Description
505: Spiritual Doubt and Screwtape: What C.S. Lewis Can Teach Us about a Stronger Faith
Mercy Connors, Ph.D.
AACC
P.O. Box 739
Forest, VA 24551
Michael Perron
Prestonwood Baptist Church
6801 W. Park Blvd.
Plano, TX 75093
Summary
The pandemic has brought many spiritual doubts due to fear, pride, jealousy, heaviness, lying, and error to the surface in the life of a Christian, and we know that we are in a spiritual war for the minds of Christians. This is not a new topic as it has been seen throughout the Bible in the lives of Job, Gideon, Abraham, Moses, Thomas, Peter, John the Baptist, and so many more. Many times, our clients come into our sessions and have outstanding questions about their faith, but we often do not engage in those questions because it is not seen as our “job.” We need to have good spiritual and practical answers for our clients when they have questions and help them work through spiritual doubt, often brought on by spiritual warfare, to strengthen their faith. We will explore the different types of spirits, using the Bible and Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, that can affect a person’s thought process, such as fear, pride, jealousy, heaviness, lying, and error, as well as the different types of doubt—factual doubt, emotional doubt, and volitional doubt. The answer to each type of doubt is rooted in Scripture and has practical application for licensed mental health professionals with their Christian clients. The most important part of this workshop is treatment plans for each type of doubt and then using a person’s journey to help strengthen his or her faith in years to come by setting up a memorial. First, the biblical implications of a memorial will be briefly explained, and then the action steps for creating a memorial will be discussed. Clients can then use this memorial in future times of doubt or difficulty.
Learning Objectives
Participants will:
• Identify symptoms of spiritual warfare, specifically fear, pride, jealousy, heaviness, lying, and error
• Identify how these spirits or thoughts are creating symptoms of factual, emotional, and volition doubt, which can affect the Christian’s life
• Create a treatment plan for licensed mental health professionals for each doubt type and aid the Christian in setting up memorials in his or her life as a preventative measure against spiritual warfare and doubt in the future
