Description

Yale University Press

ContentsAcknowledgments / vii
Introduction / ix

Freud on Human Nature and Religion /
The Capacity for Relationships /
A Relational Psychoanalysis of Religion /
Toward a Relational Theology /

Illusion /
The Dilemmas of Reductionism /
A Nonreductive Psychoanalysis /
Conclusion: Being Human, Knowing God /

At the 1993 annual meeting of the American Psychological Association I received the William J. Bier Award given by the Division of Psychology of Religion. I wish to thank my colleagues for giving me the opportunity in my invited address on that occasion to present publicly my ideas about the dialogue between psychology and religion and to explore the personal context out of which my work has grown. In October and January I was invited to give a series of lectures and seminars at the Rosemead School of Psychology, in La Mirada, California, in which many of the ideas contained here were presented. I wish to thank the faculty, students, and staff of Rosemead who arranged these visits and provided many gracious and stimulating opportunities for discussion. At the other end of the continent and the theological spectrum, during the spring of I taught a seminar at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and I wish to thank those students for a semester of passionate and fruitful discussion around that seminar table. Several people read an early draft of the manuscript in its entirety, placing me forever in their debt. Randy Sorenson’s comments both encouraged me and forced me to look at familiar material in new ways. Ten years ago Marilyn Saur founded a study group that started me thinking about this topic in new ways. Much of my writing (including this book) would have remained unwritten without Marilyn’s feedback and support and that of the group on object relations theory and religion. More years ago than either of us will say, Frank G. Kirkpatrick and I were graduate students together in the religious studies department of Brown University. In the ensuing years our friendship continued but our interests diverged as he delved deeper into the philosophy of religion and I went off to study and practice psychology. But the past few years have found usintellectually reconverging as my studies of British object relations theory brought me to consider the philosophy of John Macmurray, the subject of Frank’s lifelong interest. Not only did Frank’s careful philosophical reading greatly strengthen the manuscript, but the fruit of his willingness to share his knowledge of Macmurray’s philosophy and its relation to the work of W. R. D. Fairbairn and Harry Guntrip and my tremendous debt to it are clear in these chapters. John McDargh served as a reader for this manuscript and, as always, his comments were unfailingly gracious and helpful, not only in his review but in our many conversations over many dinners over many years. Malcolm Diamond, friend, colleague, model of graciousness and courage in the face of life’s vicissitudes, contributed to this manuscript through his capacity for truly constructive criticism. Once again Naomi Goldenberg in our continuing discussion of these topics demonstrated that close friendship and ferocious disagreement can co-exist, and my growing impetus to make psychology and theology more sensitive to gender has been reinforced and areas of confusion clarified by these ongoing debates. Charles Grench, a prince among editors, and his colleagues at Yale University Press were, as always, a pleasure to work with. Rutgers University provided me with a faculty academic study leave during which time this book was written. An earlier version of chapter was published as “Knowledge in Transition: Toward A Winnicottian Epistemology,” Psychoanalytic Review, and is used by permission of the Psychoanalytic Review, published by the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis.