Read a 2004 article in Science & Theology News about the effects of compassionate love, altruism and spirituality in 12-step programs, and their effect on the health of recovering alcoholics.

Get a historical perspective on “Faith-Based Recovery: Its Historical Roots” in a 2005 article in Counselor: The Magazine for Addiction Professionals.

Read a 2013 comparative analysis of faith-based and secular interventions and treatments for substance abusers.

Read a 2001 CASAColumbia study that dives into the link between religion and spirituality and substance abuse.

Read a study conducted by the American Psychological Association revealing that adolescents’ perceived importance on religion and spirituality cut their interaction with drug use in half compared to adolescents who did not view religion as important.

Read a 2013 study by the National Center for Biotechnology Institute that claims good mental health is associated with religious belief or participation.

A comprehensive primer on addiction and treatment approaches is available from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

Leonard Sweet is E. Stanley Jones professor of evangelism at Drew University in Madison, N.J., and has been dean of the theological school there. Sweet is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. He and his wife, Karen Elizabeth Rennie, are the primary contributors to the web-based preaching resource preachingplus.com. A popular speaker, he has written numerous books, […]

Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church, a fast-growing, nondenominational, theologically conservative congregation in Seattle’s urban Ballard neighborhood. He was named one of the 25 most influential pastors of the past 25 years by Preaching magazine in 2010.