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With great interest I read Christianity Today's March 2009 cover package, "The Depression Epidemic." As a therapist who has worked for years with Christians struggling with depression, I find that this experience drives them to question the relevancy of their faith and, indeed, the mercy of their God. Well-meaning fellow believers often respond that the problem is insufficient faith, unacknowledged sin, or even that depression is itself a sin. As a result, many Christians only get worse by becoming depressed about being depressed.

The Bible puts the lie to these notions. God did not respond to his servants in Scripture as failures or embarrassments to his plan of redemption. Instead, he responded by tenderly confronting their mistaken beliefs, redirecting their strategies for dealing with difficulties, and revealing more of himself and the majesty of his grace.

By God's mercy, our struggles can become the occasion for growth rather than self-condemnation. It's proof that God never wastes an experience, even one arising from the travails of a fallen world.

Gary H. Lovejoy, Ph.D.
Happy Valley, Oregon

CT's cover story on depression gave short shrift to the spiritual warfare aspect of depression. Scripture clearly shows that demonic spirits can do their work via mental illness, including depression, thus rendering us ineffective for Christ. Certainly God works through health-care professionals and drugs, but we are seeing an overreliance on these instead of a faithful reliance on God and his power.

That being said, the therapeutic advice in these articles should be recommending only Christian counselors for those who need it. We should not acquiesce to placing our wounded souls in the hands of someone with a humanist worldview, which most mental health professionals subscribe to (author Dan Blazer, et al. excepted).

Nicholas Korns, M.D., M.P.H.
Glastonbury, Connecticut

To what extent does the church actually contribute to the depression epidemic? Many churches present Christianity as a neat solution to the practical problems of life. Short sermons feature upbeat stories of how people turned their lives around through the application of Christian principles. Often what's implied is that being a Christian means reaching continuous heights of success in all areas of life—vocation, relationships, finances, and so on. As people in the pews begin to compare the fragmentation, incompleteness, and even failure of their own lives with this presentation, they may leave the church more depressed than when they arrived. 

It's good for pastors to highlight answered prayers in their congregants' lives. It's also important to note that continuous success is not the best indicator of spiritual vitality, and it is not the norm for most Christians this side of heaven.

William Jones
Pasadena, California

Regardless of one's views on medication or psychotherapy, community is an essential part of the answer. Painful as it may be for the depressed, there is no alternative to participating in the body of Christ. Relationships grounded in shared faith in Jesus Christ are God's chosen methods of mediating his grace. While this is absolutely vital for all of us, the effects of withdrawing from community are more immediate for the depressed person. In humility and service, the local church needs to put their arms around the depressed and hold them up in their weakness and brokenness.

David Arndt
Wyoming, Michigan

Thanks much for "Long Live the Law" [March]—I appreciated being able to show colleagues an article from an evangelical magazine that advocates substantive due process. The common belief here is that Christians will trample civil rights in their effort to conform society to their vision of righteousness. You show that Christian voices have actually contributed to the legal system we cherish in the United States.

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May 2009, Vol. 53, No. 5