General Site Blog
Here, please feel free to make any comments or queries any of the material on the site. (Press “read more” button to get to page to add comment.)
LUTHER’S OCD CURES
Martin Luther employed and recommended several different approaches to curing religious fears, what we would call today religious obsessions. First, there is his “trust in God” strategy which I described in the book, Can Christianity Cure OCD? Then there are the two strategies described in the present book. They are “accuse and condemn yourself” and […]
Luther book blog
This blog is for people to make comments on the book, and especially to dig into the possibilities for effectively and practically employing Luther’s therapeutic strategies to overcome their own symptoms. I welcome your comments and thoughts!
SLEEPING DOGS
Martin Luther offers this advice for dealing with the tormenting thoughts that we call obsessions. When you pass an entrance where a dog is sleeping, quickly pass by the sleeping dog, or if he is barking, do not irritate him, for the more you oppose him, the more frenzied he becomes. You must do likewise […]
REALISTIC-WORRY OBSESSIONS
Just the other day, yet another OCDer tried to tell me that a new tormenting worry was not an obsession. “I don’t think this is OCD,” she said, “because this is a real problem, not something irrational.” She is an accountant, and was speaking of a possible mistake she had made in preparing a person’s […]
HOPING FOR MERCY
When gripped by a strong obsessional fear, we have to put our hope in something. Otherwise, despair becomes inevitable. There are lots of things to put hope in. It is bad hope that drives OCD sufferers to pester people for reassurance, or to pour over articles and websites, or debate endlessly in their minds about […]
GOD’S TORMENTED SAINTS
In a commentary on Psalm 90, Martin Luther takes up the trial that that afflicts OCDers. The pious and the saints are tormented throughout life by multifarious anxieties concerning death and other matters. Satan haunts them day by day with fears and the uncertainty of life. It’s good for us OCDers to know we are […]
BREAKING PROMISES
I have seen several people recently with exactly the same obsessional fear: that they have broken a promise to God. One person, a middle-aged businessman explained it this way: “First, I’ll be looking forward to something, like watching a football game on TV. Then I will get hit with some sort of a fear, like […]
THE WISDOM OF THE WISE
Obsessions often take the form of tormenting doubts. For Christian OCD sufferers, these most often deal, one way or the other, with issues of righteousness and assurance of salvation: “Did I really accept Jesus as my savior;” “What if I didn’t confess all my sins?” “Could it be that deep down I want to commit […]
CORONAVIRUS: THE TIME FOR OCD?
When the coronavirus struck in New Zealand, the health minister recommended: “Give your hands a really thorough wash….this is the time for OCD!” Give me a break. People just don’t get it. OCD is not a degree of thoroughness. And you can’t turn it on when you want. Who would want to? It makes everything […]