Uneasy bedfellows at best, but all too often like actively warring sibling rivals, Christianity is a split personality.
Uneasy bedfellows at best, but all too often like actively warring sibling rivals, Christianity is a split personality.
Christianity (general), Psychology (general), Spirituality
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.
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This is a book that every Christian, post-Christian, and anti-Christian should read. It leads all sorts of readers to see the New Testament with new eyes. It shows how the Gospels and the letters of Paul shape people today, for better or for worse. It makes a case for the teaching of Jesus as psychologically healthy, as well as deeply spiritual. It also argues that Paul was a flawed human being, whose teachings can be dangerous if readers do not reflect on them critically. ~ Prof Adela Collins, Buckingham Professor of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale University Divinity School.
This book is a valuable guide to authentic Christianity and to where it has gone wrong. Clear, courageous and challenging, it rests on thorough research, rich psychological insight and deep spiritual experience. It deserves to be widely read and above all, heeded. Martin Prozesky, Emeritus Professor of Comparative and Applied Ethics at the University of Natal, South Africa. ~ Martin Prozesky
Dr Oxtoby provides a valuable opportunity for the reader to reflect anew on the teachings of Jesus rather than the teachings about him. “Separating the wheat from the chaff”, scripturally speaking (Matthew 3 :12), the author enables a more focussed fluency of faith on the part of those seeking to understand the core teachings of Jesus. Dr Oxtoby has done the cause of Christianity a world of good in writing this book. ~ Rev Gordon Oliver, Minister-Emeritus, Unitarian Church, Cape Town, and Mayor of Cape Town 1989 - 1991
The world is full of authoritarian versions of religion, including Christianity. In this lucid work Richard Oxtoby argues for a non-authoritarian version of the Christian faith, open and liberal-minded. All the churches would benefit from hearing what he has to say. ~ Professor John Barton, Oriel and Laing Professor of the Interpretation of Holy Scripture, Oxford University.
All people know Christianity can be a tool for good or for ill. But psychologist Richard Oxtoby tells us how to tell the difference between bad religion and good. A must-read for anyone who cares about Christianity's future, wants to end cruelties inflicted in its name, and longs to turn such "psychopathological" leanings to good.] ~ Bonnie J. Miller-McLemore
In a world where there are so many broken people – broken in body, broken in mind, broken in spirit – it is more than refreshing to encounter a person such as Dr. Richard Oxtoby whose integrity as a clinical and industrial psychologist of many years standing has led him to the point of challenging institutionalised Christianity to turn its face afresh to that of the Healer who through his life, teachings and deeds has through the past twenty centuries captivated more people than it would be possible to number – JESUS. In an increasingly impersonal world, and in a world where many, through sad negative experience, have felt either rejection from, or have excluded themselves from the Christian Church, Dr Oxtoby has written challenging words for today’s Christian leadership to reassess its portrayal of Jesus as the core of its attractiveness, especially for the broken and suffering souls in our communities. This book serves as a timely reminder that there are those in the different fields of medicine who realise and value the importance of the spiritual dimension of life, and that the spirit of the individual can play an important role in the healing process of those suffering from any form of physical, mental, or spiritual disease or disorder. I pray that Dr. Oxtoby’s book will find an avid and wide readership. ~ Reverend Harry Wiggett
In this provocative and very readable book, Richard Oxtoby challenges modern day Christians to recover the multifaceted historical roots of Christianity. He discerns two main strands that have nurtured the rise of Christianity, one “humanistic” and the other “authoritarian”. The book offers alternative interpretations of often-neglected passages in the New Testament writings through social-scientific perspectives, and its result unveils the humanistic face of Christianity that lives on in parishes and mission fields. The Two Faces of Christianity should shed light to the resilient thread sustained by the love command of Jesus of Nazareth, who renounced power, served the poor, and gave himself on the cross for the life of the world. ~ Jin H. Han, Professor of Biblical Studies, New York Theological Seminary.
