The following report is from O Timothy magazine, Volume 8, Issue 8, 1991. O 
Timothy is a monthly magazine. Annual subscription is US$20 FOR THE UNITED 
STATES. Send to Way of Life Literature, Bible Baptist Church, 1219 N. Harns 
Road, Oak Harbor, Washington 98277. FOR CANADA the subscription is $20 
Canadian. Send to Bethel Baptist Church, P.O. Box 9075, London, Ontario N6E 
1V0.

PSYCHOLOGICAL SAVIOR
AN EXAMINATION OF THE TEACHING OF DR. JAMES DOBSON
By Martin & Deidre Bobgan

[The following consists of extracts from the book by Martin and Deidre 
Bobgan--Prophets of Psychoheresy II, available from Eastgate 
Publishers, 4137 Primavera Road, Santa Barbara, Calif. 93110. This 310-page 
book critiques the teaching of James Dobson. All notes and references have 
been omitted from this article; for these we refer our readers to the book. 
We fear that New Evangelical ministries such as Dobson's are one of the 
greatest dangers to fundamental churches today. Through these psychology 
ministries New Evangelical thought and compromise is getting its head into 
the tent of fundamentalism. 

[We don't deny that Dobson has done much good. But that a ministry does 
good is no excuse for ignoring the error it promotes. We must remember that 
the great error with New Evangelicalism is not so much what it preaches, 
but what it DOES NOT preach. New Evangelical leaders will preach 
Christ crucified and will preach many sound Bible doctrines, but they 
WILL NOT preach against wickedness such as Romanism, and they 
WILL NOT separate from error. Brethren, if something is contrary to 
the Word of God, do not excuse it and apologize for it; reject it!]

Dr. James C. Dobson is one of the most influential spokespersons in the 
evangelical spectrum of Christianity. Millions of Christians have listened 
to his daily Focus on the Family broadcast, and over fifty million 
people have viewed his Focus on the Family film series. Dobson's 
books are not only best sellers, but remain on the best-seller lists for 
years.

His Focus on the Family magazine and church-bulletin-inserts supply 
weekly and monthly fare along with his books. His organization continues to 
expand its borders with over 700 employees. Dr. Dobson may indeed be the 
best-known and most respected man in twentieth-century American 
Christendom!

An astounding number of Christians look to Dr. Dobson as an authority. His 
opinions and advice about children, the family, marriage, and society are 
held in high esteem. In fact, they are hardly considered opinions. 
They are received as authoritative truth, because of the current faith in 
psychology, especially when it is psychology practised by a professing 
Christian.

While in past centuries such a revered position of authority among 
Christians would no doubt have been held by a theologian or pastor, Dobson 
came into this position through secular education. 

He holds the now-coveted title of "psychologist" rather than 
"theologian," although he was actually trained in education. He 
earned a Ph.D. in Education with a major in Child Development from the 
University of Southern California. According to the State of California 
Psychology Examining Committee, Dr. Dobson holds a general license. He 
chose "educational psychology" as his area of competency when he 
completed his oral examination in 1968. Under the license requirements he 
has the right to use the title "licensed psychologist" in 
California.

A REVERED TITLE

Countless Christians look to Dobson as an authority on all matters of life 
and conduct because he carries both titles: "psychologist" and 
"Christian."

Dr. Dobson uses the story-telling mode, which not only keeps his readers 
interested but gives a seeming reality to everything he says. Rather than 
relying on research, which may actually prove just the opposite of some of 
his conclusions, he uses case histories which emphasize and especially 
dramatize the points he wants to make. By avoiding certain theological 
doctrines and questions, he has made himself welcome in a great variety of 
religious settings. [Editor--An example of this is his popularity among 
Roman Catholics. See the frame on page five about Dobson's article in the 
Catholic New Covenant magazine.]

Dobson's first book, Dare to Discipline, was a breath of fresh air 
to Christian parents who were lost in the fog of permissiveness as promoted 
by secular psychologists and educators. He rightly criticized the 
proponents of permissiveness and their humanistic philosophy which allowed 
a child to do almost whatever it wanted with the idea that eventually it 
would respond positively to the parents' tolerance, patience, and 
permissiveness.

Christians who were familiar with child-rearing admonitions in Scripture 
were uncomfortable with the teachings of permissiveness. They were relieved 
to find a readable book by a Christian educator and psychologist who seemed 
to teach biblical methods of child-rearing. Here was a licensed 
psychologist confirming what conservative Christian parents believed to be 
right.

Dobson was not just some "lowly" pastor teaching about raising 
children from a biblical perspective. He was a "psychologist" who 
could give authoritative, pragmatic, psychological reasons and methods for 
disciplining children. He was a psychologist who could stand up to those 
other psychologists who had been preaching the permissive way.

Dobson quickly endeared himself to mothers and fathers all over the nation. 
Dare to Discipline gave Christian parents the courage to discipline 
with spanking. It gave them a psychological rationale for a biblical method 
of child training. 
 
Dr. Dobson's teaching also presents a strong emotional appeal to women. He 
encourages mothers who elect to stay at home with their young children 
instead of being pressured to have another career. He takes a strong stand 
on the importance of the parent-child relationship.

In a superbly-folksy, down-home manner he gives assurance and counsel to 
wives and mothers, endearing himself to them with remarks such as these: 
"To the exhausted and harassed new mother, let me say, `Hang tough! You 
are doing the most important job in the universe!' ... I am 
especially sympathetic with the mother who is raising a toddler or two and 
an infant at the same time. There is no more difficult assignment on the 
face of the earth."

HORROR STORIES

Here is a man who appears to understand the trials and tribulations of 
womanhood. And, here is a man who attempted to assist women by writing the 
book, What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew about Women.

Dr. Dobson also engenders just enough fear to make women insecure about 
rearing children without his psychological understanding and teaching. One 
of his methods is through telling horror stories. He dramatizes the story 
of Lee Harvey Oswald's life to illustrate his point that inferiority and 
low self-esteem lead to disaster.

Such stories of extreme situations of parental failure and childhood 
disaster capture attention. They also create fear that if parents don't do 
everything right [according to Christian psychology's methodology], their 
children may have similar catastrophes. 

After listing ways by which a child's self-esteem can be damaged, Dobson 
says: "...whereas a child can lose self-esteem in a thousand ways, the 
careful reconstruction of his personal worth is usually a slow, difficult 
process."

Even his choice of words, such as "irreparable damage," "there is no 
escape," and the "damaged" child can engender fear in the heart of every 
caring parent.

Psychological counselors who are also professing Christians contend that 
the Bible does not speak to every situation and therefore needs certain 
supplementation or integration with so-called psychological truths. There 
is an assumption that psychological theories contain truths that the Bible 
somehow missed.

FAITH IN PSYCHOLOGY

Dr. Dobson's faith in psychology can be seen throughout his books. He 
quotes numerous psychologists as authorities and recommends their books. 
Among the psychologists he cites authoritatively are Sigmund Freud, B.F. 
Skinner, E.L. Thorndike, William Glasser, and Stanley Coopersmith. 

Throughout his books he recommends professional counseling. Moreover,  
Focus on the Family has become a vast referral system for Christians 
to be therapized by professional, psychologically-trained counselors. The 
staff at Focus on the Family refer those seeking a counselor to 
licensed therapists only. This excludes pastoral counselors who do 
not hold those degrees and licenses which require extensive course work in 
psychology.

Our culture has come to view problems of living psychologically. Rather 
than looking at problems from a biblical viewpoint, many Christians have 
also come to perceive problems from a psychological perspective.

A good example of this is the opening illustration of Dobson's book Hide or 
Seek: How to Build Self-Esteem in Your Child. In his graphic story-telling 
mode, Dobson says:

"He began his life with all the classic handicaps and disadvantages. His 
mother was a powerfully built, dominating woman who found it difficult to 
love anyone."

He then proceeds to tell about this mother's lack of affection, love, and 
discipline, and then of the rejection the young man experienced throughout 
his life. He tells about the boy's school failures, how he was laughed at 
and ridiculed in the Marines, how he therefore resisted authority, and how 
he was dishonorably discharged. Dobson continues the pathetic story of this 
supposed victim of circumstances with "no sense of worthiness."

Then, after describing the man's bad marriage, Dobson writes: "No one 
wanted him. No one had ever wanted him. He was perhaps the most rejected 
man of our time. His ego lay shattered in a fragmented dust!"

Near the end of the story, the man's identity is revealed. He was President 
Kennedy's assassin. Dobson concludes:

"Lee Harvey Oswald, the rejected, unlovable failure, killed the man who, 
more than any other man on earth, embodied all the success, beauty, wealth, 
and family affection which he lacked. In firing that rifle, he utilized the 
one skill he had learned in his entire, miserable lifetime."

Dobson wrote the story of Lee Harvey Oswald to make a strong point 
concerning feelings of inferiority and low self-esteem that Dobson believes 
are rampant among youth. He concludes the story with these words:

"Thus, much of the rebellion, discontent, and hostility of the teenage 
years emanates from overwhelming, uncontrollable feelings of inferiority 
and inadequacy which rarely find verbal expression."

Dobson's description of Oswald's life reveals a psychological viewpoint 
influenced by underlying ideologies of the Freudian unconscious Adlerian 
inferiority, and the humanistic belief in the intrinsic goodness of man and 
the universal victimization of the individual by parents and society.

The culprit is society (mainly parents) and the diagnosis is low self-
esteem with feelings of inferiority and inadequacy. In fact, those feelings  
are presented as overwhelming and uncontrollable and thus causing 
rebellion. Therefore the universal solution to personal problems, 
rebellion, unhappiness, and hostility presented throughout Dobson's books 
is raising self-esteem.

While Dobson is careful to say that Oswald must still be held responsible 
for his criminal behavior, the thrust of the story emphasizes a kind of 
psychic determinism which led to his horrendous crime. In other words, 
Oswald is seen as a victim of circumstances and society.

CAUSE OF MISERY

The primary point Dobson dramatizes is that if a person develops feelings 
of inferiority and low self-esteem he will have a miserable life which 
could lead in the same disastrous direction as Oswald's. He says:

"The greater tragedy is that Lee Harvey Oswald's plight is not unusual in 
America today. While others may respond less aggressively, this same 
consuming awareness of inadequacy can be seen in every avenue of life."

Therefore, the preventive medicine for society which Dobson presents 
throughout Hide or Seek is strategies for developing self-esteem and self-
worth.

A DIFFERENT VIEW

Psychological solutions often seem to make sense when the problem is 
presented from a psychological viewpoint. However, is there possibly 
another way for Christians to look at such a life of misery and violence? 
What if the story had been written from a biblical, Christian perspective?

One might say that the boy was born to a godless woman who neither cared 
for God nor for His gift of a child, a woman who exhibited the fruit of the 
flesh, who herself had either never heard of or else rebelled against the 
Gospel of Jesus Christ, Who was her only hope of salvation.

Thus she brought up her son in the same sinful manner in which she herself 
lived, rather than in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Rather than 
teaching him the love of God through words and actions, she taught him her 
own evil ways of rebellion, blame, frustration, despair, and hopelessness.

One might conclude that since she did not know the Savior, she was her own 
god, pursuing her own will and not caring a whit for others. Does not the 
Bible tell us about such a life lived according to the sin nature? (See, 
for example, Romans 1:21-32 and Ephesians 4:17-19.)

Then as Oswald continued his life in this world, he also depended upon his 
own flesh. Evidently at no time in his life did he believe the Gospel and 
receive new life, for true faith in Jesus does transform a person's life 
from darkness into light, from despair to hope, from alienation into a love 
relationship that surpasses even the best that parents can give.

If the story is told in the context of Scripture, both the analysis and the  
answers will come from an understanding of the law of God and the Gospel of 
Jesus Christ. In short, the sin nature and its results are seen as the 
problem.

If most Christians truly believed this, they would double their efforts 
toward evangelism and discipleship, of which biblical counseling is a small 
part. More would reach out to those who have been going the way of the 
world, the flesh and the devil with both the Truth of God and the mercy of 
God. More would be on fire for the Gospel. Instead, however, too many have 
been enticed by many other gospels offered by psychology and by those 
professing Christians who promote the psychological way.

Unfortunately, however, these essential truths have become relegated to the 
"of-course-we-all-know-that-but..." category. They are looked upon as old-
fashioned thinking and old-fashioned terminology. 

Dobson, however, views problems of living from a psychological perspective. 
In fact he contends that both Oswald and the other Kennedy assassin, Sirhan 
Sirhan, followed these steps to destruction:

"(1) they experienced deep-seated feelings of inferiority; (2) they sought 
to cope by withdrawal and surrender; (3) their vain attempts to achieve 
adequacy were miserable failures; and (4) they exploded in violence."

"HYDRAULIC MODEL"

Again, this is a combination of Alfred Adler's theories about inferiority, 
Sigmund Freud's unconscious defense mechanisms, and the defunct "hydraulic 
model of energy" theory. Dobson calls this last theory a "psychological 
law." He says,

"Remember this psychological law: any anxiety-producing thought or 
condition which cannot be expressed is almost certain to generate inner 
pressure and stress."

In his book Emotions: Can You Trust Them? Dobson dramatically asserts:

"When any powerful emotion is forced from conscious thought while it is 
raging full strength, it has the potential of ripping and tearing us from 
within. The process by which we cram a strong feeling into the unconscious 
mind is called `repression,' and it is psychologically hazardous. The 
pressure that it generates will usually appear elsewhere in the form of 
depression, anxiety, tension, or in an entire range of physical disorders."

Researchers refer to this particular notion as the hydraulic model of 
emotions. The model says simply that if emotional energy is blocked in one 
place it must be released elsewhere. However, this is only an opinion. It 
is not a "psychological law" or a psychological fact.

Dr. Carol Tavris says, "Today the hydraulic model of energy has been 
scientifically discredited." Nevertheless, many psychologists tend to 
expand the hydraulic idea to all emotions in spite of the opposing 
research. Therefore Dobson's "psychological law" is merely his Freudian  
opinion, which has anyway been scientifically discredited.

Will we analyze problems according to ideologies behind secular 
psychologies, or will we analyze the problem according to God's Word? Will 
our solutions and goals be based upon psychological theories and the so-
called hierarchy of needs (including the need for self-esteem), or will our 
solutions and goals be biblical?

Will we look to human strategies for overcoming the problems identified by 
Dobson as low self-esteem and inferiority? Or will we trust God's ways of 
transforming sinners into saints through His Word and His Spirit, thereby 
enabling Christians to walk according to the Spirit rather than the flesh?

Dr. Dobson's counsel is seldom based on the simple fact that God commands 
something. More usually, his counsel is pragmatic. It is based on the 
premise that something which works which is good for someone must be 
approved of.

Dobson's pragmatic appeal can be seen throughout his work. His apparent 
reason for teaching parents to discipline their children is that it works. 
He quotes Jack London's words: "The best measurement of anything should be: 
does it work?" The reason is pragmatism. And, although he brings God into 
the picture by saying that properly applied discipline will help teach out 
children about God, he does not give God's will as the primary reason for 
disciplining children.

Elsewhere he says: "The most magnificent theory ever devised for the 
control of behavior is called the `Law of Reinforcement,' formulated many 
years ago by the first educational psychologist, E.L. Thorndike. This is 
magnificent because it works!" (Emphasis added.) He says, "Good discipline 
is brought about by the intelligent application of this principle of 
reinforcement."

Dobson has great confidence in the Thorndike Law of Reinforcement, which he 
quotes: "Behavior which achieves desirable consequences will recur."

To illustrate the usefulness of reinforcement, Dobson tells how marvelously 
well this Law of Reinforcement worked on his dog, and that makes sense, 
because E.L. Thorndike was an animal psychologist, best known for his work 
in animal learning. He developed the "law of effect" and is in the same 
tradition as behaviorists Ivan Pavlov and John B. Watson. Such behaviorism 
views humans as highly evolved animals. (The book Theories of Personality 
refers to Thorndike's law of effect as a "hedonistic formulation.")

ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY

Dobson evidently believes that what works with dogs will work with human 
beings. In other words, he is recommending that, when it comes to training 
and discipline, parents should treat their children like animals. Dobson 
declares: "Rewards are not only useful in shaping animal behavior; they 
succeed even better with humans." He comes to his conclusions regarding 
rewards from animal psychology rather than from the Bible.
 
Dobson then presents this psychological theory as fact. He says, "It is an 
absolute fact that unreinforced behavior will eventually disappear. This 
process, called extinction by psychologists, can be very useful to parents 
and teachers who want to alter the characteristics of children."

While this may be true of animals it is not always true of people. Because 
of the complexity of sinful humanity, and because other factors enter in, 
one cannot say categorically, "It is an absolute fact that..." In reality, 
many people remain entrenched in unproductive activities that continue in 
spite of adverse results.

It is true that Dr. Dobson opposes the teachings of certain psychologists 
in his own field. Because every psychologist must choose from the various 
conflicting theories available to him, each one inevitably ends up, as 
Dobson does, disagreeing with other psychologists. Dobson rightly 
criticizes his colleagues who promote permissiveness. He declares that 
permissiveness is based upon the presuppositions (a) that people are born 
good, and (b) that if they are allowed to develop with as little 
interference as possible they will become wonderful people.

SECULAR WISDOM

But even though Dobson objects to these presuppositions of secular 
humanism, his own promotion of self-esteem comes from the same source--from 
humanistic psychologists who presuppose that people are born good, and that 
when their needs for self-worth, self-esteem, and self-actualization are 
met they will be good people. Dobson picks from the same tree as the 
promoters of permissiveness and offers the fruit to fellow Christians.

Dr. Dobson, however, claims a biblical source for his teaching. He says:

"How do my writings differ from the unsupported recommendations of those 
whom I have criticized? The distinction lies in the source of the views 
being presented. The underlying principles expressed herein are not my own 
innovative insights which would be forgotten in a brief season or two. 
Instead, they originated with the inspired biblical writers who gave us the 
foundation for all relationships in the home."

This is an extremely important point which requires examination. We know 
that Dobson thinks that his source is the Bible, and yet the Bible does not 
teach a number of the concepts that he teaches, including the so-called 
needs for self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence.

[O Timothy Editor: The Holy Scriptures are sufficient for faith and 
practice, able to "make the man of God perfect, throughly furnished until 
all good works" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Everything is to be brought to with the 
touchstone of the Word of God, and that which is contrary is to be 
rejected. This applies equally to false doctrine taught by a cults such as 
Mormonism or Romanism, or to New Evangelical ministries such as Focus on 
the Family. Beware of error which is clothed in the appearance of Bible-
believing piety and wholesomeness.]
