I'm reading a book by Fr. Harvey which is quite extensive. I won't go into details, but I wanted to point out something interesting.
He distinguishes between two types of healings: spiritual and pyschological. This might seem obvious but interesting nonetheless.
1. Spiritual healing- a response to the grace of God. Depending on the grace of Jesus, and becoming personally intimite with Him. Living in the eternal Word etc.
2. Pyschologcial healing- a restoration to wholeness and sanity. An absence of emotional, mental or sexual disorders.
The Church teaches that we must be spiritually healed (not sinning purposefully) but we are not obligated (although Im sure the church would encourage it) to be pyschologically healed.
Example: the church can say it is a sin to get drunk, but they cannot say it is a sin to have the desires/temptations/struggles to get drunk.
As I said, the church (I assume) would highly reccomend full and complete healing but there is a distinction. The author noted that some saints were spiritually whole but were "tormeneted with compulsive tempations" which would indicate a lack of complete pyschological connection and integration.
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Danny, good post. I think that there's also the element of being tormented, at least on some level, by the devil. There are always three spirits involved in ones life: our own, the Holy Spirit and evil spirits. This is were discernment of spirits comes in. I think that these torments can come in the form of temptations and therefor may not be the result of a lack of psychological wholness.
ReplyDeleteYou can sin with your thoughts though, as with lust.
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