Paul Cantz

Towards a biblical psychoanalysis: a second look at the first book

Freuds materialistic treatment of religion has discouraged and stigmatised inquiries concerning the potential theoretical and clinical utility that biblical stories could offer to the ongoing development of psychoanalysis. As a result, the historical development of psychoanalysis has been disproportionally influenced by the Hellenic ideals that influenced the German humanistic pedagogical value of Bildung, to which Freud was an ardent disciple. However, since it has consistently been recognised that Western culture has been mutually influenced by both biblical and Hellenistic attitudes, it may be warranted to extend this dialectal interplay into the realm of individual psychology, in the process delimiting a space whereby psychoanalysis and biblical thought can constructively coexist. In this vein, prototypical myths from the Greek and biblical traditions can reliably be situated on a psycho-mythological continuum, with Greek myths representing a less integrated level of ego development and biblical narratives reflecting an unambivalent, higher level of psychological organisation. The Greek mythology of Oedipus and the biblical Binding of Isaac has been chosen to illustrate this dynamic.

Israel: ‘occupier’ or ‘occupied’? The psycho-political projection of Christian and post-Christian supersessionism

Political attitudes towards the modern state of Israel are substantially influenced by underlying theological issues in Pauline Christianity regarding ethnic versus spiritual Israel. The very charge of Israel as occupier can be seen as an inverted perception or even a psychological projection emerging from the supersessionist view that the Pauline Church is the New Israel, displacing the Jewish people as Gods elect. Hard and soft political charges of Israel as ‘occupier’ are discussed as are hard and soft claims of theological supersessionism. Dual covenant Christians tend not to espouse the view of Israel as occupier. Finally, these political and theological realms of thinking are linked in an attempt to bring psychological clarity to the peculiar nature of political projection towards the modern state of Israel, among Christians and even post-Christians in the West.

A psychodynamic inquiry into the spiritually evocative potential of music

Abstract Music has the uncanny potential to transport its listeners to normally inaccessible realms of the psyche. Grounded in an object relations perspective informed by the burgeoning neo-monistic philosophical discipline of somaesthetics, it is suggested that the synthesis of conscious (necessarily explicit), unconscious (potentially explicit), and nonconscious (necessarily implicit) elements comprises a more utilitarian concept of the psychic essence of an individual: the “foundational self.” This foundational self, or the “spiritual self,” represents the irreducible and ultimately unformulatable core of human experience that results from the dialectical fusion of true-self object relations with concomitant developmentally primitive psychosomatic self states. It is argued that certain types of so-called “sacred music” – music whose form aligns with implicit affective registries that are filtered through intrapsychic constellations of true self object relations – act as perhaps the most potent catalyst in facilitating experiences of spirituality. The phonological qualities of sacred music share the same spectrum of transitional space in which the foundational self enjoys its fullest expression. Sacred music possesses the ability to dissolve explicit representational boundaries in service of achieving symbolic interpersonal fusion with the foundational self, in so doing facilitating a blissfully ego-boundless sensation of unio mystica.

Suspicious circumcisions: a psychoanalytic exploration of the connection between Antisemitism and Misogyny

The historical dominance of Classical Greek attitudes, beliefs, and meaning structures has directly contributed to the “otherness” status of women, establishing an implicit misogynistic undercurrent in the history of Western society. The privileging of certain Greek ethos within the foundation of Christendom has likewise amplified and institutionalised Antisemitism, solidifying the Jew as an “other”, atavistic and vestigial nation of people. The biblical world view, in contradistinction, offers an important reappraisal of masculine and feminine ideals, undercutting misogynistic attitudes and in so doing delimiting space for an authentic feminine other to find expression. The alternative gender conceptualizations endorsed by the Bible and more generally embodied in Hebraic thought render Jews a target for displaced misogynistic rage. Particular attention is given to the domains of rationality vs. irrationality, activity vs. passivity, and the dramatically different ways that the Graeco-Roman, psychoanalytic, and Jewish traditions understand ritual circumcision, specifically how after being filtered through a Hebraic lens ritual circumcision, can be psychoanalytically re-conceptualised as a potent mechanism for forging intergenerational connectedness.

A Psycho-Biblical Response to Death Anxiety: Separation and Individuation Dynamics in the Babel Narrative

Compared to other biblical narratives, the well-known account of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11: 1–9) has been underrepresented in the psychological analysis of the Bible. Although the Babel narrative has conventionally been understood as a tale cautioning against the perils of rebelling against authority, on the one hand, and as an explanatory legend concerning the origins of linguistic and societal diversity, on the other—in this paper we maintain that the psychological relevance of the Babel narrative runs substantially deeper than what is to be found in these standard interpretations, and in fact offers interpretations, offering a sophisticated solution to the universal condition of death anxiety. Since the development of the Western mental health establishment has been largely underwritten by Classical Greek attitudes and values, the Hebraic worldview has been suppressed if not completely ignored within the development of psychoanalytic metatheory. The Greek myths of Phaëton and Icarus are examined to illuminate the contrast between the Classical Greek and biblical views of rebelliousness and individuation as it relates to assuaging death anxiety. Once interpreted through Hebraic optics, the Babel narrative can be appreciated as a story wherein a loving Deity (father figure) acts according to the best interests of His children (the Multitude), facilitating their emotional maturity and psychological individuation and consequently providing the space to mobilize their death anxiety into a vitalizing, life-affirming sense of self.

Recovering biblical narratives for positive psychology and suicide prevention in modern Israel

Abstract Suicide is the ultimate outcome of a tragic and pessimistic view of life, so prevalent in ancient Greek writings. Indeed, over 16 suicides and self-mutilations can be found in the 26 surviving tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. In contrast, only six suicides can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures. This article examines evidence regarding seven risk factors for suicide. It contrasts biblical and Greek narratives regarding each of these factors respectively: (1) Elijah against Ajax; (2) Job against Zeno; (3) David against Coriolanus; (4) Jonah against Narcissus; (5) Moses against Oedipus; (6) Rebecca against Phaedra; and finally (7) Ruth against Antigone. All these Greek narratives lead to self-destructive behaviours while biblical narratives provide a hopeful positive psychology, and a safe way out these dilemmas. It is high time to develop a biblical psychology and psychotherapy commensurate with the restored land of Israel and a Hebrew civilisation.

“To Life”: Biblical Narratives, Positive Psychology, and Suicide-Prevention

Some 16 suicides and self-mutilations can be found in the 26 surviving tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. In contrast, only 6 suicides can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and 1 suicide in the Christian New Testament. In addition, the Hebrew Scriptures present a number of suicide-prevention narratives largely absent in Greek legends underlying much of mental health. In other words, the Hebrew Scriptures seem to provide a psychological stopper for people in despair which seems unavailable to figures in the writings of the great Greek tragedians. This chapter examines evidence regarding seven risk factors for suicide: (1) feeling isolated and ignored; (2) feeling one’s life is without meaning; (3) feeling exiled from one’s home or homeland (feeling as a refugee or an outcast); (4) feeling unable to be oneself with others; (5) being raised in a foster home and later feeling alone in one’s life mission; (6) feeling abandoned by one’s child leaving the family nest and building his/her own life; and (7) feeling doomed by a dysfunctional (even incestuous) family of origin. We contrast biblical and Greek narratives regarding each of these factors, respectively: (1) Elijah against Ajax, (2) Job against Zeno, (3) David against Coriolanus, (4) Jonah against Narcissus, (5) Moses against Oedipus, (6) Rebecca against Phaedra, and finally, (7) Ruth against Antigone. All these contrasts should demonstrate to psychotherapists, counsellors, and clergy alike as to how Greek narratives lead to self-destructive behaviours while biblical narratives provide a hopeful positive psychology, and a safe way out of these dilemmas. It is high time to develop a Biblical Psychology.

Biblical narratives for positive psychology and suicide prevention: an evidence supported approach

ABSTRACT Suicide is the ultimate outcome of a tragic view of life that is prevalent in ancient Greek writings. Indeed, over 16 suicides and self-mutilations can be found in the 26 surviving tragedies of Sophocles and Euripides. In contrast, only six suicides can be found in the Hebrew Scriptures, and only one suicide in the Christian Scriptures. In addition, the Hebrew Scriptures present numerous suicide-prevention narratives that are psychologically instructive. This paper examines evidence regarding seven risk factors for suicide and contrasts Greek and Biblical narratives to underscore the clinical and theoretical utility of the Biblical approach: (1) Feeling isolated and ignored; (2) Feeling one’s life is meaningless; (3) Feeling exiled from one’s home or homeland; (4) Feeling unable to be oneself with others; (5) Feeling alone in one’s life mission; (6) Feeling abandoned by one’s child; and (7) Feeling doomed by a dysfunctional family of origin.

Individuation and Attachment in Israel and Thailand: Secular Versus Religious Jews and Buddhists

Two of the most important constructs in social, developmental, and clinical psychology are attachment and individuation. This study examined the impact of degree and type of religion on them by comparing the results of religious-national type (Israeli Jewish vs. Thai Buddhist) and degree of religiosity (religious vs. secular) on four subscales of the Individuation-Attachment Questionnaire: Need for Individuation, Fear of Individuation, Need for Attachment, and Fear of Attachment. Four groups of participants were compared: 61 religious Israeli Jews, 71 secular Israeli Jews, 17 religious Thai Buddhists, and 20 secular Thai Buddhists. Significant differences were found on all subscales, with religious Thai Buddhists lowest on all four of them. The secular Thais were highest in Fear of Individuation and Attachment and Need for Individuation. The religious Israeli Jews were highest in Need for Attachment. Because these concepts are sometimes difficult to distinguish, correlations were calculated to determine whether and which concepts were confabulated by each group, shedding further light on their views of interpersonal distance. These results were analyzed through examination of the differing worldviews and observances of Judaism and Buddhism with regard to individuation and attachment. Striking differences were found in the comparative narratives, leading to differential schemata for individuation and attachment, for both religious and secular subsamples within each religious-national community. These religious-national milieus were found to influence attitudes and behaviors toward ones ideal concept of interpersonal distance, specifically with regard to the constructs of individuation and attachment. Attachment is highly valued in Judaism, whereas detached compassion is the goal of Buddhistic teaching.