NANC no more? The Future of Nouthetic Counseling

In my earlier years (the cage stage, as one wise author puts it), I supported the NCN, which stands for No Counseling Necessary. Why don’t people just get their act together and get on with it? My senior year in high-school was filled with empty zeal. I was zealous about many things, but knew little of anything.

In college as I pursued my degree in Pastoral Studies I noticed a strange bunch of people pursuing a degree in counseling. They did not look particularly different from anyone else in the school, but their vocabulary was foreign to me. I would often hear of Rogerian and Jungian methods. These were considered distinct from the truly Christian view referred to as Nouthetic Counseling. NANC, as it is known, was founded by Dr. Jay Adams. My father was reading Jay Adams early on in his pastoral career. There were Portuguese copies of Adams’ books on my father’s shelf. When he came to the United States, the university he attended was fully engaged in the NANC world bringing Dr. Adams to speak numerous times.

I attended a small Christian college. The school was essentially a mini-version of Bob Jones University. The counseling professors, though committed to Baptist theology, were quite fond of Jay Adams, a Presbyterian. ^a I don’t know what attracted them to Adams, but I have my suspicions. Adams’ straightforward, no non-sense style was certainly an attractive picture.

I have the deepest respect for Jay Adams. I have called him on numerous occasions to help me with specific counseling issues. I remember his advice being very helpful. The caricature of Adams, however, is certainly not a pleasant one. As I have said many times, Adams can be extremely helpful, but put him in the hands of a theologically illiterate pastor or parishioner and he can be dangerous; almost abusive. This may be in itself a problem with the system, and I have argued to many that Nouthetic Counseling is not the end all of Christian counseling.

Adams’ labors continues on through the Institute of Nouthetic Studies. Donn Arms seems to have taken on the role of continuing to provide Jay Adams’ titanic labors (over 100 books and hundreds of lectures) to a new technological audience.

Recently, however, I discovered that there is turmoil in the camp. The debate centers around whether the word “nouthetic” should continue to be used. The NANC board had originally asserted that the change to the term “biblical” instead of “nouthetic” would be more reflective of the diversity within NANC. And they also affirmed that the change is not meant as a repudiation of Jay Adams’ teaching. At this stage, Donn Arms, noting that NANC is no longer what it once was when it started in 1975 said that he would favor the change. If NANC is headed where he sees it heading then the name change is necessary. He elaborated on how NANC has changed over the years:

The orthodox doctrine of progressive sanctification, a cornerstone of nouthetic counseling, is no longer essential. Many NANC members have replaced it with a doctrine commonly labeled as Gospel Sanctification which teaches that loving Christ and contemplating all that He has done for us on the cross is sufficient for our sanctification.

NANC membership now includes counselors who are members of churches in charismatic and liberal denominations.

NANC has held “On the Road” training conferences in charismatic churches.

The training requirement for NANC certification has become insignificant. Several years ago John Street, the NANC president speaking at a Shepherd’s Conference, taught that pastors should require a minimumof 115 hours of training before allowing people to counsel in their churches. Yet all NANC now requires is attendance at three weekends of classes or a one week conference.

The NANC board gave $30,000 to help establish a coalition of biblical counselors whose stated goal is to “foster collaborative relationships” among all who call themselves biblical counselors.

Donn Arms sees a wide split in the NANC movement. He is a purist when it comes to NANC’s original intent, and to see these “compromises” take place in the name of NANC seems disingenuous.

But to strengthen Arms’ resolve, the NANC board further explained why using “nouthetic” is not helpful:

First, the word nouthetic is a perfectly good Greek word, which most people simply do not understand.  Most of us in NANC spend more time explaining the meaning of a Greek word than we intend to when we mention the name of our organization. Once people understand the meaning of the term it does not help us that much.  The term means “to confront or admonish,” and this only describes a narrow slice of the kind of counseling endorsed by NANC.  Of course biblical counselors admonish people in their sin, but at NANC we also encourage our counselors to comfort the fainthearted, help the weak, pray, encourage, instruct, take care of their physical bodies, and 101 other things the Bible says to do.  In its precise meaning the word nouthetic is a truncated expression of the many and varied counseling styles that God communicates in Scripture.

Donn Arms responded to each line. ^b But the question of the future of NANC remains. Will NANC and its forefathers, Wayne Mack and Jay Adams, lose their footing in the movement they started or will a new generation of counselors take that vision in a new direction?

1. I asked Adams this question when I interviewed him – download information forthcoming for the interview  (back)
2. You can read the response here: http://www.nouthetic.org/blog/?p=6220  (back)