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Abstract

This tribute primarily focuses on Karl Menninger's literary skills as a preacher. His last two books,Sparks and Whatever Became of Sin? are used as examples of what Reinhold Niebuhr called “vital prophetic Christianity.” They clearly illustrate Dr. Menninger's homiletical style. These evaluations are augmented by personal conversations with him during which he strongly encouraged pastoral counselors to refocus their attention on the sermon as a basic resource for prevention and hope.

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References

  1. Mitchell, K.R., “Karl Menninger,”The Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling. Nashville, Abingdon Press, 1990, pp. 707–708.

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  11. Fortunately, on two other occasions I had the privilege of spending more time with Dr. Menninger. The first of these was during the late 1970s when I was a psychological consultant for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Chicago architectural firm that redesigned the Menninger Foundation in Topeka. The second occurred nearly ten years later when we were brought together as members of the International Campaign for the Freud Museum in London. Along with Erik Erikson, Margaret Mahler, and Elie Wiesel, Dr. Karl served as an Honorary Co-Chairman until his death. In fact, his 1987 canvass letter for the Museum was used to introduce the American Association of Pastoral Counselors to this wonderful memorial to Sigmund and Anna Freud.

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  18. Menninger, K.Whatever Became of Sin? p. 47.

  19. Personal correspondence.

  20. Ibid.

  21. More specifically, our discussion about this doctrine concentrated on a working definition: “... the Doctrine of Providence (bonum ex nocentibus) claims that from even the most evil sources good can emerge. In other words, out of every unfortunate experience, as long as one chooses to look insightfully, beneficial results can be discovered.” Moss, D., “Near-Fatal Experience, Crisis Intervention and the Anniversary Reaction,”Pastoral Psychology, 1979,28, 2, 81.

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  22. The Death of God theme was last addressed in thisJournal, 1993,32, 3, 163–178, through my dialogue with Joseph Kitagawa. It was also a subject of discussion in the dialogue with Andrew Greeley, “On the Margins,” 1990,29, 4, 261–283.

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  23. Menninger, K.,Whatever Became of Sin?.op. cit., p. 228.

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  24. Unpublished transcription.

  25. The Sunday after Dr. Karl's death on July 18, 1990, I preached about his missionary world view at Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston. I included a poem that was recently published as another Centennial Tribute: Moss, D.Religio Psychiatrici, The Journal of Pastoral Care, 1993,47, 2, 93.

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David M. Moss, Ph.D., Th.D., is the Book Review Editor of thisJournal and the State Coordinator of Georgia for the American Association of Pastoral Counselors' Advisory Committee on Advocacy. This is an abbreviated version of a presentation made during the Karl A. Menninger Centennial Symposium on Depth Psychology and Religion, the Menninger Clinic, Topeka, July 23, 1993.

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Moss, D.M. Karl menninger: A centennial tribute. J Relig Health 32, 253–259 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00990952

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