1:20:29

Van Til’s Influence on Biblical Counseling

Oct 9 · 1 hr 20 min

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Van Til’s Influence on Biblical Counseling

October 9, 2026 · 1 hr 20 min

Jared Poulton joins Camden Bucey to discuss Van Til’s Counseling Movement: A Critical Analysis of Jay Adams and Biblical Counseling. They trace how Cornelius Van Til’s presuppositional apologetics supplied key theological instincts for Jay Adams and the modern biblical counseling movement, including the God-relatedness of every human problem, dependence upon divine revelation, and confidence in Scripture’s sufficiency for pastoral ministry.The conversation also examines tensions within contemporary biblical counseling. Camden and Jared consider the antithesis, common grace, the relation of the book of nature to the book of Scripture, and the danger of either rejecting all extra-biblical knowledge or baptizing secular methods without sufficient theological scrutiny. Throughout, they argue that faithful counseling should serve the church’s disciple-making mission and bring every claim about human life under the authoritative framework of God’s Word.ResourcesVan Til’s Counseling MovementInstitute for Reformed Biblical CounselingChapters00:00 Introduction03:12 Jared Poulton’s path into biblical counseling09:12 What is biblical counseling?17:44 The sufficiency of Scripture and pastoral counsel23:09 CCEF, David Powlison, and Van Til27:29 A Van Tilian foundation and an identity crisis32:48 Competing trajectories in biblical counseling41:02 Robert K. Rudolph and Jay Adams44:02 Three streams that shaped Adams50:57 God is man’s environment55:58 Presuppositions and borrowed terminology61:37 The antithesis and secular psychology67:06 Scripture’s framework for counseling72:59 Common grace and the two-book approach75:56 Counseling in service of the church’s mission77:42 ConclusionMentioned in this episode:Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TXChrist the Center 1000 SummitChrist the Center 1000Christ the Center 1000 Summit

SeriesReformed Forum

Reformed Forum supports the church in presenting every person mature in Christ (Colossians 1:28) by providing Reformed theological resources.

October 9, 2026 · 1 hr 20 min · Reformed Forum

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Jared Poulton joins Camden Bucey to discuss Van Til’s Counseling Movement: A Critical Analysis of Jay Adams and Biblical Counseling. They trace how Cornelius Van Til’s presuppositional apologetics supplied key theological instincts for Jay Adams and the modern biblical counseling movement, including the God-relatedness of every human problem, dependence upon divine revelation, and confidence in Scripture’s sufficiency for pastoral ministry.The conversation also examines tensions within contemporary biblical counseling. Camden and Jared consider the antithesis, common grace, the relation of the book of nature to the book of Scripture, and the danger of either rejecting all extra-biblical knowledge or baptizing secular methods without sufficient theological scrutiny. Throughout, they argue that faithful counseling should serve the church’s disciple-making mission and bring every claim about human life under the authoritative framework of God’s Word.ResourcesVan Til’s Counseling MovementInstitute for Reformed Biblical CounselingChapters00:00 Introduction03:12 Jared Poulton’s path into biblical counseling09:12 What is biblical counseling?17:44 The sufficiency of Scripture and pastoral counsel23:09 CCEF, David Powlison, and Van Til27:29 A Van Tilian foundation and an identity crisis32:48 Competing trajectories in biblical counseling41:02 Robert K. Rudolph and Jay Adams44:02 Three streams that shaped Adams50:57 God is man’s environment55:58 Presuppositions and borrowed terminology61:37 The antithesis and secular psychology67:06 Scripture’s framework for counseling72:59 Common grace and the two-book approach75:56 Counseling in service of the church’s mission77:42 ConclusionMentioned in this episode:Christ the Center 1000 Live in Austin, TXChrist the Center 1000 SummitChrist the Center 1000Christ the Center 1000 Summit

SeriesReformed Forum