Religion in Individual Psychology (Carl Gustav Jung and Alfred Adler on Religions) (written by ven. Suriya – Mon) 2011
As far as religious psychology is concerned, there are many scholars of religions in individual psychology, such as Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. They are very famous in the world and in their own religions.
Carl Jung was born on 26th of July 1875 and died on 6th of June 1961. He was a psychiatrist from Switzerland. He was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. He is best known for his theory, which is quite different, more sympathetic to religion and more concerned with a positive appreciation of religious symbolism. Jung considered the question of existence of God to be unanswerable by psychologists and adopted a kind of agnosticism.
The other scholar of religious psychology was Alfred Adler. He was born in 1870 and died in 1937. He was an Austrian psychologist. Adler, who was with Freud, emphasized the law of goals and motivation in his individual psychology. One of his most famous ideas was that we try to understand four imperialists.
According to Adler, religion is a phenomenon that is experienced by an individual. This theory is called the individual approach to psychology of religion. One of Adler’s more famous ideas is that we try to fight inferiorities that we find in ourselves. A lack of power lies at the root of feeling inferior. One way that religion entered into this feature is through our belief in God which characterizes our tendency to strive for perfection and superiority. For example, in many religions God is considered to be perfect and common people likewise should be perfect. If we achieve perfection, we may become one with God by identifying ourselves with Him. This way we feel our imperfection and inferiority.
Our ideas about Gods are important indicator of how we view the world. According to Adler, this idea had changed over time as our vision of the world and our role played in it has changed. Traditional belief that people were placed intentionally on Earth as God’s ultimate creation is being replaced by the idea that people have evolved by natural selection. This coincides with a view of God not as a reality but as an abstract representation of nature’s forces. In this way, our view of God has changed from one that was specific to one that is more general. Therefore, as mentioned above, this topic is very important in religious psychology.
Carl Jung was born on 26th of July 1875 and died on 6th of June 1961. He was a psychiatrist from Switzerland. He was a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology. He is best known for his theory, which is quite different, more sympathetic to religion and more concerned with a positive appreciation of religious symbolism. Jung considered the question of existence of God to be unanswerable by psychologists and adopted a kind of agnosticism.
The other scholar of religious psychology was Alfred Adler. He was born in 1870 and died in 1937. He was an Austrian psychologist. Adler, who was with Freud, emphasized the law of goals and motivation in his individual psychology. One of his most famous ideas was that we try to understand four imperialists.
According to Adler, religion is a phenomenon that is experienced by an individual. This theory is called the individual approach to psychology of religion. One of Adler’s more famous ideas is that we try to fight inferiorities that we find in ourselves. A lack of power lies at the root of feeling inferior. One way that religion entered into this feature is through our belief in God which characterizes our tendency to strive for perfection and superiority. For example, in many religions God is considered to be perfect and common people likewise should be perfect. If we achieve perfection, we may become one with God by identifying ourselves with Him. This way we feel our imperfection and inferiority.
Our ideas about Gods are important indicator of how we view the world. According to Adler, this idea had changed over time as our vision of the world and our role played in it has changed. Traditional belief that people were placed intentionally on Earth as God’s ultimate creation is being replaced by the idea that people have evolved by natural selection. This coincides with a view of God not as a reality but as an abstract representation of nature’s forces. In this way, our view of God has changed from one that was specific to one that is more general. Therefore, as mentioned above, this topic is very important in religious psychology.
