Hughes’ and Crabb’s relationality: ‘spiritual area’ of functioning

Having argued for the validity of anthropomorphic categories within the Waverley Model, the five categories used will now be outlined: spiritual, rational, volitional, emotional and physical. Extensive discussion will be confined to the core spiritual area as this is the model’s most distinctive element. This rendering seeks firstly to address contemporary psychological questions regarding the impact of the Fall upon the subjective wellbeing of the first human pair. Additionally, it becomes the means of articulating human suffering in general, rooted in a biblical world-view.

Hughes’ specific approach extends a tri-partite model of personhood, and cites 1 Thessalonians 5:23, ‘May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’, as paradigmatic. Others would criticise this stance on methodological grounds. Hughes explains further that body, soul and spirit overlap and interrelate. More specifically, body is regarded as the means through which we inhabit the world; spirit as that part of us which relates to God; and soul as being comprised of thoughts, feelings and will, thus making five areas in all. For Hughes, relationships are central facets of our personhood, but of primary importance for personal functioning is our relationship with God which functions via our spiritual area. Hughes depicts the spiritual area in relational terms; derived from his own emphasis, regarding the God revealed in Scripture as a relational God. Crabb’s model uses the term ‘personal’ instead of spiritual (as in Hughes’). However, the meanings each ascribe to these different terms are synonymous. In Crabb’s chapter, ‘Dependent Beings: People are Personal’, he states: ‘As image-bearers we long for relationship. As fallen imagebearers we turn away from God to look for it. No wonder God calls us foolish!’73 So for both Crabb and Hughes, relationship with God is the key issue at the core of our humanity, and for them this mediates our general wellbeing. The Bobgans and Adams, whilst concurring with an emphasis on a God relationship, would be critical of a method which also includes an openness to insights from contemporary psychological theory and technique. Adams further critiques

Crabb’s anthropological model on methodological grounds, believing that his model owes more to the influence of contemporary psychologists such as Ellis, Adler and Rogers, than to biblical anthropology. It is evident that Hughes and Crabb are open to the possible benefits of insights from Ellis, Adler, Rogers and others (‘Spoiling the Egyptians’). However, Crabb and Hughes’ models are not founded upon the work of these psychologists, but are an attempt to make sense of the internal experiences of Adam and Eve pre- and post-Fall. This ‘fall’ includes awareness of nakedness (Gen. 3:7) and fear (Gen. 3:8): ‘The impulse to cover themselves and to hide from God embodies the essential change that has occurred, encompassing shame, self-consciousness, the experience of loss and the awareness of separation from God.’74 These experiences, as a consequence of the Fall, are taken as protological. There are divergent opinions as to the connection between the account of Genesis chapters two and three and our current experience of suffering. Secondly, Crabb and more explicitly Hughes, utilise modern psychological understanding to fill in detail about which the Bible is not explicit. So Hughes’ three core longings of security, self-worth and significance are clearly derived from the work of Erikson (see later in this section). Whilst this method in general is open to criticism from those like Adams and the Bobgans who argue for a ‘Bible only’ approach, it is consistent with the goals of a systematic theology which, according to Pannenberg, aims at reformulating the eternal truths of Scripture in modern terms that emerge from secular findings. In the contemporary context of Christian counselling, rooted in a biblical worldview, the subjective impact of the Fall upon Adam and Eve becomes a significant point of interest as a potential means of explanation for suffering.

The necessity of relationship (especially to God), is brought into greater focus in Crabb’s later writing. In Connecting: Healing for Ourselves and Our Relationships, he states three core beliefs emerging from his own mid-life crisis:

1. ‘The greatest need in modern civilisation is the development of communities – the communities where the heart of God is home’

2. ‘We must do something other than to train professional experts to fix damaged psyches… the problem beneath our struggles is a disconnected soul.’