Content area
Full Text
BERNARD LANG, Drewermann interprete de la Bible: Le paradis; la naissance du Christ (Theologies; Paris: Cerf, 1994). Pp. 172. Paper 118 E
In this book the reader encounters Lang and Eugen Drewermann simultaneously. In it L. introduces Drewermann's thought and offers Drewermannian readings of the paradise account (Genesis 2-3) and the Lucan birth narrative (Luke 1-2).
At mid-life Drewermann discovered that the church's dogmatism and moralism contribute to fundamental angst and alienation. His critique leans heavily on Freud. Patriarchal, judgmental systems produce fearful, fragmented, neurotic religion. Drewermann's Christianity also resembles Schleiermacher's romantic Protestantism. Drewermann emphasizes love instead of belief. The therapist-priest assists the sufferer in the reintegration of a whole personality. Drewermann's appropriation of psychotherapy also informs an alternative hermeneutical method; Interpretation depends on some key, in his case, Freud's concept of the traumas associated with personality development and Jung's concept of individuation.
Lang devotes two-thirds of his book to illustrative interpretations of two biblical myths. He submits each to a four-tiered analysis....