Bring the Books
By Mr. Charles Terpstra
Sample:
Depression: A Stubborn Darkness,
Edward T. Welch, Greensboro, NC: New
Growth Press, 2004. Paperback, 279 pp.
[Reviewed by Rev. Martyn McGeown.]
In the October 1, 2014 edition of the SB, I reviewed a book on depression, entitled Broken Minds by Steve and Robyn Bloem. Welch’s book takes a different approach, or, at least, has a different emphasis. While Welch does not discount that depression is a disease, his counsel in this book is mainly
spiritual. Depression is a complex subject, and there is seldom a meeting of minds on the issue. I would advise readers interested in the subject to read both Bloem and Welch and compare their approaches.
Welch’s initial advice both for the depressed and his/her family is caution: “Depression is a form of suffering that can’t be reduced to one universal cause. This means that family and friends can’t rush in armed with THE answer. Instead, they must be willing to postpone swearing allegiance to a particular theory, and take time to know the depressed person and work together with him or her” (14). “Here is a suggestion: don’t commit yourself too quickly to one explanation. Granted, it’s something that begs for an answer, and there are more than enough interpretations from which to choose. But there are many causes of depression” (27).
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