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Reflection on the relationship between psychoanalysis and christianity

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Abstract

Coming to terms with Freud's ideas and attitudes toward religion is prerequisite to any consideration of the compatibility between psychoanalysis and Christianity. In a previous essay and in this one I have attempted to sort out Freud's ambivalence and ambiguity in the area and to point out their relevance to the issue at hand. In this paper I survey and criticize the opinions of a number of writers, as well as putting forward some of my own. I emphasize that the compatibility question is one of value, rather than of fact, and that one's answer to it depends largely on one's conception of psychoanalysis itself. The issue is not clear-cut. Some aspects of psychoanalytic theory and practice appear more reconcilable with Christian theology, ethics, and spirituality than others. A few psychoanalytic tenets seem in direct contradiction to religious ones. I close with an historical-sociological point that I believe has some bearing on the matter.

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Author notes

  1. Edwin R. Wallace IV M.D. (Director of Psychotherapy Education and Associate Professor)

    Present address: Department of Psychiatry, Medical College of Georgia, 30912, Augusta, GA

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    1. Edwin R. Wallace IV M.D.
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    At the time of writing, Chief of Individual Psychotherapy at the Connecticut Mental Health Center and on the faculty in psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine.

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    Wallace, E.R. Reflection on the relationship between psychoanalysis and christianity. Pastoral Psychol 31, 215–243 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01759892

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