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Overview
In the Image of God is a compilation of lectures by Stanley Leavy, a psychoanalyst approaching retirement, reflecting on his experience as a follower of Freud and his method and also as a lifelong, faithful Episcopalian. The overarching idea linking the individual lectures is Leavy's belief that "the deliberate study of the operations of the mind must yield results that are not just compatible with religious faith but amplify it," eschewing the faith versus science argument for a more inclusive worldview.
Synopsis
In the Image of God is a compilation of lectures by Stanley Leavy, a psychoanalyst approaching retirement, reflecting on his experience as a follower of Freud and his method and also as a lifelong, faithful Episcopalian. The overarching idea linking the individual lectures is Leavy's belief that "the deliberate study of the operations of the mind must yield results that are not just compatible with religious faith but amplify it," eschewing the faith versus science argument for a more inclusive worldview.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Studies on the relation between psychoanalysis and religion tend to take their respective fields for granted. The author of this thoughtful book analyzes the hidden assumptions of both. Equally committed to his Christian faith and to his analytic profession, Stanley Leavy is critical of their unexamined expression. In this book, the 'depth' of depth psychology is confronted with the transcendent depth of the Christian soul. A lifetime of studying and testing Freudian analysis has enabled the author to express its fundamental insight with classical simplicity and amazing precision. But beyond the theory of one senses the wisdom acquired in decades of attentive and compassionate exposure to human frailty, human suffering, and human hope."- Louis Dupre, Ph.D., Yale University
"Dr. Leavy, a psychoanalyst who, in contrast to Freud, has an admirable conviction of the goodness of humankind and a fervid belief that God created man in His own image, herein conveys what psychoanalysis can contribute to a Christian way of life - to a religious way of life. The book constitutes a significant effort to lessen the unnecessary conflict between psychoanalysis and religions."
- Theodore Lidz, Ph.D., Yale University
"A valuable and useful contribution to the literature on psychoanalysis and religion. Eloquent and profoundly meaningful."
- W. W. Meissner, S.J., M.D., author, Psychoanalysis and Religious Experience