Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
175
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
GLENN E. WHITLOCK There is an implicit theory of personality in Christian theology, but it has rarely been worked out in a way that is specifically theological. This exploratory attempt to formulate a theory of personality development and its relation to psychotherapy is grounded in clinical experience with both individual and group psychotherapy, and in theological and biblical study. From a theological perspective, the basic structure of this theory is rooted in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The basic psychological contribution comes from the existential movement in psychology and psychotherapy.
A theory of personality In terms of psychology, there are two basic dimensions of the developing self. There is the individuated sell and the self in relationship. These aspects of the self are in continuous tension, and they are present in life from the very beginning. Symbiosis is the term representing the initial interdependence of the fetus with the body of the mother. Autism is the medical term indicating the separation of the child from the mother by the cutting of the umbilical cord. From that point on, the child moves between the individuated self and the self in relationship at a new psychological level. Although some writers have included additional dynamics to describe the self, they are simply an elaboration of these two basic dimensions. Some theological writers have added the dimension of relationsl'dp to God as an additional mode of the self. Any such theological articulation is, of course, an in-
176
Journal of Religion and Health
terpretation. It seems to indicate a mode of the self that is somehow included in some and missing in others. A more adequate interpretation seems to be that relationship with God does not involve an additional mode, but that this relationship gives authenticity to the two basic dimensions of the self. Furthermore, the nature of the interpretation of God will determine whether or not authentic selfhood is derived from the relationship. A relationship with God that involves a pantheistic absorption of the self blurs rather than clarifies the individuation that is necessary to selfhood. A relationship with a completely transcendent God, which results in an absolute separation between God and man, distorts the nature of relationship. The relationship with God in terms of the person of Jesus Christ and the Incarnation is able to clarify both the aspects of individuation and of relationship. Relationship with God does not involve an absorption of the worshipper, or a fusion of I and Thou. The distinctness of both God and man is retained. On the other hand, God and man are not absolutely separated. The transcendence of God expresses the distinctness of both God and man. The immanence of God revealed through Jesus Christ establishes the possibility of relationship between God and man. Man is spirit, and the Holy Spirit relates with man through a man in an existential interpersonal encounter enabling him to become the kind of self he is struggling to attain. It is only this kind of relationship between God and man that enables man to become fully aware of his true selfhood. It is in relationship with another person that God is known, and in this encounter one is enabled to discover what constitutes the singularity and uniqueness of his selfhood. It is through this relationship that man becomes aware of his authentic self. The relationship between God and man, then, does not add another dimension to man's selfhood. Rather it is in human encounter that relationship with God is established and man becomes fully aware of his true self. A person comes to knowledge of his true selfhood through three dimensions of theological thought. First of all, the self is a "given." God created man in His own image. It is difficult to determine just what the priestly or Yahwist writers meant when they referred to the "image of God." The phrase is undoubtedly a symbolic expression that it is impossible to define accurately. However, the manner in which the writers describe the creation of man gives us at least some important dues. Since
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
177
man is the only creature with a special relationship with God, he has a position above the animals because he is placed in charge over them (Gen. I:z6-3o), and by naming them is given control over them (Gen. 2 :~9). Man is created as a unified being, but his body (basar) is powerless by itself. When the Spirit of God (ruach) is breathed into man, he becomes a whole person (nephesh). It is the Spirit of God who enables man to become fully aware of his true selfhood. Hence, man is spirit with a particular "given" that enables him to relate to God as Holy Spirit. He is not absolutely separate from God; hence, he is able to live in relationship with Him. He is distinct from God; hence, he has individuality, which is requisite to any authentic relatedness. In Hebrew psychology, the weakness of the body (basar), which refers only to man as creature, is set off in contrast to the power of God. Man is shorn of any idolatrous confidence in self. Selfhood cannot be achieved through will power. The courage to realize the potentiality of being a whole person comes from God. This courage comes from God's acceptance of man even though he is unacceptable. This acceptance is demonstrated through Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is the Spirit (ruach) of God who enables the person to act in any way whatsoever. It is the Spirit of God who enables man to come to any understanding of himself and to become a whole person in healthy relatedness with others. Secondly, man is ontologically relational. As a person with a history, he is moved to respond to God as He reveals himself in history. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." God reveals Himself as He is through Jesus Christ. God makes Himself known not only as Creator, but also as Redeemer in the way in which He acts through Jesus Christ. He makes Himself known through the true man, Jesus Christ. A man discovers his true humanity through Jesus Christ because in this way God relates to him in a living encounter that enables him to become a whole person. Having made Himself known as He was in Himself, through the true man, Jesus Christ, God clarifies His relationship to man for all time. He comes to man through a man. God's revelation of Himself through a man is the revelation of God as He is in Himself. He is related to man on the human level of the "I-Thou" relationship. When one man relates to another as a thou, he encounters through a man created in the "image of God" a living relationship with Him. It is not that God is limited to the substance of a man for His encounter with man. It is simply that the Holy Spirit is the ground of human encounter, and that the man who has
178
Journal of Religion and Health
found his true humanity in Jesus Christ has a quality of being in relationship through which God encounters the other person. It is the very human acceptance of man by God that is communicated through Jesus Christ. It is this same acceptance that God somehow communicates through a person. It may be the acceptance of a child by his mother, or the acceptance of a friend by a friend. Jesus said to his followers that they would do great things. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father." (John, ~4:z2) A third way in which man understands the basic dimension of selfhood is through his own history. In one sense, a man does not know who he is until someone tells him. A mother tells her child who he is in every dimension of her relationship with him. He is loved or unloved; he is good or bad; he is adequate or inadequate.If he has not been loved or accepted in his primary relationship with his parents, he may need his psychotherapist to tell him who he is. He is accepted even when unacceptable. He chooses the history of "the people of God" as his own history, or he chooses some other history as his own. As he chooses, he discovers the dimensions of his selfhood. It is not a selfhood developed in a vacuum. It is derived through decision. The person who has accepted himself as created in the "image of God" and who has accepted God as known through human relationship experiences his existence not simply as a task, but as a mission. The "calling" or mission involves responsibility. Fulfillment of his mission involves awareness of both authentic uniqueness and relatedness.
Personality and psychotherapy The whole person who is realized or discovered in all of his dimensions is identified as "soul" in theological terms. In the language of contemporary psychology, the whole person is identified as the actualized "self." A self does not experience actualization simply by willing it. Man as creature is powerless all by himself to actualize himself. He cannot achieve wholeness all by himself. It is only when God's Spirit is related to man's spirit through interpersonal encounter that the self becomes whole or actualized. Psychotherapy is one method through which a man is set flee in order to experience self-actualization. It is not a way of life, but it offers a method through which a
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
179
man is set free from his fears and anxieties so that he can choose or respond to a particular way of life. It is a way to life. Of course, self-actualization may proceed in psychotherapy without any specific reference to God. This interpretation of developing selfhood is simply a theological interpretation of what has happened to a person in psychotherapy. It may or may not be accepted, but it is a theological model by which the data of the actualization of selfhood may be interpreted. It is the thesis of Christian theology that while healing and wholeness come through the person of the counselor or the psychotherapist, they come through a reality that transcends man. This actualization comes from beyond man, even though it comes through man.
Psychotherapy and salvation Furthermore, self-actualization alone cannot be equated with salvation. It is only when the self's freedom is actualized that a man is free enough to choose a particular interpretation of wholeness that involves the measure beyond man. In self-actualization a person may still say that "man is the measure of all things." The concept of salvation includes man as a measure, but not as the measure by which reality is interpreted. Salvation implies that wholeness has a significance beyond self-actualization. It is a wholeness that takes into account the total reality of interpersonal encounter. It is not limited to the single segment of human self-actualization. In salvation, it is God Who acts. But He acts within the context in which His love is expressed for us through our love for each other. Self-actualization in psychotherapy does not provide purpose in life. It only frees man as spirit to choose the kind of relational meaning such as that expressed in the Incarnation. It is a relational meaning in which the other person becomes the one through which wholeness comes, and even though this wholeness comes through a man, it comes from beyond him. The model of this relational meaning is not so much what I bring into the encounter with my fellow-man, but what results from the encounter. It is not that I introduce God into this human experience. God is the ground of this encounter, and human spirit is related to Holy Spirit as I listen to my fellow-man to discover who he is. If I am able to hear what he says to me, it is the Gospel that I hear. It is the Gospel because if I am really able to hear what my fellow-man is saying, it is the result of the love of Holy Spirit whose acceptance has freed me to respond to my
180
Journal of Religion and Health
fellow-man. This love of Holy Spirit is experienced in the encounter between myself and my fellow-man. A sense of the meaning of authentic selfhood may result from this encounter, but the meaning extends beyond the human experience itself. God is the ground of the encounter and the enabler of the human response of love and acceptance. Christian theology points to Jesus Christ as the one through whom salvation comes. God's acceptance and love, which is communicated through persons, is demonstrated or made manifest in Jesus Christ, the true man. It,is in Jesus Christ that reconciliation between God and man is possible because in him man sees God in another man. He is a true man, undistorted by the estrangement and alienation which separate a man from his fellow-men. Since man encounters God's acceptance through this man, he can begin to accept himself. Accepting himself as accepted, and hence free from separation from his fellow-men, he is enabled to choose to be a man for others and to discover God's continuing acceptance through the other. In salvation a man accepts acceptance by the Creator, even though this acceptance may be experienced through another creature. Experiencing this acceptance by the Creator, he is enabled to begin to internalize the authority that is his to enjoy as a creature. He will begin to be able to be a creature among other creatures without needing to pretend to be more than he is. He will begin to be able to accept himself as he is in relation to the other person without needing to lord it over him with a distorted sense of his own importance. In his humility as creature, he will begin to be able to minister to the other, and to be ministered unto by the other. It is crucial for a man to accept his creaturehood precisely because that is the way in which he becomes a person. Awareness and acceptance of dependency constitute the beginning of the developmental process. The symbiotic relationship with the mother is the beginning of relationship both with oneself and with the other. As the process of personality development proceeds, the original symbiotic dependency of the creature upon the Creator is terminated. The "umbilical cord" between the Creator and the creature is cut. The creature no longer depends upon the Creator for answers that he may be expected to work out for himself. The creature is now becoming a person. He has now begun the process of individuation in which relationship with God is a viable option for the first time. He now has a responsible decision to make. He is no longer tied to God by the "umbilical cord" of a passive, unfree dependency. He is free to respond--free to choose. Whose god will he now
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
181
choose? The problem of man is the same today as it has always been. It is the problem of idolatry. And being free, a man is confronted with choices. To whom do you belong? Whom do you choose to serve? Within this process of personality development, the person does not move into some sense of individuation off by himself. He moves between the individuated self and the self in relationship. Although he has terminated his passive dependency, he continues to accept the reality of his need for relationship. He "remembers" that the "other" came first. His "significant other" loved him first, and the development of his personhood would not have occurred had it not been for this "significant other." While one's own "significant other" may be identified as a particular person, the reality that is communicated transcends both that person and the relationship resulting from this human encounter.
Summary In such an approach to the theological understanding of personality, man is a unified being. He is an indissoluble unity of body and mind. He discovers his identity as a self through awareness of himself as a unified, relational being. Human spirit is the realized unity of the whole person. As spirit, man is able to relate to Holy Spirit in such a way that he discovers who he is in wholeness through the kind of acceptance he experiences in relationship with another person. Finally, he comes to an understanding of his identity as he chooses his particular history and experiences wholeness in relational involvement with his neighbor. The whole person is the actualized "self." Self-actualization occurs in relationship as a person discovers his worth within the interpersonal encounter. While wholeness develops through the intervention of a man, its meaning transcends the human dimension. Healing comes through man, even though it comes from beyond man.
Salvation occurs through the true man, Jesus Christ. Reconciliation between God and man is possible because in Him man sees God in another man. Hence, reconciliation occurs in the relationship between man and his fellow-man as Holy Spirit constitutes the ground of that relationship. As Jesus Christ makes reconciliation possible between God and man, reconciliation becomes possible between man and his fellow-men precisely because the Holy Spirit is the ground of that relationship.
175
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
GLENN E. WHITLOCK There is an implicit theory of personality in Christian theology, but it has rarely been worked out in a way that is specifically theological. This exploratory attempt to formulate a theory of personality development and its relation to psychotherapy is grounded in clinical experience with both individual and group psychotherapy, and in theological and biblical study. From a theological perspective, the basic structure of this theory is rooted in the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. The basic psychological contribution comes from the existential movement in psychology and psychotherapy.
A theory of personality In terms of psychology, there are two basic dimensions of the developing self. There is the individuated sell and the self in relationship. These aspects of the self are in continuous tension, and they are present in life from the very beginning. Symbiosis is the term representing the initial interdependence of the fetus with the body of the mother. Autism is the medical term indicating the separation of the child from the mother by the cutting of the umbilical cord. From that point on, the child moves between the individuated self and the self in relationship at a new psychological level. Although some writers have included additional dynamics to describe the self, they are simply an elaboration of these two basic dimensions. Some theological writers have added the dimension of relationsl'dp to God as an additional mode of the self. Any such theological articulation is, of course, an in-
176
Journal of Religion and Health
terpretation. It seems to indicate a mode of the self that is somehow included in some and missing in others. A more adequate interpretation seems to be that relationship with God does not involve an additional mode, but that this relationship gives authenticity to the two basic dimensions of the self. Furthermore, the nature of the interpretation of God will determine whether or not authentic selfhood is derived from the relationship. A relationship with God that involves a pantheistic absorption of the self blurs rather than clarifies the individuation that is necessary to selfhood. A relationship with a completely transcendent God, which results in an absolute separation between God and man, distorts the nature of relationship. The relationship with God in terms of the person of Jesus Christ and the Incarnation is able to clarify both the aspects of individuation and of relationship. Relationship with God does not involve an absorption of the worshipper, or a fusion of I and Thou. The distinctness of both God and man is retained. On the other hand, God and man are not absolutely separated. The transcendence of God expresses the distinctness of both God and man. The immanence of God revealed through Jesus Christ establishes the possibility of relationship between God and man. Man is spirit, and the Holy Spirit relates with man through a man in an existential interpersonal encounter enabling him to become the kind of self he is struggling to attain. It is only this kind of relationship between God and man that enables man to become fully aware of his true selfhood. It is in relationship with another person that God is known, and in this encounter one is enabled to discover what constitutes the singularity and uniqueness of his selfhood. It is through this relationship that man becomes aware of his authentic self. The relationship between God and man, then, does not add another dimension to man's selfhood. Rather it is in human encounter that relationship with God is established and man becomes fully aware of his true self. A person comes to knowledge of his true selfhood through three dimensions of theological thought. First of all, the self is a "given." God created man in His own image. It is difficult to determine just what the priestly or Yahwist writers meant when they referred to the "image of God." The phrase is undoubtedly a symbolic expression that it is impossible to define accurately. However, the manner in which the writers describe the creation of man gives us at least some important dues. Since
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
177
man is the only creature with a special relationship with God, he has a position above the animals because he is placed in charge over them (Gen. I:z6-3o), and by naming them is given control over them (Gen. 2 :~9). Man is created as a unified being, but his body (basar) is powerless by itself. When the Spirit of God (ruach) is breathed into man, he becomes a whole person (nephesh). It is the Spirit of God who enables man to become fully aware of his true selfhood. Hence, man is spirit with a particular "given" that enables him to relate to God as Holy Spirit. He is not absolutely separate from God; hence, he is able to live in relationship with Him. He is distinct from God; hence, he has individuality, which is requisite to any authentic relatedness. In Hebrew psychology, the weakness of the body (basar), which refers only to man as creature, is set off in contrast to the power of God. Man is shorn of any idolatrous confidence in self. Selfhood cannot be achieved through will power. The courage to realize the potentiality of being a whole person comes from God. This courage comes from God's acceptance of man even though he is unacceptable. This acceptance is demonstrated through Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is the Spirit (ruach) of God who enables the person to act in any way whatsoever. It is the Spirit of God who enables man to come to any understanding of himself and to become a whole person in healthy relatedness with others. Secondly, man is ontologically relational. As a person with a history, he is moved to respond to God as He reveals himself in history. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." God reveals Himself as He is through Jesus Christ. God makes Himself known not only as Creator, but also as Redeemer in the way in which He acts through Jesus Christ. He makes Himself known through the true man, Jesus Christ. A man discovers his true humanity through Jesus Christ because in this way God relates to him in a living encounter that enables him to become a whole person. Having made Himself known as He was in Himself, through the true man, Jesus Christ, God clarifies His relationship to man for all time. He comes to man through a man. God's revelation of Himself through a man is the revelation of God as He is in Himself. He is related to man on the human level of the "I-Thou" relationship. When one man relates to another as a thou, he encounters through a man created in the "image of God" a living relationship with Him. It is not that God is limited to the substance of a man for His encounter with man. It is simply that the Holy Spirit is the ground of human encounter, and that the man who has
178
Journal of Religion and Health
found his true humanity in Jesus Christ has a quality of being in relationship through which God encounters the other person. It is the very human acceptance of man by God that is communicated through Jesus Christ. It is this same acceptance that God somehow communicates through a person. It may be the acceptance of a child by his mother, or the acceptance of a friend by a friend. Jesus said to his followers that they would do great things. "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do because I go to the Father." (John, ~4:z2) A third way in which man understands the basic dimension of selfhood is through his own history. In one sense, a man does not know who he is until someone tells him. A mother tells her child who he is in every dimension of her relationship with him. He is loved or unloved; he is good or bad; he is adequate or inadequate.If he has not been loved or accepted in his primary relationship with his parents, he may need his psychotherapist to tell him who he is. He is accepted even when unacceptable. He chooses the history of "the people of God" as his own history, or he chooses some other history as his own. As he chooses, he discovers the dimensions of his selfhood. It is not a selfhood developed in a vacuum. It is derived through decision. The person who has accepted himself as created in the "image of God" and who has accepted God as known through human relationship experiences his existence not simply as a task, but as a mission. The "calling" or mission involves responsibility. Fulfillment of his mission involves awareness of both authentic uniqueness and relatedness.
Personality and psychotherapy The whole person who is realized or discovered in all of his dimensions is identified as "soul" in theological terms. In the language of contemporary psychology, the whole person is identified as the actualized "self." A self does not experience actualization simply by willing it. Man as creature is powerless all by himself to actualize himself. He cannot achieve wholeness all by himself. It is only when God's Spirit is related to man's spirit through interpersonal encounter that the self becomes whole or actualized. Psychotherapy is one method through which a man is set flee in order to experience self-actualization. It is not a way of life, but it offers a method through which a
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
179
man is set free from his fears and anxieties so that he can choose or respond to a particular way of life. It is a way to life. Of course, self-actualization may proceed in psychotherapy without any specific reference to God. This interpretation of developing selfhood is simply a theological interpretation of what has happened to a person in psychotherapy. It may or may not be accepted, but it is a theological model by which the data of the actualization of selfhood may be interpreted. It is the thesis of Christian theology that while healing and wholeness come through the person of the counselor or the psychotherapist, they come through a reality that transcends man. This actualization comes from beyond man, even though it comes through man.
Psychotherapy and salvation Furthermore, self-actualization alone cannot be equated with salvation. It is only when the self's freedom is actualized that a man is free enough to choose a particular interpretation of wholeness that involves the measure beyond man. In self-actualization a person may still say that "man is the measure of all things." The concept of salvation includes man as a measure, but not as the measure by which reality is interpreted. Salvation implies that wholeness has a significance beyond self-actualization. It is a wholeness that takes into account the total reality of interpersonal encounter. It is not limited to the single segment of human self-actualization. In salvation, it is God Who acts. But He acts within the context in which His love is expressed for us through our love for each other. Self-actualization in psychotherapy does not provide purpose in life. It only frees man as spirit to choose the kind of relational meaning such as that expressed in the Incarnation. It is a relational meaning in which the other person becomes the one through which wholeness comes, and even though this wholeness comes through a man, it comes from beyond him. The model of this relational meaning is not so much what I bring into the encounter with my fellow-man, but what results from the encounter. It is not that I introduce God into this human experience. God is the ground of this encounter, and human spirit is related to Holy Spirit as I listen to my fellow-man to discover who he is. If I am able to hear what he says to me, it is the Gospel that I hear. It is the Gospel because if I am really able to hear what my fellow-man is saying, it is the result of the love of Holy Spirit whose acceptance has freed me to respond to my
180
Journal of Religion and Health
fellow-man. This love of Holy Spirit is experienced in the encounter between myself and my fellow-man. A sense of the meaning of authentic selfhood may result from this encounter, but the meaning extends beyond the human experience itself. God is the ground of the encounter and the enabler of the human response of love and acceptance. Christian theology points to Jesus Christ as the one through whom salvation comes. God's acceptance and love, which is communicated through persons, is demonstrated or made manifest in Jesus Christ, the true man. It,is in Jesus Christ that reconciliation between God and man is possible because in him man sees God in another man. He is a true man, undistorted by the estrangement and alienation which separate a man from his fellow-men. Since man encounters God's acceptance through this man, he can begin to accept himself. Accepting himself as accepted, and hence free from separation from his fellow-men, he is enabled to choose to be a man for others and to discover God's continuing acceptance through the other. In salvation a man accepts acceptance by the Creator, even though this acceptance may be experienced through another creature. Experiencing this acceptance by the Creator, he is enabled to begin to internalize the authority that is his to enjoy as a creature. He will begin to be able to be a creature among other creatures without needing to pretend to be more than he is. He will begin to be able to accept himself as he is in relation to the other person without needing to lord it over him with a distorted sense of his own importance. In his humility as creature, he will begin to be able to minister to the other, and to be ministered unto by the other. It is crucial for a man to accept his creaturehood precisely because that is the way in which he becomes a person. Awareness and acceptance of dependency constitute the beginning of the developmental process. The symbiotic relationship with the mother is the beginning of relationship both with oneself and with the other. As the process of personality development proceeds, the original symbiotic dependency of the creature upon the Creator is terminated. The "umbilical cord" between the Creator and the creature is cut. The creature no longer depends upon the Creator for answers that he may be expected to work out for himself. The creature is now becoming a person. He has now begun the process of individuation in which relationship with God is a viable option for the first time. He now has a responsible decision to make. He is no longer tied to God by the "umbilical cord" of a passive, unfree dependency. He is free to respond--free to choose. Whose god will he now
Personality, Psychotherapy, and Christian Salvation
181
choose? The problem of man is the same today as it has always been. It is the problem of idolatry. And being free, a man is confronted with choices. To whom do you belong? Whom do you choose to serve? Within this process of personality development, the person does not move into some sense of individuation off by himself. He moves between the individuated self and the self in relationship. Although he has terminated his passive dependency, he continues to accept the reality of his need for relationship. He "remembers" that the "other" came first. His "significant other" loved him first, and the development of his personhood would not have occurred had it not been for this "significant other." While one's own "significant other" may be identified as a particular person, the reality that is communicated transcends both that person and the relationship resulting from this human encounter.
Summary In such an approach to the theological understanding of personality, man is a unified being. He is an indissoluble unity of body and mind. He discovers his identity as a self through awareness of himself as a unified, relational being. Human spirit is the realized unity of the whole person. As spirit, man is able to relate to Holy Spirit in such a way that he discovers who he is in wholeness through the kind of acceptance he experiences in relationship with another person. Finally, he comes to an understanding of his identity as he chooses his particular history and experiences wholeness in relational involvement with his neighbor. The whole person is the actualized "self." Self-actualization occurs in relationship as a person discovers his worth within the interpersonal encounter. While wholeness develops through the intervention of a man, its meaning transcends the human dimension. Healing comes through man, even though it comes from beyond man.
Salvation occurs through the true man, Jesus Christ. Reconciliation between God and man is possible because in Him man sees God in another man. Hence, reconciliation occurs in the relationship between man and his fellow-man as Holy Spirit constitutes the ground of that relationship. As Jesus Christ makes reconciliation possible between God and man, reconciliation becomes possible between man and his fellow-men precisely because the Holy Spirit is the ground of that relationship.
