unable to fill their loved one's expectations,
particularly a problem with those who are "effeminate, homosexual, and lesbians"
-- according to Arthur, they were unable to
be the man or woman their parent(s) wanted, and in anger, turned to the same sex for love and acceptance! Another one of
Arthur's reasons why people get angry is that others humiliate them or cause them embarrassment, usually resulting in the
explosion of pent-up anger manifested in physical abuse. Again, this teaching is not from the Bible, but is Freudian (psychic
determinism and ventilation). (See pp. 216-217, 223.)
