Lapsed:
Neil T. Anderson is in the same category of Protestants (not necessarily denomination) as the likes of Jack Van Impe and Benny Hinn. He’s a Trinity Broadcasting Network type. Definitely not a suitable spiritual guide for a Catholic.
Years ago the books of Neil Anderson helped me. A lot.
It’s not fair to dump him with Jack Van Impe - he doesn’t teach anything at all in his books about end time prophecies.
And it’s certainly not fair to dump him with Benny Hinn. Benny Hinn is about what John Wimber called “Power Encounters” - you cast out demons and get healed by power.
Anderson is about “truth encounters”. You read scripture and ask what does this say about me as a Christian. You find everything in Scripture about the identity of a Christian and then affirm that truth and gradually learn to live in it.
This sort of thing really helped me to move out of self-condemnation (and other things) and to start to see myself more as Jesus sees me.
That said, Anderson is far from perfect. He has a long list concerning our identity in Christ. While much of it is excellent, there are points where his exegesis leaves much to be desired - and there are cases where what was spoken about one person or group of people he has unjustifiably applied to all Christians.
So if you’re going to read him, check out every single Scripture quote, look at the context it is in, and ask for help to discern whether his interpretation is right.
And I must say, although his books helped me a lot, they don’t solve everything. I have a recurring depressive illness (and a bit of dysthemia among other things) and holding firm to the truth of what Scripture says about me helped greatly. It is not a full solution as it ignores many of the causes of depression.
Many churches, many catholics are NOT taught their identity in Christ and this is a great shame. We need to know this sort of thing. But it isn’t going to solve all depresion or mental health problems.
I haven’t been catholic long enough to know the best catholic mental health guides so won’t recommend anything. And I haven’t studied Catholic doctrines of spiritual warfare enough to comment on how far off Anderson actually is. Most catholics seem to do what most protestants do and ignore the fact that we are in a spiritual war.
If you want something secular I can recommend Dorothy Rowe’s “The Depression Handbook” (which might have a new name now) and especially Paul Gilbert’s “Overcoming Depression Using Cognitive Behavioural Techniques” which is the most fantastic self-help depression book I’ve ever come across. It’s hard work but very rewarding.
One last thing - if anyone ever tries to cast out the demon of depression from you, please thump them for me!
