Biblical Counseling

B.A. in Biblical Studies – Biblical Counseling Emphasis

We don’t have to look far to see that our culture is full of hurting people; those who have been drastically affected by their own sin and the sin of others. Many are looking for help, hope, anything to bring some meaning to the pain and struggle they’ve known in their lives. A student pursuing the biblical counseling degree will be thoroughly equipped to provide encouragement, support, and biblical direction to those in need. The primary focus of the program is not to ready a student to open a counseling clinic (this takes graduate-level study), but to have tools to minister within his or her local body of believers or other Christian ministry contexts.

Discipleship is the key focus of this concentration. You learn to love the gospel and to lead others to share in the freedom that comes through knowing Christ. You are taught to counsel through biblical study and personal accountability. You are trained to help Christians identify and reject root sins in their character, subsequently replacing old sinful habits with habits of holiness. You learn to demonstrate sympathy and empathy as one who is also in desperate need of grace and on the path of sanctification.

In addition to the general objectives of the B.A. degree, students completing this concentration will be able to:

1. Disciple in an intensive format in the local church with people who have identifiable root sins impacting their habits, emotions, and character.
2. Demonstrate sympathy and empathy as one who is also on the path of sanctification.
3. Identify and interact with various approaches to spiritual health and growth in sanctification.

For those who desire to take their biblical counseling degree further than lay ministry and pursue vocational opportunities, our counseling degree is the perfect platform for pursuit of graduate studies in Biblical counseling or chaplaincy from Christian seminaries.

See the MBC Catalog for more information such as core curriculum courses, concentration specific courses, and general education requirements.

Counseling Philosophy

Montana Bible College views Biblical Counseling as part of the discipleship process in which we seek to help others face the challenges and obstacles in their lives from a thoroughly Biblical worldview.  We look to Holy Scripture for our understanding of where we came from, why we are here, human nature, the brokenness of the world and our individual lives, and the core solutions to the problems we face.  In the Bible we learn about salvation from sin through Jesus, freedom from guilt and shame through forgiveness, the restoration of broken relationships, and the power of God’s indwelling Spirit to bring victory over the host of temptations, evil desires, and issues we face.   The Bible teaches us how to come into right relationship with God, with others, and with ourselves.  From God’s inspired Word, we learn how to properly view human beings as both material and immaterial beings whose bodies and souls alike need care.  The Bible furthermore declares to us the nature and purpose of the Church, the body of Christ, and how in that context God would have us minister His grace to one another and to the spiritually lost through the various gifts He has given us.

Scripture conveys the truth we need to discern properly which findings and insights from general revelation in its various disciplines fit within a Biblical worldview and are helpful as we minister to people, and which need to be rejected.  Furthermore, God’s Word itself gives us understanding that we ought to care for the body if the body is ailing and that we can and should apply wisdom to all of life.  Yet, as Colossians 2:8 says, “See to it that no one takes you captive by hollow and deceptive philosophy that depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”  Biblical Counseling stands in sharp contrast to counseling theories and practices derived from non-Christian worldviews.  The ultimate aim of Biblical Counseling is to care for people in the midst of their problems to the end that they come to know the Savior ever more deeply and are conformed to His likeness for their good and God’s glory.

Such a program results in:

1. A thoroughly Biblical worldview at the center of our counseling program.
2. A program that does not reject outright the findings of general revelation or of various Christian writers or practitioners, is not married to any single counseling “guru” or organization, and yet is deeply committed to careful discernment, holding all things up to the light of God’s word well exegeted and applied.
3. A strong and healthy view of the sufficiency of Scripture to permeate the program so that we look to and rely on God’s word which gives us all we need for living life as God intends while avoiding views of sufficiency that end up denying the active presence and power of God’s Spirit working in people or the proper contribution of general revelation in submission to Christ.
4. A program that produces graduates who serve people, both saved and unsaved, as Christians unashamed of the gospel and the truth of God’s word; who minister as ambassadors of Christ and members of His Church; who open the Bible, teach it, and apply it; and who exemplify Christ-like character.

From this place of conviction, our graduates will be able to go on and serve, both formally and informally, within the local church as well as in various counseling-related and chaplaincy roles as unashamed Christians in the world.