Religious melancholy and the lost object -- "That shape am I": the bearing of melancholy on the varieties of religious experience -- "A thrill of fear": the melancholic sources of the idea of the holy -- "A little sun in his own heart": the melancholic vision in answer to job -- Melancholy and motherhate: the parabolic fault line in young man Luther
Summary
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
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-225) and index
