SMTI's Principles and Leading Questions for Biblical Counseling
The question of principles and leading questions for biblical counseling finds its foundation in the Reformed conviction that Scripture is the sufficient and authoritative guide for understanding human nature, sin, and restoration. Charles Hodge articulates this foundational principle: "his business is not to set forth his system of truth (that is of no account), but to ascertain and exhibit what is God's system" [4]. This establishes the first principle: biblical counseling must derive its categories and methods from Scripture itself, not from external philosophical frameworks imposed upon the text.
The Primacy of Biblical Knowledge
The Reformed approach insists that knowledge precedes and measures faith. As Hodge states, "If we do not understand what the word propitiation means, the proposition to us means nothing, and nothing cannot be an object of faith" [2]. This principle applies directly to counseling: the counselor must help the counselee understand what Scripture actually teaches about their condition. Leading questions should therefore aim at clarifying biblical categories—What does Scripture say constitutes sin in this situation? What does God promise to those who repent?—rather than beginning with felt needs or psychological constructs.
The Role of Scripture and Experience
A second principle emerges from the relationship between biblical authority and Christian experience. While Scripture remains the "primary, immediate, and principal source of divine knowledge" [3], the Reformed tradition also recognizes that "the inward teachings of the Spirit" provide guidance in applying truth [5]. This creates a tension the counselor must navigate: leading questions should probe both what Scripture says and how the Spirit is working in the counselee's conscience. The danger lies in elevating experience above Scripture or in "forming opinions on philosophical principles, or moral axioms" that "contradict the inward teachings of the Spirit" [5].
Practical Application
The biblical counselor's leading questions must therefore accomplish several tasks: they must direct attention to specific scriptural teaching [1], probe the counselee's actual understanding versus mere profession, and distinguish between human theories and divine facts. As Hodge warns, "There is a great distinction between theories and facts. Theories are of men. Facts are of God" [6]. Questions like "What does God's Word say about your situation?" and "How does Scripture define the change you need?" keep the conversation anchored in revealed truth rather than therapeutic speculation.
Sources
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Scriptures, The — Given by inspiration of God -- 2Ti 3:16. Given by inspiration of the Holy Spirit -- Ac 1:16; Heb 3:7; 2Pe 1:21. Christ sanctioned, by appealing to them -- Mt 4:4; Mr 12:10; Joh 7:42. Christ taught out of -- Lu 24:27. Are called the Word. -- Jas 1:21-23; 1Pe 2:2. Word of God. -- Lu 11:28; Heb 4:12. Word of Christ. -- Col 3:16. Word of truth. -- Jas 1:18. Holy Scriptures. -- Ro 1:2; 2Ti 3:15. Scripture of truth. -- Da 10:21. Book. -- Ps 40:7; Re 22:19. Book of the Lord. -- Isa 34:16. Book of the law. -- Ne 8:3; Ga 3:10. Law of the Lord. -- Ps 1:2; Isa”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 3, section 12: God. Others say that it means that Jesus is of the same nature with God; that He is a divine person. If this be the meaning of the Spirit in declaring Jesus to be the Son of God, then those who do not attach that sense to the words, do not believe the truth intended to be taught. When it is said God set forth Christ to be a propitiation for our sins, if we do not understand what the word propitiation means, the proposition to us means nothing, and nothing cannot be an object of faith. Knowledge the Measure of Faith. It follows from what h”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 30: primary, immediate, and principal source of divine knowledge; that they are not “to be subjected to the examination either of the outward testimony of the Scriptures, or of the natural reason of man, as to a more noble or certain rule or touchstone;” 58 58 Barclay’s Second Proposition. yet they also teach that nothing not contained in the Scriptures can be an article of faith; that we are bound to believe all the Bible teaches; that everything contrary to its teaching is to be rejected as “a delusion of the devil,” no matter from what sou”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 8: sin, of liberty, of obligation, from the facts of the Bible. He should remember that his business is not to set forth his system of truth (that is of no account), but to ascertain and exhibit what is God’s system, which is a matter of the greatest moment. If he cannot believe what the facts of the Bible assume to be true, let him say so. Let the sacred writers have their doctrine, while he has his own. To this ground a large class of modern exegetes and theologians, after a long struggle, have actually come. They give what they regard as t”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 103: guide to the knowledge of the truth. It has an authority second only to that of the Word of God. One great source of error in theology has always been the neglect of this inward guide. Men have formed their opinions, or framed their doctrines on philosophical principles, or moral axioms, and thus have been led to adopt conclusions which contradict the inward teachings of the Spirit, and even their own religious consciousness. The only question is, How can we distinguish the human from the divine? How can we determine what in our experien”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 1, section 41: because we know that it is not a satellite of our planet. (3.) There is a great distinction between theories and facts. Theories are of men. Facts are of God. The Bible often contradicts the former, never the latter. (4.) There is also a distinction to be made between the Bible and our interpretation. The latter may come into competition with settled facts; and then it must yield. Science has in many things taught the Church how to understand the Scriptures. The Bible was for ages understood and explained according to the Ptolemaic system”