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It is not by coincidence that the key
figures in the psychology of religion--William James, Rudolf Otto, Carl
Jung, and Erik Erikson--each fought a lifelong battle with melancholia,
argues Donald Capps in this engrossing book. These four men experienced
similar traumas in early childhood: each perceived a loss of mother's
unconditional love. In the deep melancholy that resulted, they turned to
religion. Capps contends that the main impetus for men to become religious
lies in such melancholia, and that these four authors were typical,
although their losses were especially severe because of complicating
personal circumstances. Offering a new way of viewing the major classics
in the psychology of religion, Capps explores the psychological origins of
these authors' own religious visions through a sensitive examination of
their writings.
"Rarely have I read such a lucid,
wise, and true work in contemporary psychology of religion. Capps's main
theses are irreproachable, his argument clear and careful. This work is
absolutely original--no one else could write this book."--Judith Van
Herik
"Donald Capp . . . has written a tour
de force in the psychology of religion. His book lifts pastoral theology
and practice to a new plateau of enlightened thought. . . . Capps suggests
how these men [James, Otto, Jung, and Erikson] and others remain spiritual
mentors, guiding the 'inner work' that needs doing by a learned clergy for
generations to come. If people engage in such inner work in the name of
their apostolic faith, then only benefit is likely from repeated
engagements with this powerful book, itself a guide to creative living and
spiritual growth in the service of others."--Richard A. Hutch, The
Princeton Seminary Bulletin
"This is an original and important
work, a seamless and sensitive investigation of the lives and texts of
important thinkers in the psychology of religion. Highly
recommended."--Religious Studies Review
"Professor Capps has spun a
fascinating web of speculation, weaving together the threads of depression
in the life histories of four major contributors to the study of the
psychology of religious experience and advancing the thesis that these
depressive trends are the fons et origo of their respective
religious ideas."--W.W. Meissner, Psychoanalytic Books
"This book is a new window on the
classics of the psychology of religion and illumines the psychological
sources of these writers' particular religious insights."--J. Harold
Ellens, Calvin Theological Journal
"Capps is an intriguing and
imaginative thinker. The examination of maternal influence on religious
ideas, and the dynamics of separation trauma and melancholia as precursors
to religious experience are highly suggestive and potentially useful ways
of examining religious ideas and feelings. . . . This book is provocative,
stimulating, and worth reading for those interested in the psychology of
religion."--Jerry S. Piven, Journal of Psychohistory
"The book is written in a clear,
accessible style; it is engaging and provocative."--William H.
Becker, Theology Today
"The material is constructed and
interpreted skillfully, and of course speculatively. . . . This is an
unusual and profoundly scholarly book of great panache."--Kate Miriam
Loewenthal, International Review of Psychiatry
"Using biographical sources and
psychoanalytic theory, Capps has produced an intriguing and edifying book.
This work stands at the intersection of the psychology of religion,
psychohistory, and psychiatry."--Robert L. Woolfolk, Journal of
Nervous and Mental Disease
"Donald Capps has produced one of the
more though-provoking books in the psychology of religion in the last
decade. . . . A well-written invitation to think through the psychological
underpinnings of the process whereby individuals, especially males, become
'bound' to religion. . . . This book will provoke lively debate in the
psychology of religion for years to come."--Robert C. Fuller, Journal
of Religion
"This book offers a new and daring way
of viewing four classic texts in the psychology of religion. . . . [This
book is] a valuable contribution to a hermeneutic psychology of religion.
It is very stimulating and provocative reading."--Hetty Zock, Journal
for the Scientific Study of Religion
“[Capps] presents the fascinating thesis
that four of the classic texts in the psychology of religion . . . are, in
part, autobiographical. . . . A masterful defense.”--Philip R. Beard, Bulletin
of the Menninger Clinic |
