Anger - David Powlison
--- review from a letter ---




Thank you for lending me David's little booklet of counsel regarding anger. There are a number of encouraging thoughts to be taken from David's heart to heal and by way of his efforts to explain the course and ravages of destructive anger.

"Anger is provoked", "even God gets angry", "God does not show us our sins to leave us trapped in them", "anger always requires a judge", "whose eyes -- whose approval -- supremely matter?", "creation and redemption don't give us much reason to feel good about ourselves in and of ourselves", "How should I respond in the situation to glorify God?", "The possibilities from the many-sided blessings of God are endless."

David begins with a popular teaching-idea, as he writes:

"sinful anger is natural to us since the Fall" and, "As human beings corrupted into the image of Satan, we are also hard-wired for resentment and hatred." [p1-2]

Both the premise for man in the "image of Satan", and the teaching of "sinful...is natural", lack foundation from the Scriptures. It was the NIV New Testament [1973] which was first to include "sinful nature" as a sometimes replacement for the word "flesh". Since then, the NIV translators have withdrawn all but 2 instances of "sinful nature" from their Bible. Adding "sinful nature" has led to a number of other false teachings, such-as the so-called "serpent seed" doctrine. "God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" and "...for in the image of God has God made man."
[Genesis 1:27; 9:6]

Some other mentions which become internally disabling and corrupting to the heart of David's work…
  • a separate "moral evil" category for some sins. [p5...] (Roman Catholic & Protestant teaching not directly confirmed from the Scriptures.)
  • David accuses Job of sin and "self-righteousness". [p9,11]
  • apparent misunderstanding for what is a "demon". [p4]
  • no mention for Ephesians 4:26-27?
By substituting a portion in philosophy and religious ideas where the power of God would otherwise prevail, David's counsel leans toward a cognitive understanding with dissonance. Yet for all in Jesus Christ, the answer remains to be: Christ, and consequently, our awareness for spiritual dynamics (including the presence and power of God by His Spirit) receiving more than a token consideration.		 Anger
Escaping The Maze
[28 pages, booklet]
by David Powlison
P&R Publishing Company; 2000
ISBN-10: 0-87552-681-0
ISBN-13: 978-0-87552-681-2