[Personal Background: As some of you know, I am a mental health counselor with a Masters and Doctorate (D.Min.) from a couple of seminaries. I am specifically interested in the harmonization of neuropsychology and spirituality, and generally interested in the relationship between psychology and theology. I have written about this elsewhere on this site (see “Christ on the Brain” below); I have also posted my humbly-entitled dissertation, “An Integration of Biblical Anthropology and Neuropsychology and Its Implications for Christian Education and Discipleship.”]

At Mind and Soul, British psychiatrist Rob Waller has posted some observations on Andrea Yates and her moral responsibility in the deaths of her five children. My own observations, spawned by his, are the subject matter of this post.

Andrea Yates, you will remember, was found guilty of the murder of her five children and sentenced to life in prison; her conviction was overturned on Jan 6. Dr. Waller comments, “Because some people believe that there is no such thing as mental illness and that all unacceptable behaviour is sinful in origin. This is the sort of thing that happens when people take these strong views.”

Dr. Waller raises several important issues regarding mental illness vs. insanity, mental illness and spirituality, and the importance of being well-informed theologically.

First, there is an important distinction to be made between mental illness (a psychological term) and insanity ( a legal term). Insanity, in the legal sense, is not merely the presence of a mental illness but is the inability to know right from wrong. If I am depressed, for example, and decide that I would be happier if I killed my father, I am mentally ill but not necessarily insane. If I take care to kill him in a way that I will not be caught or charged with the deed, it is unlikely that I am insane; if, however, I approach my father on a downtown street, shoot him, and then walk away as though nothing has happened or in expectation of being made a hero for having done this great humanitarian gesture, then maybe I am insane. It comes down to whether or not I knew what I was doing was wrong at the time I did it.

From all appearances, Andrea Yates was insane in addition to being mentally ill. She seems to have been suffering from a major depressive episode with psychotic features (the latter meaning she had lost touch with reality).

Second (and this is the important thing for our purposes), there is a similar distinction to be made theologically. It is necessary to distinguish between Sin and sins: the former is a consequence of the Fall; the latter are those things that I willfully choose to do or not do. I am born separated from God, others, and even myself because of Sin; I am going to die physically because of Sin, not because of sins: this is the argument that Paul is making in Rom 4.12-14:

“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned — for until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.” (NASB)

Before the law, Paul is saying people died but sins were not charged against them; nevertheless, these people died. Why? Because of Sin, that with which we are all born and which manifests itself in individual sins.

In the same way, mental illness is caused by Sin. Every aspect of our being is affected by Sin, including our brains: our brains malfunction because of Sin. But even those of us who might be mentally ill (actually, we’re all mentally ill to some extent, even as we are all physically ill to some degree) - at any rate, we can sometimes willfully choose to commit sins. This is important: mental illness is not an excuse for sins willingly commited; it is a manifestation of Sin. But I am still responsible for those sins.

Finally, Dr. Waller concludes his post by saying, “This is the sort of thing that happens when people take these strong views,” i.e., when people believe that there is no difference between mental illness and sin. Here, I think, he is incorrect: the problem is that people don’t know the difference either between mental illness and insanity, or between sins and Sin. The first is a legal difference; the latter (and to my mind, far more important) is a theological matter. But Dr. Waller is right about this: if Christians do not know theology - and particularly the doctrines of anthropology and sin - then they may come to some unfortunate or even tragic conclusions.


2 Cor 1.13