Mental health of Jesus

The question of whether the historical Jesus was in good mental health has been explored by multiple psychologists, philosophers, historians, and writers, starting with French psychologist Charles Binet–Sanglé, the chief physician of Paris. He made a claim that Jesus was mentally ill.[1][2] This view finds both supporters and opponents.

Opinions challenging the sanity of Jesus

Charles Binet-Sanglé diagnosed Jesus as suffering from "religious paranoia":[3]

In short, the nature of the hallucinations of Jesus, as they are described in the orthodox Gospels, permits us to conclude that the founder of Christian religion was afflicted with religious paranoia. (vol. 2, p. 393)

His view was shared by the New York psychiatrist William Hirsch who, in 1912, published his study "Religion and Civilization – Conclusions of a Psychiatrist",[4] enumerating a number of Jesus' mentally aberrant behaviours. Hirsch agreed with Binet-Sanglé in that Jesus had been afflicted with hallucinations, and pointed to his "megalomania, which mounted ceaselessly and immeasurably".[2] Hirsch concluded that Jesus was "paranoid" – pure and simple, adding that:

But Christ offers in every respect an absolutely typical picture of a wellknown mental disease. All that we know of him corresponds so exactly to the clinical aspect of paranoia, that it is hardly conceivable how anybody at all acquainted with mental disorders, can entertain the slightest doubt as to the correctness of the diagnosis. (p. 103)

Jesus' mental health was also questioned by the British psychiatrist William Sargant,[5] a number of psychologists of the psychoanalytic orientation, e.g. Georges Berguer in his study "Quelques traits de la vie de Jésus au point de vue psychologique et psychanalytique".[6]

Władysław Witwicki, a rationalist philosopher and psychologist, in the comments to his own translation of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark ("Dobra Nowina według Mateusza i Marka")[7] attributed to Jesus the subjectivism, increased sense of his own power and superiority over others, egocentrism and the tendency to subjugate other people,[8] as well as difficulties communicating with the outside world and multiple personality disorder, which made him a schizothymic or even schizophrenic type.[9]

In 1998–2000 Pole Leszek Nowak (born 1962)[10] from Poznań authored a study in which, based on his own history of religious delusion of mission and overvalued ideas, and information communicated in the Gospels, made an attempt at reconstructing Jesus′ psyche[11] with the view of Jesus as apocalyptic prophet,[12] taking into account the hypothesis of "suicide by proxy".[13] He does so in chapters containing, in sequence, an analysis of character traits of the "savior of mankind", a description of the possible course of events from the period of Jesus' public activity, a naturalistic explanation of miracles.

In 2011, a team of psychiatrists, behavioral psychologists, neurologists and neuropsychiatrists from the Harvard Medical School published a research which suggested the development of a new diagnostic category of psychiatric disorders related to religious delusion and hyperreligiosity.[14] They compared the thought and behavior of the most important figures in the Bible (Abraham, Moses, Jesus Christ and Paul)[14] with patients affected by mental disorders related to the psychotic spectrum using different clusters of disorders and diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV-TR),[14] and concluded that these Biblical figures "may have had psychotic symptoms that contributed inspiration for their revelations",[14] such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, manic depression, delusional disorder, delusions of grandeur, auditory-visual hallucinations, paranoia, Geschwind syndrome and abnormal experiences associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The authors suggest that Jesus sought to condemn him to death ("suicide by proxy").[14]

In August 2012, the Church of England in collaboration with the Time to Change mental health campaign prepared a document arguing that both Jesus and some of the Apostles and Saints may have suffered from mental health problems.[15]

Opinions defending the sanity of Jesus

The opinions of William Hirsch, Charles Binet-Sanglé and others questioning Jesus' mental health were in turn challenged by Albert Schweitzer in his doctoral thesis entitled "The Psychiatric Study of Jesus: Exposition and Criticism"[16][2] ("Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu: Darstellung und Kritik", 1913)[17][3] and by psychiatrist Walter Bundy in his 1922 book The psychic health of Jesus.[18][2]

The mental health of Jesus is defended by psychiatrists Olivier Quentin Hyder,[19] also by Pablo Martinez and Andrew Sims in their book Mad or God? Jesus: The healthiest mind of all (2018).[20][21]

Also, Christian apologists, such as Josh McDowell[22] and Lee Strobel,[23] take up the subject of Jesus′ sanity defense.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Binet-Sanglé, Charles (1908–1915). La folie de Jésus (in French). 1–4. Paris: A. Maloine. OCLC 4560820.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Havis, Don (April–June 2001). "An Inquiry into the Mental Health of Jesus: Was He Crazy?". Secular Nation. Minneapolis: Atheist Alliance Inc. ISSN 1530-308X. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  3. 1 2 Gettis, Alan (June 1987). "The Jesus delusion: A theoretical and phenomenological look". Journal of Religion and Health. Springer. 26 (2): 131–136. doi:10.1007/BF01533683. ISSN 1573-6571. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hirsh, William, Religion and Civilization – Conclusions of a Psychiatrist, Truth Seeker, New York 1912
  5. ↑ Times, 22 August 1974, p. 14
  6. ↑ Georges Berguer, Quelques traits de la vie de Jésus: au point de vue psychologique et psychanalytique, Edition Atar, Genève–Paris 1920
  7. ↑ Witwicki, Władysław (1958). Dobra Nowina według Mateusza i Marka (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. OCLC 681830910.
  8. ↑ Szmyd, Jan (1996). Psychologiczny obraz religijności i mistyki: z badań psychologów polskich = Psychological picture of religiousness and mysticism: from the research of the Polish psychologists (in Polish). Kraków: Wydawn. Naukowe WSP. p. 197. ISBN 978-8-3868-4154-7.
  9. ↑ Jarzyńska, Karina (2008-04-10). "Jezus jako egocentryczny schizotymik". Racjonalista (in Polish). Fundacja Wolnej Myśli. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  10. ↑ Not to be confused with Polish philosopher and lawyer Leszek Nowak (1943–2009) also from Poznań.
  11. ↑ Leszek Nowak, Prywatna Witryna Internetowa Leszka Nowaka at Internet Archive (in Polish)
  12. ↑ Analysis of fragments of the New Testament books for Jesus as apocalyptic prophet: Leszek Nowak, "A great mistake and disappointment of early Christianity" at Internet Archive (in Polish)
  13. ↑ Leszek Nowak, "Prowokator" ("Instigator") at Internet Archive (in Polish)
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 Murray, Evan D.; Cunningham, Miles G.; Price, Bruce H. (September 2011). "The Role of Psychotic Disorders in Religious History Considered". Journal of Neuropsichiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. American Psychiatric Association. 24 (4): 410–426. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.11090214. ISSN 1545-7222. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  15. ↑ Jeory, Ted (2012-08-28). "Jesus Christ 'may have suffered from mental health problems', claims Church of England". Daily Express. Northern and Shell Media. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  16. ↑ Schweitzer, Albert (1975). The psychiatric study of Jesus: exposition and criticism. Translated by Joy, Charles R. Gloucester, Mass: Peter Smith. ISBN 0844628948.
  17. ↑ Schweitzer, Albert (1913). Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu: Darstellung und Kritik (in German). Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck). LCCN 13021072. OCLC 5903262.
  18. ↑ Walter E. Bundy, The psychic health of Jesus, The Macmillan Company, New York 1922
  19. ↑ Hyder, Olivier Quentin (1977-12-01). "On the Mental Health of Jesus Christ". Journal of Psychology and Theology. Biola University. 5 (1): 3–12. doi:10.1177/009164717700500101. ISSN 0091-6471.
  20. ↑ Pablo Martinez, Andrew Sims, Mad or God? Jesus: The healthiest mind of all InterVarsity Press, Westmont 2018 ISBN 978-1-783-59606-5
  21. ↑ Sims, Andrew (2018-07-17). "Mad or God? A senior psychiatrist on the mental health of Jesus". Christian News on Christian Today. Christian Today. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  22. ↑ Mcdowell, Josh (1977). "Lord, Liar, or Lunatic?". More Than a Carpenter. Wheaton (Illinois): Living Books. pp. 22–32. ISBN 978-0-8423-4552-1.
  23. ↑ Strobel, Lee (2013). "The Psychological Evidence". The Case for Christ. Grand Rapids (Michigan): Zondervan. pp. 154–166. ISBN 978-0-3103-3930-4.
  • Hirsch, William (1912). "Religion and Civilization: The Conclusions of a Psychiatrist (full text)". Internet Archive. Truth Seeker Co. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
  • Bundy, Walter (1921). "The psychic health of Jesus (full text)". Internet Archive. Macmillan Company. Retrieved 2018-08-23.
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