I Can Do Better: Theology of Self-Improvement

And now for something completely different! If you're anything like me, you are goal-driven and gravitate toward books that help you achieve your goals. But how do self-help books fit with the mind and life of a Christian reader?

What is a Self-Help Book?

Self-help books, briefly or circularly defined, are books written with the purpose of letting you help yourself by reading them. Originally, these books were written to help people deal with societal problems, or survive, or thrive, in society. This was before expressive individualism was dominant in the social imaginary. That is, people were more concerned with fitting in and conforming to the society around them than with living "their" truth. Currently, self-help books are, perhaps not surprisingly, geared toward helping people live the life they want to live, regardless of what other people think.

One danger with the older, or newer, mindset put forth in self-help books, is that the focus is taken off of teaching or enabling you to (reasonably) think for yourself. (The website I found while researching this post to support what I said so far in this section is, unfortunately, affiliated with "Christian" mysticism, recently expressed in New Age principles. Here's Reformed apologist Melissa Dougherty's playlist about New Age, out of which she came.) That same site does say, helpfully, that Socrates can serve as a positive example of self-help advice. That is, "good" self-help should describe examples to follow, rather than setting firm rules for the reader.

What is the History of the Self-Help Movement?

As far as I can tell, the self-help (book) movement started in or around 1790 with the Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. In this (unfinished) book, he set forth principles and examples for healthy, prudent living. The history I'll weave together in this section is a composite of a "fascinating" take and an "insidious" take. (Side note, the author of the second source has recently been confirmed into the Anglican Church in North America, my "new" home denomination!)

What was society like around this time? (It's important to ask, because types of self-help books tend to mirror societal values at the time of publication, because authors want to write what people want to read.) In the United States, where Franklin lived, there were around a dozen states whose governments had ratified the Constitution, George Washington as first president was figuring out how to govern the miniature union, and the Revolution had officially ended in 1783. In Europe, the early modern period (after Late Antiquity . . . don't let people call it the Dark Ages any more!) was going on over the 1500-1800 AD window, including the Enlightenment and Industrial (and other) Revolution.

Although the Enlightenment had been a key step in the long, historical process toward the present focus on the individual, specifically the inner (mental/emotional) self, as supreme, the predominant focus of 19th-century US society, right after the autobiography's publication, was inner character. Moral fiber was viewed as essential to succeed in and fit into society, regardless of one's external circumstances. Other norms at the time included government non-interference, self-reliance, and the individual as the key component of society. A slightly later book, titling the self-help movement, was Samuel Smiles' Self-Help, With Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance (1859). Notably, this book included examples rather than rules.

Once the 20th century rolled around, the focus shifted toward personality being the most important, regardless of one's character. The book Quiet discusses this shift from an introvert-extrovert perspective. Urbanization of many cities and outlying areas led to increased competition, making a winning, extroverted personality a valued factor. Two big self-help/self-improvement names late in this century are Paul Meyer and Norman Vincent Peale (see two sections down).

Now that we're in the 21st century, the focus is still on the personality, but in an expressively individualistic way--we're working too much, so what we need is to be more efficient and effective with both work and rest, say the books.

What are Some Christian Self-Help Books?

According to Goodreads, quite a lot of books by Christian authors fit in the self-help genre. The ones from the "top 93" list I recognized were:

• Joyce Meyer's Battlefield of the Mind. The question of Joyce teaching heresy has been addressed on many other sites. That said, her name is very recognizable, in a positive or negative way, among many Christians.
• C. S. Lewis's Mere Christianity. This is one of my favorites, as it describes the core teachings of all denominations that can be called Christian. I'm not sure how it ended up on the self-help list, though, because it provides neither examples of people nor a list of rules/principles to follow. That said, living out one's theology is a rich topic and something people do whether they realize it or not!
• Stormie Omartian's The Power of a Praying Wife. I think my parents owned this at some point; it does fit in the genre because it has principles specifically for wives who pray. I hadn't realized that she is 80 (!) this year. I'm not sure of her theological background, but she has been a guest for Lutheran Hour Ministries (LCMS) and written in Christianity Today.
• Henry Cloud's Boundaries books. Years ago, a pastor loaned me a copy of Boundaries in Marriage for an unrelated situation; it proved more helpful as time went on, falling in the "principles" category rather than the "examples."
• Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology. If you know anything about systematic theology, you may be questioning, like I am, the thought process of whoever decided that the book should fit in the self-help category.
• C. S. Lewis's The Weight of Glory. Great sermon/book . . . not exactly self-help.
• A.W. Tozer's The Knowledge of the Holy. At a stretch, this book could fit in self-help, because of its practical theological principles, but I'm still reluctant to put it in this category, for reasons we shall see shortly.

Does Self-Helpism Have Negative Implications?

The short answer is yes. While many internet sources have been written from a secular or psychological perspective on this topic, I will touch on that only briefly and focus on the theological aspect. I am not a trained theologian, but I am a reading, thinking Christian and a trained researcher. Also, this is by no means going deeper than a very surface-level examination of the biggest issues I see with self-helpism.

Let's ease into things from the research/psychology point of view. I said earlier that self-help books, and the movement itself, generally don't promote critical thinking and aren't based on solid data. Myths about self-help have several distinguishing characteristics in that regard: (1) limited, low-level, or absent research support (here's a link to the levels of quantitative [number-based] and qualitative [description-based] evidence); (2) assuming causation from correlation; (3) coming across as a sales pitch for a product, course, or workshop; (4) seemingly too easy or applying as blanket/absolute advice; or (5) doesn't make sense. (The caveat about "common" sense is that everyone thinks they have more than enough . . . but not everyone actually has enough.)

Examples fitting into each category include

1. 10,000 hours of practice (plus no talent) is the only ingredient needed to become an expert.
2. Smile in order to become happy. A 1950s Harvard graduating cohort who wrote out their goals earned more, so if you write out your goals you will earn more too. The law of attraction.
3. Barriers to success are only in your mind, so change your mind using my training that costs only $149.95 today!
4. Anyone can learn anything.
5. Over 90% of communication is nonverbal. (This person has obviously not read many print sources which are, you know, verbal . . .)

That said, I see overlap between theological problems and lack of critical thinking. Depending on your faith tradition, you may see the relationship between faith and reason in different ways. I view faith as supported by reason, the latter being the "servant" of the former but not its "slave." I also believe that, because God gave us minds to think with and set the universe and its contents in order, and because He left thorough historical records with which one can learn about the accuracy of the biblical texts we have, therefore the "leaps" of faith to believe certain things about Him are smaller than one might think.

Here are some definitions that come into play when thinking about self-helpism in a theological context:

• Theology = the study of God and how He relates to the world/all that exists
• Philosophy = the study of reality, being, and knowledge
• Ontology = theories or beliefs about what the nature of reality is, or what it means to exist. (Husband helpfully pointed out that there are at least 14 definitions of ontology, but for this post, this one is what I'm using.)
• Epistemology = theories or beliefs about what it means to know, or how one determines what knowledge is
• Morality = beliefs about right/wrong behavior and thoughts
• God = "that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress." (The nature of goodness is a whole other philosophical debate that is far outside the scope of this blog!)

Self-Helpism, which occurs when one buys into the principles of the self-help movement, has been well described in chapter 5 of Mama Bear Apologetics. The core belief of the "ism" is "I am the boss." The corresponding core belief of Christianity, by contrast, is "God is the boss." As Paul Meyer (1980s) and Norman Vincent Peale (1900s) would probably agree, a secondary belief of self-helpism (and the word of faith movement, for that matter) is that one can bring desires into reality with enough sincerity. The corresponding core belief of Christianity, again by contrast, is that only God can create and that His creatures work with what He has made. Let's break this down. starting with the creator question because we can't really talk about the boss concept unless we're squared on whether things exist to boss.

Who's the Creator?

The first sub-question I would ask in this category relates to whether the question can even be asked: Do things exist? (It would seem that the definition of creation, whether out of nothing or out of something, assumes that things do exist.) Ontology, as a branch of philosophy, takes a deep dive into this question. In my understanding at this point, the options for answering the existence question depend on your conception of knowledge versus certainty. That's an epistemological question, which Husband recommends starting with when you're just getting to know someone in an apologetics context. It is fair to say that certainty sets an impossible-enough bar (0% doubt) that Husband isn't wrong when he says that he is uncertain of my existence . . . but that he does know, and has a justified true belief, that I exist. 😍

If you are reasonably sure that things exist, the next question to ask is whether the things have always existed (steady-state theory) or came into being at some point in time (big-bang theory). Most scientists today do hold to the big-bang theory because it better explains the facts. They are, however, subdivided into those who believe that the visible/measurable universe is possibly/probably/definitely all there is (naturalism) and those who believe that some things exist that don't fit within this universe (supernaturalism). (If you want to dive down this rabbit hole, read up on cosmology.)

If you've come to the conclusion that things began to exist at some point in time, the next question to ask, for most people, is what/who caused things to exist. Immediately after that, how do we know once we've found the creator agent (another epistemological question)?

Finally, I would ask how the creator relate to the creation? Four major views that answer this question are deism, pantheism, panentheism, and theism. Deism states that God created everything but does not enter or intervene in this creation.. Pantheism states that God is, or is indistinct from, the universe (cosmos, all that exists). Panentheism states that God is in the world and that the world is in God, positioning itself as a middle ground between pantheism, deism, and theism. Finally, classical theism states that God, as described in the Bible, is distinct from His creation but choosing to be intimately involved with all aspects of existence.

Who's the Boss?

If we've established, in the previous subsection, that (1) things exist, (2) something/someone made them, and (3) that something/someone still exists and intervenes somehow with things that exist, we have more questions to ask. These are in no particular order and tie into your view of which of Phillip Rieff's three "worlds" you and yours fall into. Do you believe that laws or rules are ultimately from fate or various gods? Or, does law have weight because it reflects God's character? Or, does the only reason for a law stand in a god-less society?

The largest question I would ask is, of course, who the boss of me is. Is it me (myself), or many powers (polytheism), or a single power (monotheism)?

Regardless of my answer to that question, I would also want to ask who/what should/does direct my thoughts. Does my consciousness arise from or consist of chemical reactions internal to my body (physicalism)? Or is my consciousness and thought somehow separate from my physical body (dualism)? In my experience, physicalism tends to go hand-in-hand with naturalism, and dualism with supernaturalism.

Because thoughts affect actions and actions affect thoughts, I would ask who or what directs my actions? Is it my own thoughts, someone else coercing me, my believing that what someone tells me is good for me to do, something else, or a combination of the above?

Okay . . . What do I do Now?

As I said before, I am not a theologian, nor an expert on self-help. But I am a Christian, a reader, a writer, and a trained researcher. Based on each of those roles, here are my 4 suggestions if you have had enough of self-help books and want to avoid their problems.

1. As a Christian, remember who the Boss really is. He is the God of the Bible and your Father, regardless of any poor models of fatherhood you may have had. Remember also that the power to improve or do anything comes from Him; we are born spiritually dead due to original sin.
2. As a reader, take a dive into philosophical takes on ethics and morality, such as Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue. I've linked to many Stanford philosophy encyclopedia definitions and articles in this and previous posts, for getting the requisite vocabulary to understand what I'm reading.
3. As a writer, take goal-setting/writing and self-discipline with a grain of salt. Writing has the power to alter the writer as well as the reader.
4. As a researcher, dive into the science behind self-help claims you see. PubMed is a great database that does not require a login or fee to view peer-reviewed research articles.