There are so many things to love about being a grandparent. We are cherishing front row seats as our daughter and son-in-law thrive under the awesome responsibility of training up two little ones. Hearing our granddaughter answer the same children’s catechism questions that her mother loved to recite brings a new level of joy. I’m reminded of the importance of foundations. The truths that two-year-old Gwen is articulating are profound yet simple. Though she does not know it, these deep truths will shape the trajectory of her life. Foundations matter.
J.V. Fesko understands the importance of foundational truth. As a churchman, he also recognizes the importance of counseling “to help people overcome their challenges in life — original sin and the ravaging effects of actual sin” (ix). Fesko’s new book, “Theological Foundations for Counseling” (Baker, 2026), fills a significant void by bringing the weight of historic Reformed theology into the vital task of caring for souls. In this well-organized work, Fesko accomplished his goal of allowing “the fresh breeze of centuries past to infuse new life into the present discussion” (xii).
As my former professor and mentor David Powlison said, “God cares about and evaluates counseling ideas and activities, because counseling is a theological matter. He wants you to learn to do it wisely, and He blesses good counseling. You will find profound joys and worthwhile sorrows in face-to-face ministry. Talking with people one-on-one is as much the property of the church as preaching on Sunday morning.”
Fesko’s introductory chapter casts a similar glorious vision for Christian counseling: it is shaped by the Word, distinguishes goals that are proximate (temporal) and ultimate (eternal), has formal and informal settings, and varies by context—self, family, church, or world (xix).
The Word is replete with calls to this kind of compassionate and Christ-centered counseling:
“And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all” (1 Thessalonians 5:14).
“Let us contemplate one another so that we may helpfully push toward love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24, my translation).
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).
What Fesko delivers is not an instruction manual on how to do these important tasks, but instead the crucial foundational truths that shape our practice —“a theological compass that points readers in certain directions based on the compass’s truth needle” (xxiii).
Fesko’s compass includes chapters one might expect: Word of God, Common Grace, and Sanctification. Others that you might not expect include Suffering, Mystical Union, and The Body — for “counseling aimed only at the soul is hobbled because it fails to counsel the whole person, body and soul” (127).
In every chapter, Fesko outlines weighty doctrine with crystal clarity, beautiful prose, and manifold historical evidence. At the end of each chapter are helpful resources for further study.
In Covenant Theology, he defines and describes the Covenant of Works’ importance to our system in a way that magnifies the glory of the Covenant of Grace. In Common Grace, he helpfully distinguishes three types of non-saving grace: universal, general, and covenant. Fesko brings light to the mystery and importance of union with Christ by fleshing out its five phases—from God’s decree to our eschatological hope.
In each chapter, Fesko teases out implications of the varied and rich doctrines to the field of counseling. For example, building off robust studies of General Revelation and the Sufficiency of Scripture, Fesko adroitly summarizes:
The Bible does not give any information about the physiology of the brain — how the brain, a bodily organ, functions. What might we learn from common-grace insights from medical professionals about the function of the brain, and how might this inform our counseling? Such knowledge falls outside the pages of Scripture, but why would we ignore God’s book of nature? The only time extrabiblical knowledge undermines the sufficiency of Scripture if it contradicts biblical teaching. But if we recognize that God gives us both general and special revelation, then in principle there is no conflict between appealing to and employing extrabiblical knowledge in the counseling process (78).
This reflection highlights Fesko’s burden for the 21st-century church — that we recognize and integrate the insights of common grace into our counseling methodology. “As I have argued throughout this book, counselors need to study the book of nature in order to be equipped to counsel well” (89).
Indeed, Fesko models this kind of careful analysis of the book of nature throughout his own book. He highlights studies that show the detrimental impact of cell phones on the teen brain, the anxiety-producing potential of THC in marijuana, and — my personal favorite—the addictive power of Cheetos.
These important examples support Fesko’s thesis and lend credence to his call to mine the riches of both books of God’s revelation. I must add, though, that these examples represent the low-hanging fruit: situations where it is easy for a physician of the soul to look beyond the Word for helpful reference.
But often, that research leads to more challenging questions that would benefit from discussion. For example, does “the body keep the score,” as Bessel van der Kolk argues in a book of that title? And if trauma leaves an imprint stored in the nervous system, how does a Christian counselor meaningfully apply that information? Or another: must we “go back in order to go forward,” as Pete Scazzaro argues in “Emotionally Healthy Spirituality”? And if understanding our family history and culture is vital to growth, how does a Christian counselor meaningfully apply that information?
Because of these questions and others like them, I suggest that in Fesko’s second edition he should consider adding a chapter on the Communion of the Saints. Our Westminster Confession devotes Chapter 26 to this doctrine, highlighting the inextricable link between union with Christ and with our brothers and sisters in the body of Christ:
All saints, that are united to Jesus Christ their Head, by his Spirit, and by faith, have fellowship with him in his grace, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory: and, being united to one another in love, they have communion in each other’s gifts and graces, and are obliged to the performance of such duties, public and private, as do conduce to their mutual good, both in the inward and outward man (WCF 26.1).
While Fesko devoted a wonderful chapter to mystical union, he only alluded to the latter clauses that summarize the life-changing fellowship of the saints united to one another in love. The book would be enhanced by adding a detailed overview of this doctrine, highlighting the interpersonal ministry of the Word in the local church. This rich communion is the starting point where saints, sinners, and sufferers explore the questions I posed above. It is within the household of God, by discipleship, discipline, and the wisdom from a multitude of counselors that we grow up together by the means Christ appointed. It is there that we seek and find the wisdom we need to discern how secular insights might be helpful to overcome life’s many challenges and we continue to serve one another in love.
As the catechism is helping my granddaughter understand foundational truths about life, so Fesko’s “Theological Foundations for Counseling” wisely summarizes deep truths that shape Christian counseling. Any church member interested in understanding the theological rationale for mutual care in the body Christ will benefit from reading it. I know I did.
Jason Barrie is associate professor of practical theology at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, California, and an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church in America.