John,

Thank you for suggesting 'The Answer Within'; I included it with my upcoming book-order, together with a few other relevant references.
I have to say, I like your approach (I've just read your reply in the other thread as well) and I have given considerable thought to some of the specific ideas you brought up in order to develop them further.

To answer your question: there is no spiritual (or any other) authority of any kind that this person looks up to re his faith, or anything else for that matter. He believes people can easily be deceived (the bible warns explicitely of that) and he trusts his own studying and judgement above anyone else's. He researched these topics for years, and he feels his system is coherent and comprehensive. He tells of discussions he has had in the past with theologians, in which his own reasoning had the upper hand. I don't know all the details, but I tend to believe him

There is some authority issue here (childhood experience), as well as objective circumstances: in the community where he lives now, he is probably one of very few well-read, well-educated, intellectually inclined people. His work (art and writing) is mainly done alone, family takes up much of his time, and when topics of faith or politics come up among friends, it is him that the others listen to, and his discourse is usually respected and enjoyed. So I'm afraid at the moment there is noone such as you describe that can be invited to the sessions.

It is extremely difficult to portray a complete and accurate picture in a forum such as this, and I most certainly emphasized the anxiety issues because those were my concerns. I should really do this person more justice by pointing something out: his is one of the brightest, most independent and creative minds I have come across in my life, and I have had the good fortune of extensive education, travel and exposure to many cultures. My goal is to open up resources for him while changing/influencing as little else as possible.
I am doing a lot of homework on this: everything from investigation of possible additional approaches such as ACT (Dr. Pretzer's thoughts), to familiarizing myself intimately with the bible

I'll let you know

Thank you, John.