Summary
Murray explains that Christians can suffer depression and from different types of depression he reiterates that not all depression is sin or the result of sin. Biological factors do play a role. Murray also presents the cures and steps for caregivers to help out depressed brothers and sisters in Christ.
Analysis
I was still left with questions about the physical nature of depression. While Murray addressed that there are biological factors in depression and appealed to Jonathan Edwards because Edwards said that depression is a disease of the mind. However, Murray never showed direct proof of his claim. Although this book was a short read and I know that Murray is neither a doctor or practicing psychiatrist, he still never provided sufficient evidence or backup for his claims from adequate sources. His advice for caregivers of how to deal with a depressed Christian were excellent, but I felt like he could have expounded on the fact that we do have a joy in the Lord. I strongly disagreed when he said that God sometimes might want us to be depressed because it's a test when there is no Biblical evidence to back up that claim. In fact, Scripture tells us to "be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:8)" and to "Rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16)." After all, joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not depression.
Evaluation
This book is a short read (can be easily read in a day) with 6 short chapters. Murray didn't adequately provide a clear-cut definition of depression (but gave many instances in the Bible where people felt deep sorrow such as Job, Hannah, and David). While depression can manifest itself in different ways, Murray never presented one solid definition to build up a multi-faceted argument. The book improved by the end in the list of solutions for depression.
Murray explains that Christians can suffer depression and from different types of depression he reiterates that not all depression is sin or the result of sin. Biological factors do play a role. Murray also presents the cures and steps for caregivers to help out depressed brothers and sisters in Christ.
Analysis
I was still left with questions about the physical nature of depression. While Murray addressed that there are biological factors in depression and appealed to Jonathan Edwards because Edwards said that depression is a disease of the mind. However, Murray never showed direct proof of his claim. Although this book was a short read and I know that Murray is neither a doctor or practicing psychiatrist, he still never provided sufficient evidence or backup for his claims from adequate sources. His advice for caregivers of how to deal with a depressed Christian were excellent, but I felt like he could have expounded on the fact that we do have a joy in the Lord. I strongly disagreed when he said that God sometimes might want us to be depressed because it's a test when there is no Biblical evidence to back up that claim. In fact, Scripture tells us to "be anxious for nothing (Philippians 4:8)" and to "Rejoice always (1 Thessalonians 5:16)." After all, joy is a fruit of the Spirit, not depression.
Evaluation
This book is a short read (can be easily read in a day) with 6 short chapters. Murray didn't adequately provide a clear-cut definition of depression (but gave many instances in the Bible where people felt deep sorrow such as Job, Hannah, and David). While depression can manifest itself in different ways, Murray never presented one solid definition to build up a multi-faceted argument. The book improved by the end in the list of solutions for depression.