Can We Think of Salvation As a Return to Mental Health?

Abstract

WHEN WE THINK OF "MENTAL HEALTH," WE HAVE NOT RECENTLY CONNECTED THIS TO THE NOTION OF "SALVATION" IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. THERE WAS ONCE A TIME, OF COURSE, WHEN MANY WHO WANTED TO RECOVER OR RESTORE MENTAL HEALTH TURNED TO CHRISTIANITY AND FOUND THEIR HEALING. THERE ARE, I SUPPOSE, MANY REASONS WHICH CAN BE GIVEN FOR WHY THIS CEASED TO BE TRUE, BUT AT LEAST ONE OF THESE INVOLVES THE RISE OF PSYCHIATRY AS A PROFESSION AND THE WELL-KNOWN ANTI-RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTS OF ITS PIONEERS, MOST NOTABLY SIGMUND FREUD. PSYCHIATRY AROSE AS THE MODERN AND "SCIENTIFIC" ALTERNATIVE TO THE HEALING AND COUNSELING PRACTICES OF CHRISTIANITY. THUS, BEFORE WE CAN DECIDE WHETHER "SALVATION" CAN ONCE MORE BE SEEN AS A ROAD TO MENTAL HEALTH, WE MUST GO BACK AND CONSIDER HOW PSYCHIATRY CAME TO REPLACE IT.