Comforting Others with the Comfort We Receive
The Puritan Pastor, Timothy Rogers, lived from 1658-1728. Rogers was a godly, pious, and able Puritan pastor. On at least two occasions, each lasting an extended period of time, Rogers was overwhelmed by severe depression.
Archibald Alexander (1772-1851), the first professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, wrote that Roger’s depression was so acute that “he gave up all hope of mercy of God and believed himself to be a vessel of wrath” (Thoughts on Religious Experience, 1844/1978, 35).
Due to his own struggle with severe depression, Rogers became committed to ministering to others who experienced depression. As part of his ministry, Rogers wrote the treatises Recovery from Sickness and Consolation for the Afflicted. Alexander was so impressed with Rogers’s work, that he included the Preface verbatim in his own work Thoughts on Religious Experience.
Lesson #1: Depression Is an Embodied-Soul Condition
Speaking from his own battles with depression and from his biblical-theological-pastoral training, Rogers explains the complex body-soul interconnection involved in depression.
“The faculties of the soul are weakened, and all their operations disturbed and clouded: and the poor body languishes and pines away at the same time…. It is in every respect sad and
To continue...read the full-length post originally published on this site.
