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Summary
- The Bible never calls depression a sin, and none of the New Testament’s lists of sins includes sadness.
- Elijah asked to die (1 Kings 19:4), Psalm 88 ends in darkness, and Jesus said in Gethsemane, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death” (Matthew 26:38).
- The Catholic Catechism says “pathological disorders” and “psychological or social factors” can diminish or remove responsibility (1735, 1860); John Paul II called depression a “disease.”
- The Russian Orthodox Church and the Southern Baptist Convention both support medical care alongside pastoral care and oppose stigma.
- The World Health Organization says depression affects about 5.2% of adults and that effective treatment exists.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version: Numbers 11:15; 1 Kings 19:4–16; Job 3:11; 42:7; Psalms 13:2; 38:3; 42:5, 11; 43:5; 88:3, 18; Ecclesiastes 3:4; Jeremiah 20:14; Jonah 4:3; Matthew 26:37–38; Mark 7:21–22; John 9:3; 11:35; Romans 12:15; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 7:10; Galatians 5:19–21; Hebrews 4:15; 5:7.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 1735, 1860, 2091 and 2094. https://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/1735.htm
- John Paul II, Address to the Participants in the 18th International Conference Promoted by the Pontifical Council for Health Pastoral Care on the Theme of “Depression,” 14 November 2003. https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/2003/november/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_20031114_pc-hlthwork.html
- Russian Orthodox Church, Bases of the Social Concept (Bishops’ Council, 2000), section XI.5. https://orthodoxkansas.org/Bases_of_Social_Concept.html
- Southern Baptist Convention, “On Mental Health Concerns and the Heart of God,” resolution adopted in Houston, June 2013. https://www.sbc.net/resource-library/resolutions/on-mental-health-concerns-and-the-heart-of-god/
- Heath Lambert, “The Southern Baptist Convention on Mental Illness and the Sufficiency of Scripture,” Biblical Counseling Coalition, 24 June 2013. https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2013/06/24/the-southern-baptist-convention-on-mental-illness-and-the-sufficiency-of-scripture/
- Christopher E. M. Lloyd, Brittney S. Mengistu and Graham Reid, “‘His Main Problem Was Not Being in a Relationship With God’: Perceptions of Depression, Help-Seeking, and Treatment in Evangelical Christianity,” Frontiers in Psychology 13 (2022). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.831534
- World Health Organization, “Depressive disorder (depression),” fact sheet, updated 11 September 2026. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression
- National Institute of Mental Health, “Depression,” and the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression; https://988lifeline.org/
- Charles H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, lecture 11, “The Minister’s Fainting Fits.” http://www.cblibrary.org/pastoral_aids/spurgeon_lectures/lms_11.htm
- Henri Nouwen Society, “The Inner Voice of Love” (Doubleday, 1996). https://henrinouwen.org/books/the-inner-voice-of-love/
- “Rick Warren,” Wikipedia, on the death of Matthew Warren in April 2013 and the Gathering on Mental Health and the Church, March 2014. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_Warren
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