No matter what you call it, it's no day in the park for believers.
The word scrupulosity and its derivatives don’t show up much in today's language. But the mental state it describes—an obsession with one’s sins and ridding them at all costs—has caused the suffering of many a Christian both past and present. It’s derived from the 14th century Latin word scrupulus, meaning a “sharp stone or pebble,” used figuratively by Cicero to describe that which causes unease or anxiety. Think of it as a jagged pebble lodged firmly in the recesses of the mind, causing Martin Luther, for example, to go through confession marathons with annoyed priests to make sure he hadn’t left one sin unconfessed.
An article on today’s ABC News “Mind & Mood” website, a mental-health forum, shares the story of one modern-day sufferer. Cole M.’s scrupulosity (what psychiatrists have labeled a “religious form of obsessive-compulsive disorder") manifested as a fixation on counting the number of letters in his sentences to make sure they were multipliers of the number 7 (God, holiness) and not 6 (Satan, sin). He would also go through daily bowing rituals before icons before heading to school, and experienced panic attacks when his fellow classmates used profanity.
Even during conversations, Cole silently counted, multiplied and added letters in words to make a sum of seven. For instance, take the sentence: The cat is gray. In less than a second Cole has an answer: "Cat plus gray equals seven letters. 'The' and 'is’ equals five," said Cole. "So, in order to get the [second] seven, I'd make the cross of the 't' count and the dot of the 'i' count. . . . Nobody would be able to tell that I'm doing this," Cole said. . . .
Such activities, though seemingly minute, become debilitating due to the excessive amount of mental energy they require. For the believer, an obsession with moral purity can stifle fruitful relationships with other Christians, and perhaps ironically, with the Lord himself. Instead of leading a believer to a deeper trust in God’s mercy on account of their sins—a trust that is meant to bring “peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”—scrupulosity focuses the person back on the efforts of him or herself, which usually leads to excessive guilt and despair.
One answer for those who suffer comes from Ian Osborn, a Penn State psychiatrist who has just released Can Christianity Cure Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder?: A Psychiatrist Explores the Role of Faith in Treatment (Brazos Press). Though Osborn makes clear that in most cases, no amount of praying and confession will "cure" someone of OCD (or scrupulosity, whichever you prefer), specifically Christian teaching has significantly reduced the symptoms of OCD in the lives of his patients. Osborn argues his case by examining the lives of three Christian giants who were noted for their scrupulosity: Luther, John Bunyan, and Saint Therese of Lisieux. He traces each’s journey from obsession with sins to eventual freedom in a reclamation of justification by faith alone—or in psychiatric terms, “responsibility modification therapy.” Through the Holy Spirit’s illumination of Scripture, Luther, Bunyan, and Therese came to the realization that they could “transfer responsibility” from themselves to Jesus for being clean before the Lord. Whether this is effective psychology or just really good theology, there is hope for Christians who are trapped in this life-squelching obsession.
Posted by Katelyn Beaty on March 31, 2008 2:14PM
Comments
Muslims and Jews can also suffer from beint too scrupolous.
Posted by: Moishe at April 1, 2008
I'm glad to see this subject addressed. I've always known I was a Martin Luther but haven't known what to do about it. All I can say is that it's agony. Until I heard the word scrupulosity, what I experienced was something I was unable to describe to anyone. And even yet, I'm not sure I would call what I have scrupulosity or OCD. I've recently read a study that defines me even better. It explains the difference between someone who acts like a fully adopted son of God, versus someone who is a fully adopted son of God but still has an orphan mentality (although I might compare it to a bad marriage where you walk on eggshells because you never know what's going to make your spouse throw you out, beat you up or kill you). People with an orphan/bad mariage mentality live in constant fear. We are always waiting for the other shoe to fall; we're waiting to do the unintentional and yet inevitable thing that's going to get us kicked out of heaven, or at least bounced off the face of the earth. We know that we can never please God and eventually we are likely to quit trying. At night we fearfully lay on our beds in a fetal position wondering whether God will allow us to live until morning, until we cry ourselves to sleep by repeating over and over the words, "You know my frame; you know I am just dust." This "condition" has rarely been written about, and when it is, it is usually referred to as a "Catholic" disease without a hint of a cure. I am looking forward to reading Osborn's book. And, in the meantime, I will resort to the only cure I know, which is to be repeatedly told, "God loves you, God loves you, God loves you." It is impossible to say (or hear) those three words too often.
Posted by: Alison at April 1, 2008
thanks for article..i know theology well yet suffer from this disease..like samuel johnson did..who i relate to as a comfort..the killer is the energy used..can't sequence out stuff i want to do..stuff i like..it all converges at once and leaves me semi-catatonic..thinking times 10..then again..from theolgy to cooking supper..i hate it and have asked our Father to accept all my thinking or talking as a form of constant prayer..which actually becomes conscious..this helps me.. and knowing difference between real sins and eccentric personality quirks etc..that arent..also, don't make agendas for yourself..just be true to your new self in Christ..a modification of shakespeare's saw...glad someone brought this out..
Posted by: bob at April 1, 2008
alison,
where did you read the article on living as an adopted child or on with an orphan mentality?
jack
Posted by: jack at April 2, 2008
As one who has suffered from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and specifically, scrupulosity, it was the most challenging, most difficult "dark night of the soul" I have ever experienced in my entire life. Before being diagnosed with OCD and scrupulosity in 1992 by a Christian psychaitrist, I was overwhelmed with the most hiddeous, blasphemous thoughts imaginable that would race through my mind constantly. To remedy this, thinking it was Satan's attacks, I would cry out to God over and over again in a ritualistic, sort-of prayer. And although it may have given me temporary relief, in essence the blasphemous thoughts would only worsen and become more intense. I also felt like I had to be a "Super-Christian"--reading my Bible for literally hours every day, as well as pray for hours on end, or otherwise I was going to hell. I was always under a state of guilt and anxiety, just knowing that God was on the verge of dropping me into the Lake of Fire. I would go to the altar at church several times during services, even when invitations had not yet been given. I was plauged even with thoughts of suicide. The Bedrock of my faith in Jesus Christ that I had claimed since I was 4-years old was shaken to its roots, and I truly felt abandoned by God. However, once I was finally diagnosed with OCD and started to understand that my difficulties were not directly related to Spiritual Warfare but a Mental Illness (although I know that Satan was laughing in the midst of my suffering), and began treatment with medication and psychotherapy, God began to bring healing to my life. I can now look back and see that where I thought God had abandoned me, He was really holding me closer than I could have ever imagined. He was not going to let me go. Now, I have continued to struggle with OCD in one form or another since then, though not directly related to my spirituality, but God continues to remain faithful and guides my life every day. I want to encouage anyone reading this Blog that may be suffering in this way not to lose hope but to seek help from both mental health professionals and spiritual advisors. May God minister to your brokenness and make you whole again.
Posted by: Adam R. Hunter at April 24, 2008
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