Healing minds, saving souls : evangelicals and mental health in the age of the therapeutic.

This dissertation examines the evangelical relationship to modern psychology and its therapeutic function in treating issues of mental health from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first. For centuries before the advent of modern psychology, many Christians considered care for the soul—long thought to encompass the mind and emotions—to be among the most vital responsibilities of the church. As the psychologist replaced the pastor as the authority on the mind and emotions in American society, conservative white Protestants in the twentieth century grappled with the epistemological, ontological, and pastoral challenges that this new science and its practitioners posed to the older tradition of “soul care.” While some evangelicals proved successful in reconciling modern psychology and American evangelicalism, their efforts also prompted backlash among other evangelicals who claimed that the Bible alone was sufficient to guide Christians through even the most serious of mental maladies. While evangelical relationships with modern psychology differed, all reflected the interplay of scriptural and cultural authority, pastoral care, and beliefs about the relationship between the mind, body, and spirit.