Sin, Pride & Self-Acceptance: The Problem of Identity in Theology & Psychology

191 Pages·2003·0.567 MB·English

by  Terry D. Cooper

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Sin, Pride &
Self-Acceptance
THE PROBLEM OF IDENTITY
IN THEOLOGY & PSYCHOLOGY
Terry D. Cooper
InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com
E-mail: [email protected]
©2003 by Terry D. Cooper
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.
InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and
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visit the IVCF website at <www.intervarsity.org>.
Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the
Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights
reserved.
Cover design: Kathleen Lay Burrows
Cover image: ©Nicholas Monu/iStockphoto
ISBN 978-0-8308-7688-4 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-2728-2 (print)
For my wife,
Linda Maria Cooper,
with love and a grateful heart

C O N T E N T S
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The Direction of This Book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1 PRIDE AND SELF-CONTEMPT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Psychological Critics of the “Low Self-Esteem” Argument . . . . . . . . . . 14
Social Critiques of Self-Centeredness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Rogers and Niebuhr as Representatives of the Debate. . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Reenactment of the Pelagian Controversy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Larger Issue: Sin and Self-Acceptance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
2 PRIDE AS THE PRIMARY PROBLEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Anxiety and Pride: Niebuhrian Theological Psychology. . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Differences with Augustine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Niebuhr and Freud: The Deceptive Nature of Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
The Primacy of Pride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Warning About Equating Narcissism with Niebuhrian Pride . . . . . . . . . 55
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
3 PRIDE, SENSUALITY AND ADDICTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Sensuality, Concupiscence and Addiction: From Augustine to Gerald May. . . 64
Back to the Pride Versus Self-Contempt Conflict . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
But Is Pride the Problem for Everyone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
4 PRIDE AND SELF-LOSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Pride and Self-Loss: Socialized to Sin Differently? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Social Versus Individual Sin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
5 SELF-ACCEPTANCE AND HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY. . . . . . . 87
The “Gospel” of Humanistic Psychology: The Actualizing Tendency. . . . . . 90
“Natural Goodness”: The Organismic Valuing Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Incongruence and the Emergence of the Undervalued Self . . . . . . . . . . 95
Reclaiming the Despised Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
“Theologizing” Carl Rogers? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Pride and Low Self-Esteem Intertwined? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
6 PRIDE AND SELF-HATE: TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN? . . . . . 112
Basic Anxiety. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Three Neurotic Trends to Alleviate Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Common Bonds in All Three Movements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
The Idealized Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
Three Responses to the Idealized Self . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Pride and Self-Hate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
The “Search for Glory” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
Neurotic Claims and Entitlement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Genuine Self-Esteem and Neurotic Pride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
Horney’s Contribution to the Pride Versus Self-Contempt Debate . . . . . . 143
7 ANXIETY, SIN AND SELF-UNDERSTANDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Integrating the Pride and Self-Contempt Perspectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
Back to Niebuhr and Feminist Understandings of Sin. . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
Pride and Distrust . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Pride and Sensuality: A Confusion of Terms?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
“Manly” and “Womanly” Sin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Equality of Sin, Inequality of Guilt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Anxiety and Its Relationship to Sin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Sinning Out of Strength as Well as Weakness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
AUTHOR INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172
SUBJECT INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
A C K N OW L E D G M E N T S
I
wish to thank several people for offering valuable input into this book.
From Marty Maddox, James Fisher and Beldon Lane I learned much about
Reinhold Niebuhr. From Rob Anderson and Paul Dukro I had great assis-
tance in understanding Carl Rogers and humanistic psychology. In Robert
Asa I found an excellent dialogue partner concerning the work of Karen
Horney. And from Patout Burns and Matt Becker I have been much in-
formed about Augustine and the Augustinian tradition. My deep thanks
goes to each of these persons.
I finished much of this book when I was on sabbatical at Emory Univer-
sity in the spring of 2002. I want to thank St. Louis Community College-
Meramec and particularly my dean, Walter Clark, and my department chair,
Fredna Scroggins, for their support in making this sabbatical possible. I also
wish to thank Emory University for the warm reception I received during
my sabbatical. I particularly want to thank Rod Hunter, Karen Scheib, Luke
Timothy Johnson, Steve Tipton, Brian Mahan, James Fowler and John Pat-
ton for stimulating conversations.
I am also appreciative of the support I have received from Dennis Klass
at Webster University. Denny has greatly encouraged me to create under-
graduate classes at the intersection of psychology and religious studies, and
some of the ideas in this book reflect those stimulating classes.
In addition, I am grateful for the excellent work of my editor, Gary
Deddo. Gary is not only a fine scholar but a warm and extremely efficient
editor. The entire group at IVP has been most encouraging and helpful in
this writing effort.
I want to especially thank Don Browning, with whom I have worked
x S I N , P R I D E & S E L F - A C C E P T A N C E
closely over the past year. When it comes to the relationship of psychology
and Christian thought, I know of no one with a more comprehensive un-
derstanding. The key insights I have learned from Don have been matched
by the warm and gracious generosity of both Don and his lovely wife, Carol.
I am very appreciative of the ongoing support I receive from my parents,
Don and Barbara Cooper, as well as two gifted stepdaughters, Lori and
Michelle Lampert. I am also indebted to the many conversations I have had
concerning the relationship between psychology and religion with Dan
Reynolds, David Johnson, “Bud” Peyton, Michael and Hazel Jackson,
Rick Wilson, Danny Denning, Steve May, Richard Hutch, Dale Bengtson,
Britt-Mari Sykes, Barbara Bennett, Mike Rusnac, Jim Bradley and the late
James Armour. For each of these friends and conversational partners I am
indeed grateful.
And perhaps most significant of all, I wish to thank my wife, partner and
friend, Linda Maria Cooper, to whom I have dedicated this book. A won-
derful teacher, Linda’s passion for the education of children is a regular in-
spiration in my life. She has encouraged and supported this book all the way.
Thanks, Linda.