Welcome to the Ordained Chaplains podcast. My name is Daniel Whyte III. I am the president of Gospel Light Society University. We are going through the book “Out of the Depths: An Autobiographical Study Of Mental Disorder And Religious Experience” by one of the pioneers of chaplaincy, Dr. Anton T. Boisen. This is episode #67.
Our Scripture Verse for today is Psalm 34:17 which reads, “The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”
Our Ordained Chaplains quote for today is from James H. Aughey. He said, “God brings men into deep waters not to drown them, but to cleanse them.”
In this podcast, we will continue discussing the book “Out of the Depths” by Anton T. Boisen. We continue today with “Chapter 4: A Little-Known Country” (Part 16):
Sunday
I have just been talking with Dr. D., a charming young doctor whom I like very much. He tells me that I can go home Christmas, if my family will invite me, and he encourages me to believe that by New Year’s, or shortly thereafter, I can be released entirely. I was, however, disappointed to have him leave me with the suggestion that my great mistake has been in not giving freer rein to the sex impulse.
In reading over this document, one or two things make me pause. Have I, perhaps, failed to recognize sufficiently the need of force in such cases as mine? That need I take for granted. I do not suppose that I would ever have gone to the hospital willingly. My grievance is rather the lack of any attempt to use persuasion or to explain what is being done and why. The other point is my apparent failure to recognize the seriousness of this disturbance. My answer is that there is hardly any need of stressing the gravity of my situation. The hopeful factors are less apparent, and it is upon these that any constructive future must be built. I do feel that I have made a long journey through some difficult and little-known country and that I have come through intact.
The following letter was written shortly after receiving a copy of Freud’s Introductory Lectures from Fred. This was my first introduction to Freud, and I became very excited over finding in this book much that supported my independently-arrived-at ideas.
December 11, 1920
Dear Fred:
Let me thank you heartily for your fine letter and for the book on psychoanalysis. I have been reading it with intense interest and, in fact, excitement. Freud’s conclusions are so strikingly in line with those which I had already formed that it makes me believe in myself a little bit once more. I refer in particular to two propositions:
He asserts in the first place that neuroses–i.e., abnormal, or insane conditions,–have a purpose. They are due to deep-seated conflict between great subconscious forces and the cure is to be found not in the suppression of the symptoms but in the solution of the conflict. That is just what I tried to say in my last letter.
In our next podcast, we will continue with Part 17 of Chapter 4, “A Little Known Country”.
—PRAYER—
Now, if you have come across this podcast, and do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, allow me to show you how.
First, accept the fact that you are a sinner, and that you have broken God’s law. The Bible says in Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Second, accept the fact that there is a penalty for sin. The Bible states in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death…”
Third, accept the fact that you are on the road to hell. Jesus Christ said in Matthew 10:28: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Also, the Bible states in Revelation 21:8: “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”
Now this is bad news, but here’s the good news. Jesus Christ said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Just believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and rose from the dead by the power of God for you so that you can live eternally with Him. Pray and ask Him to come into your heart today, and He will.
Romans 10:9-13 says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Until next time, my friend, God bless!
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