The Two Faces of Christianity: A Psychological Analysis

The Two Faces of Christianity: A Psychological Analysis

by Richard Oxtoby
The Two Faces of Christianity: A Psychological Analysis

The Two Faces of Christianity: A Psychological Analysis

by Richard Oxtoby

Paperback(Reprint)

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Overview

Applying Eric Fromm's concept of the differences between Humanistic and Authoritarian religions, The Two Faces of Christianity proposes that Christianity consists of two distinctly different religions which co-exist under the same verbal label. The ethical teachings of that inspired Jewish religious genius, Jesus of Nazareth which has traditionally been believed to be the core around which the religion of Christianity has been built, constitute a Humanistic Religion. In many parts of the Christian Church the tenets of that religion have all but disappeared under the spreading influence of the salvation theology of St Paul and his fellow-travellers. Examination of the guilt-ridden mind of St Paul, to whom the authorship of nearly half of the 27 books of the New Testament has been attributed, throws revealing light on how this process has taken place. Paul’s notoriously neurotic anxieties about sex are just one of the more striking manifestations of the psychopathology of his split personality which has been a major influence in the process by which the Humanistic religion of Jesus has been transformed into an oppressive Authoritarian one.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781782791041
Publisher: Collective Ink
Publication date: 08/29/2014
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 403
Product dimensions: 5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Richard Markham Oxtoby is a clinical and industrial psychologist who spent more than 33 years on the staff of the Department of Psychology of the University of Cape Town. Since taking early retirement at the end of 1999 he has been involved in business consulting in the area of human relations, conflict resolution and executive coaching, concert-giving in the field of Renaissance and Baroque music, and the writing of books.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter 1 The Two Faces of Christianity 4

Chapter 2 The Human Condition 12

Chapter 3 A Very Brief History of the Christian Church 48

Chapter 4 The Christian Scriptures 63

Chapter 5 The Humanistic Face of Christianity 76

Chapter 6 The Authoritarian Face of Christianity 149

Chapter 7 Humanistic and Authoritarian Christianity: The ideas of Jesus and Paul compared 185

Chapter 8 Humanistic and Authoritarian Christianity compared 280

Chapter 9 Why has the Christian Church been so spectacularly successful in establishing itself as a world religion? 317

Chapter 10 The difficulties many Christians will have in constructively hearing what I am saying in this book 321

Chapter 11 Does it all matter anyway? 326

Chapter 12 Epilogue 340

Appendix 1 The School 349

Appendix 2 Paradise Lost 352

Appendix 3 A Brief Account of Albert Schweitzer's Ethical Principle of Reverence for Life 354

Appendix 4 Some of Paul's Pathologies not Unique in the New Testament 358

Notes 361

Bibliography 386

Additional Reading 388

Acknowledgements 391

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