Can Christians Take Antidepressants?
1) Direct Answer
Yes. A Christian may take prescribed antidepressant medicine under proper care, with prayer and faith in God as the true Healer, so long as it does not lead to bondage, loss of sobriety, or become a substitute for repentance and trust in the Lord.
2) Scriptural Explanation
- The Bible shows that practical helps for the body are permitted. “Use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities” (1 Timothy 5:23). That wasn’t unbelief; it was a measured, need-based help.
- Paul traveled with “Luke, the beloved physician” (Colossians 4:14). God did not condemn the presence of a doctor among His people.
- The Good Samaritan used oil and wine on wounds (Luke 10:34), showing the lawful use of remedies.
- Yet healing is God’s work: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church… the prayer of faith shall save the sick” (James 5:14-15).
- We must not be ruled by anything: “I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12). And we must keep a clear, Spirit-led mind: “Be not drunk with wine… but be filled with the Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
- God also addresses the inner life: He gives “the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness” (Isaiah 61:3), His peace guards the heart and mind (Philippians 4:6-7), and we cast all our care upon Him (1 Peter 5:7).
3) Simple Clarifying Logic
- You see, some afflictions are mainly physical, some are wounds of the soul, and some are heavy spiritual oppression. A pill cannot forgive sin or cast out a devil, and a sermon cannot replace food, rest, or a necessary aid to the body. So we seek the Lord first, obey His Word, receive prayer, and, when needed, use lawful helps without condemnation.
- Medicine is a tool; God is the Healer. If a measured, doctor-directed treatment helps stabilize the body while you feed on the Word and walk in obedience, it’s not unbelief. But if any drug begins to rule you, dull your sobriety, or excuse disobedience, that’s wrong.
- Guard the order:
- Go to God first—prayer, repentance, confession, and the anointing of the elders.
- Stay in the Word, praise, fellowship, and clean living.
- If there’s ongoing need, use prescribed treatment wisely, avoid self-medicating, review it regularly with trustworthy care, and give thanks to God.
- Don’t condemn those who are struggling. Strengthen them. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and binds up wounds. He restores both mind and heart.
4) Reinforcing Statement
Now notice, the Bible never tells you to refuse help; it tells you to refuse bondage and unbelief. Keep Christ first, keep your mind clear, walk in the light, and let every remedy sit under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. God heals—sometimes instantly, sometimes by process—but always to the glory of His Name.
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What did the Laodicean Church Age (our age) Angel (- messenger) Say about this?
Ranked passages from the local William Branham sermon and Church Age Book database. Relevance is relative, not a statement of doctrinal certainty.
Images of Christ
59-0525 §21
Oh, I know people say, "That days are past." It isn't. If Christ still remains Christ, if His Spirit is still the Holy Spirit that was in Him be in you, it'll make you take that position too. But today, we try to think that we're different. How far it is from His prayer when He prayed that this would all men know that we were His disciples when we have love one for another. And instead of that, we fuss at one another. We despise one another, because we don't agree upon certain things. And we go out and accuse each...
The Comforter
61-1001E §27
Take the man or the woman that would put himself down into some cellar, and would not see the sunshine---the natural sunshine---that God has provided for him, but he refuses to believe it. And because of selfishness, he shuts hisself off. That man will soon become anemic, he will become pale. He won't have good strength, he won't have health. And he'll soon ... because that he has shut himself off from the very privilege that God gave him. That's right. He did it willfully. Then if we shut ourselves off from the gl...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-23
Here is where you have to believe again in the love, and goodness and wisdom of God. This, too, is needful. Remember He admonished, "Take no thought for the morrow, what ye shall eat or what ye shall put on. Your Father knoweth the things ye have need of. He Who clothes the lily and feeds the sparrow shall do much more for you. These physical things are not the true basic necessities of your life, for a man's life consisteth not of the things he possesses. But rather seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteo...
The door inside the door
58-0209E §61
...any should perish; but there's some people that never can be saved. Not because God don't want it, but God by foreknowledge knew it. How many in here tonight that's already Christians and has (God bless you, young man)--- that's already Christians and ... but you're not leading the right kind of a life as a Christian. You say, "Jesus, come in and take the door of selfishness, pride, whatever it is in the way, and open up my door tonight." Would you raise your hands? God bless you. That's right. God bless you. Oh my...
Letting off the pressure
62-0518 §42
Then the thought come to me, "O God, let me not be as a donkey. Let me be a sheep! that when my flame is dimming and the sun of my life is setting, take me safely in the corral when my eyes are closing." I don't want to be left out there as just a so-called Christian. I want to be a real sheep. I want... They all eat in the same pasture---just like the Bible says, "The rain falls on the just and the unjust." People sit together, crowds of people. Some of them are, and some of them are not. They all fall on the same...