The Insignificance of Psychological Typologies

In our psychologized culture we are used to definitive analyses of Wally and others according to a typology. He is a type-A person. He is a Pleaser. He is a Controller. He is a combination of melancholic and choleric temperaments. He is a typical ACOA or member of a dysfunctional family. His root sin is anger. His problem is low self-esteem. In DSM-III categories he is a..., and so forth. Such statements tend to pass for significant knowledge. In fact, they are not explanations for anything but are simply ways of describing common clusters of symptoms.

--David Powlison, "Idols of the Heart and 'Vanity Fair,'" Journal of Biblical Counseling 13:2 (Winter 1995), 45.

Idolatrous Motivations

The deep question of motivation is not "What is motivating me?" The final question is, "Who is the master of this pattern of thought, feeling, or behavior?" In the biblical view, we are religious, inevitably bound to one god or another. People do not have needs. We have masters, lords, gods, be they oneself, other people, valued objects, Satan.

--David Powlison, "Idols of the Heart and 'Vanity Fair,'" Journal of Biblical Counseling 13:2 (Winter 1995), 39.