Depth psychological exegesis

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The depth psychological exegesis is a form of Biblical exegesis , their approaches in depth psychology , are explained in the psychological and psychotherapeutic processes by unconscious mental processes human behavior and experience are rooted. The interpretation of biblical narratives in the context of depth psychology does not result from their historical understanding, but from the idea that humans have a psyche with different depths.

history

This method is based primarily on the depth psychology of Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung . The first approaches to this can already be found in Sigmund Freud's essay The Man Moses and the Monotheistic Religion of 1939. In it Freud tries to psychoanalytically interpret the biblical stories about Moses in a religious-historical context against the background of the National Socialist persecution of the Jews. Freud had already dealt with questions of religious studies in Totem und Tabu 1913 .

Carl Gustav Jung later developed the term archetype as the epitome of the conceptual patterns in the human unconscious in which people are perceived. Paul Tillich also pleaded for a rapprochement between psychoanalysis and religion and made four points.

  1. With the help of psychoanalysis it has become possible to rediscover insights that had been hidden in the depths of religious literature for two thousand years.
  2. The real meaning of the term “ sin ” was discovered through depth psychology , namely the separation and alienation of humans from their true being.
  3. On the basis of the knowledge gained from depth psychology, people can again remember the “demonic structures” that influence and direct the freedom of their actions from unconscious layers before they even become conscious decisions.
  4. According to Tillich, psychotherapy continues what Jesus of Nazareth once taught and exemplified, namely not only dealing with the righteous, but above all looking at the unjust, sinners and those in need, and accepting them. This seems to Tillich to be the real crux of the talk of grace and forgiveness .

Methodical approach

The approach of depth psychological exegesis is the dream as well as the world of the collective unconscious and the archetypes. In what is probably the best-known work on this method, depth psychology and exegesis , Eugen Drewermann explains how the Bible can be interpreted in terms of depth psychology , and sharp criticism of the historical-critical method . Drewermann assumes that the depth psychological interpretation of an archetypal text is basically applicable to different types of text, these are: myth , legend , novella , history of appearance and calling , prophecy and apocalypse . Each of these narrative forms projects a certain part of the unconscious onto a linguistic image.

The aim of depth psychological exegesis is to recognize the unconscious soul structure in the religious behavior of people, to make them aware and to help the individual to a spiritual self-knowledge. Especially the work and the parables of Jesus represent a connection between the historical texts and the individual now. The language of the biblical writings is understood and interpreted as an expression of the psyche of individuals, the cause and effect on the individual life path in a context of salvation and want to bring disaster.

Representative

Well-known representatives of depth psychological exegesis are Eugen Drewermann , Christa Mulack , Gerda Weiler , Maria Kassel and Anselm Grün .

literature

  • Eugen Drewermann : depth psychology and exegesis . Volume I: Dreams, Myths, Fairy Tales, Saga and Legend. 8th edition, Olten 1990, ISBN 978-3530168525
  • Thomas Meurer : Introduction to the methods of Old Testament exegesis . LIT Verlag, Münster 1999, ISBN 9-78-382-584408-0, p. 100 ff.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sigmund Freud: The man Moses and the monotheistic religion . Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1999, ISBN 3-596-26300-X
  2. ↑ Sigmund Freud: Totem and Tabu. Some similarities in the soul life of savages and neurotics . With an introduction by Mario Erdheim. Fischer Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 1995, ISBN 3-596-10451-3
  3. ↑ Jolande Jacobi : The psychology of CG Jung . Frankfurt 1977, ISBN 3-596-26365-4
  4. ↑ Maria Kassel: Be who you should become. Depth psychological impulses from the Bible. Pfeiffer, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7904-0370-9 .
  5. ↑ Anselm Grün: Depth psychological scripture interpretation Vier Türme 2007, ISBN 3-8786-8447-9