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There’s No Such Thing As Mental Illness
As I was cruising the internet today, I ran across a short, but brilliant little post by Don Arms of Nouthetic.org. The beauty, of course, lies in the brevity of the truth. Here it is:
Folks let’s get this straight. The mind is not a physical organ. It cannot have a disease or illness except in a metaphorical sense as in a sick economy or a sick joke.
Typhoid fever — disease
Spring fever — not a disease
Scarlet fever — disease
Bieber fever — not a disease
That’s it. Beautiful, isn’t it? Also true.
As Christians, it is our minds that are being renewed, not our brains. Our brains are deteriorating, just like the rest of our earthly bodies.
Quick reference, Romans 12:2:
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
The Greek word translated mind here is nous, the intellect, understanding. Intellect, understanding – these are not physical organs at all, but rather, the mind is the higher, mental part of man which initiates his thoughts and plans. It represents the sum total of the whole mental and moral state of being. It’s not a physical organ in the human body.
Bieber fever, indeed, as disturbing as that is, is no disease.
Neither is sin!
5 Pt. Salt 
Provocative post. And very misguided.
If you prefer, you could call depression, schizophrenia, bipolar, etc… “brain disorders” so as to preserve your Greek duality of mind vs. body. But, trust me, they are just as real as physical ailments. Cat-scans can show how the brain chemistry of those battling mental illnesses changes — physically, not just spiritually.
Having said this, is sin involved? Absolutely. Just as it is sinful for a diabetic to eat a powdered doughnut instead of taking his insulin, it is sinful for a person (like me) with bipolar to rely solely on prayer or self-will to combat his demons rather than take up the full armor of God, which includes appropriate, well-monitored medication.
You just made the point: Cat-scans cannot show a battle with “mental illness”, only something of what’s going on with the brain, an organ. By the way, where, in all of Scripture does it say the full armor of God includes “well-monitored medication”? Sorry, it’s not in there.
And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. (Matthew 17:3 NKJV) Moses and Elijah has been dead for hundreds of years and their bodies decayed and gone but yet they appeared taking with our Lord. Their minds/intellect were still in tact yet their earthly bodies were already rotted and decayed in the ground. Good post Joel!
It seems pretty clear that both belief/thoughts and physiology figure in. Just try to tell a hormonal person that their hormones don’t affect their thinking. Or tell a thyroid deficient or overactive person that their thyroid levels don’t affect their mental state. I’m not sure it is wise to make pronouncements on such a complex computer unless you know how it works. Some might say Spurgeon, Luther, and others were mentally ill because they were depressed. Some might say Paul was, considering the end of Romans 7.
It doesn’t matter if it is an illness, a proclivity, or a hormonal imbalance, liver failure which creates mental and emotional/neurological issues from the toxic buildup… we still need to treat people both spiritually and physically and not make any fleshly weakness an excuse for sin. We are all dealt a unique hand in this but the solution to all of it is the truth of the law and the comfort of the gospel.
You just proved the point Paula. Hormones=physical. Thyroid=physical, as is liver failure – all of these are physical, not mental. Even with a mental state alteration, that is still not a disease.