Religious experience and psychoanalysis: from man-as-god to man-with-god

Abstract

The author notes that the Freudian psychoanalytic view of religion has become a saturated concept that causes psychoanalysts to disregard the complexity of the religious experience. Issue is taken with the reductionism inherent in the conception of religion as mere illusion and the image of God as being derived solely from the oedipal father. After a presentation of the ideas of some later authors and discussion of the transition from the state of 'Man-as-God' to the relationship of 'Man-with-God' as portrayed in a film, two clinical vignettes are given to illustrate this process of humanisation. The author suggests that religious manifestations in patients should be seen not only in the light of their infantile determinants but also as the result of processes whereby new meaning is assigned to psychic facts. In his opinion, psychoanalysis should not seek solely to reduce religious beliefs to their roots in unconscious fantasies but should lead to a reorganisation of the analysand's image of God and the assignment of new meaning to it. The resulting changes are shown as contributing to psychic growth on the part of both analysand and analyst. The author contends that if psychoanalysis dismisses religion as illusion, it is running the risk of itself becoming an established religion.