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About

This accessible introductory volume brings Jay Adams’s counseling expertise to ordinary Christians who want to counsel peers in need. Redesigned for its fortieth anniversary and celebrating more than 60,000 copies sold, this edition includes updated lists of critical resources.

Endorsements

“Returns counseling to laymen and women who are well-schooled in biblical hermeneutics, theology, and discipleship. It has all the foundational ideas that make biblical counseling effective.”

—John D. Street, Chair of the Graduate Department of Biblical  Counseling, The Master’s University and Seminary

“A very readable small book that will help you to cut your teeth on the basics of biblical counseling.”

—Lou Priolo, Pastor of Counseling, Christ Covenant, Atlanta

“The mainstay of many lay counseling training programs since it was first published.” 

—Jim Berg, Professor of Biblical Counseling, Bob Jones University

“You will be hard-pressed to find a better brief introduction to the biblical rationale and fundamental methodologies of biblical counseling.”

—T. Dale Johnson Jr., Executive Director, Association of Certified Biblical Counselors

“The essence of the biblical counseling movement. A primary primer for the encouragement and training of lay folks who do the work of this important ministry.”

—Howard Eyrich, Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program, Birmingham Theological Seminary

“This volume contains excellent information on some of the fundamentals of truly biblical counseling.”

—Wayne Mack, Director, Association of Certified Biblical Counselors—Africa

The Author

Jay E. Adams

Jay E. Adams (1929–2020), a pioneer in biblical counseling, served as a pastor, church planter, denominational executive, seminary professor, author, and lecturer. He taught homiletics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia and was the director of advanced studies at Westminster Seminary in California. He was the founder of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF), the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (formerly NANC), and the Institute for Nouthetic Studies (INS). Adams was the author of over one hundred books, including the best-selling Competent to Counsel, a book that launched the modern biblical counseling movement. He was a recipient of The Order of the Palmetto, the highest civilian honor awarded by the State of South Carolina.

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