What does the lord require of us?

Abstract

Contextual therapy is a heuristic approach to intergenerational family dynamics. This article sets forth the main tenets of that approach and explores the contribution that it makes to the pastoral care and counseling of families. The concept of relational justice, which is a focal point in contextual therapy, is brought into dialogue with the biblical concept of righteousness and the theological concept of justification by faith.Recently, pastoral care and counseling have discovered theological anthropology. For some of us that concern is not new. We have been concerned about theological anthropology for three decades or more, especially in light of some of the anthropological assumptions that inhere in certain schools of psychotherapy.The concern about,theological anthropology is always relevant to pastoral care and counseling. As ministries of the church, pastoral care and counseling are rooted in a theological heritage and give expression to theological truths whether they are aware of it or not.In this article, I am concerned about the theological anthropology of a relative new approach to family dynamics.