Address by Dr. James Berry at the conference “Justification by Faith Alone: Recovering Law and Gospel” in Cape Town, South Africa, on 21 June 2025.
Since the Fall, humankind has grappled with the tragic reality of our fallenness. This fallenness is most fundamentally experienced as shame—the recognition of a core identity that has failed to measure up to the Imago Dei. This failure goes beyond an inability to live up to standards of righteousness. Rather, it is a brutal confrontation (conscious or unconscious) with the inadequacy of our nature and the disintegrated relationship to God. As such, we engage in various self-soothing strategies to mitigate our shame, whether it be psychological defence mechanisms or addictions to name a few. Dr. Berry explores the foundations and consequences of shame, as well as the beauty and joy of forgiveness centred in the cross of Christ that re-establishes our identity as children of God.
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Dr. Berry is Professor and Chair of the Department of Behavioural Medicine and Psychiatry at West Virginia University School of Medicine and the Director of Addictions. He is board-certified in both General Psychiatry and Addiction Psychiatry. He is a Ruling Elder of Reformation Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC). Dr. Berry seeks to help Christians understand addiction from biological, psychological, social, and spiritual perspectives.