Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Diane Jonte-Pace
Introduction
Background Different Fields and Disciplines Methodology
1. Freud’s Interpretation of Religion
The Defining Moment of Development Gender Asymmetry The Need for Religion Religion’s Primitive Beginnings
2. What Freud Can and Cannot Teach the Religious Believer
The "Text" of Consciousness The "Text" of Religious Faith Faith and Personal Transformation The Limitations of a Freudian Interpretation
3. The Psychical Role of God
The Freud of Object Relations, the Oedipus Complex, and Family Relations The Freud of Science, Intellect, and Reality The Importance of Psychical Reality
4. The Relation Between Religious and Gender Psychology
Masculinity and the Reality Principle Femininity and the Pleasure Principle Femininity and Religious Faith
5. Beyond Either-Or: Toward a Constructive Reengagement with Freud
Methodological Strategies Something Resembling Psychical Splitting?
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index