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.
Ask a Follow-up Question
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.
The arrow of God's deliverance shot from a bow
56-0801 §31
...uth. And the truth shall set you free. God wants you to know the truth. Christ is the truth. The Holy Ghost [unclear words]. He's here now, the Holy Spirit. He likes you to take It in power, take [unclear words] His Word. And if the Holy Ghost is in you, He feeds on the Word of God, and not on televisions and True Story magazines and love books that you people calling yourselves Christians wrap yourself up in. Why do your children...? Looky here. In less than three months time, every teen-age kid in the country fro...
An Exposition Of The Seven Church Ages
CAB 4:E-44
...ad of the Spirit-filled men in the church who were led by Spirit-given revelation, there are now creeds, and by-laws, and the educated guesses of educated men. Learning has taken the place of revelation. Reason has replaced faith. Program has replaced spontaneous praise in the Holy Ghost. It wasn't so from the beginning. The whole specie has changed. It has become a hybrid church. 46 Now then, when the church becomes hybridized, will it produce pure Christians? It can't. The life or seed that brings Christians to b...
Why many Christians struggle to live the Christian life
57-0303A §54
How did He do it? Out of the dust of the earth. Now, look, if it taken the Holy Spirit to brood me from the earth, to call me out of the dust of the earth, and now I am based on the basis of free moral agency to receive it or to turn it down. If I want life, I can have it. If I want to refuse it (I'm a free moral agent.), I can take the devil then. But if I want God, I can take God; and that's before every person that ever come on the earth. But look, by my own mental conceptions, I can't have it. What is it? It to...
The Prophet Elisha
54-0723 §48
Now, we shall call the prayer line and pray for the sick. May the Holy Spirit at this time take full charge of the meeting and get glory out of it. Now, I ask that everyone be as reverent as can be, and then just let the Holy Spirit come in. Don't be suspicious. That just hurts so bad. Do you realize that you are an individual unit of God, yourself? Did you know that? They tell me I look like my father. And he was about my size and... Why? That's my father. Well, if we're Christians, then we'll have some mark of ou...
Questions and Answers, part 1
54-0103M §1
That's fine, and I'm certainly happy to be here this morning to try to answer a few of these questions. And I see some more has come in. And so we're... It may take me just a little bit of time to kind of read some of these, because I just got them this morning. And I want to express my feeling of being here to worship God today on this beautiful Sabbath that He's give us to come together. And a little place that we gather in and for the pastor, our brother, Brother Neville---a servant of God---and for all the deac...