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Freud
Why read a book on Freud? As long as man views guilt as a problem for science instead of religion, the influence of Sigmund Freud will remain lurking in the mind of modern man. Freud was an architect of the modern mind – and unholy builder – like Marx and Darwin. Freud was also a hater of religion – specifically the Bible and its absolute standard. He believed Biblical theism to be the “delusion” which compounded man’s central problem of guilt. Freud wanted man to accept his moral predicament without reference to sin.
Freud’s motivation for psychoanalysis became the removal of guilt by self-acceptance. He posited that man’s moral predicament was inescapable and guilt inevitable, unless man could come to terms with his moral prison. This is a destructive ethic, consistent with Freud seeing himself as a destroyer. His purpose was to disassociate guilt from sin, making it a problem for science rather than faith. Through this revision Freud hoped to destroy religion.
But the removal of Christian religious influence leads only to tyranny as the Christian God is replaced by the dictatorial rule of the scientific elite. Totalitarianism assumes the place of the Triune God as scientific rulers seek control over every facet of life. Freud’s therapy was scientific a syncretism of the scientific and political agendas of modern man. This analysis of one of history’s most insidious players will provide insight into the modern rush to abolish Christianity and Biblical thought.
Freud’s motivation for psychoanalysis became the removal of guilt by self-acceptance. He posited that man’s moral predicament was inescapable and guilt inevitable, unless man could come to terms with his moral prison. This is a destructive ethic, consistent with Freud seeing himself as a destroyer. His purpose was to disassociate guilt from sin, making it a problem for science rather than faith. Through this revision Freud hoped to destroy religion.
But the removal of Christian religious influence leads only to tyranny as the Christian God is replaced by the dictatorial rule of the scientific elite. Totalitarianism assumes the place of the Triune God as scientific rulers seek control over every facet of life. Freud’s therapy was scientific a syncretism of the scientific and political agendas of modern man. This analysis of one of history’s most insidious players will provide insight into the modern rush to abolish Christianity and Biblical thought.
74 pages, Paperback
First published August 16, 2010
11 people are currently reading
83 people want to read
About the author
Rousas John Rushdoony
137 books148 followersRousas John Rushdoony was a Calvinist philosopher, historian, and theologian and is widely credited as the father of both Christian Reconstructionism and the modern homeschool movement. His prolific writings have exerted considerable influence on the Christian right.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 26, 2018
Uma baita crítica. Boa, monergismo!
November 2, 2023
“Vós que entrais [no mundo de Freud], abandonai toda a esperança.” Dante Alighieri
July 17, 2019
Crítica boa.
June 16, 2021
So much of modern thought has been shaped by Freud. Rushdoony sets this before you in a way that is easy to understand for the everyday man or woman. He deals with Freud at surface level but cannot be accused of not engaging with the subject matter with clarity.
The contrast between the world Freud saw and communicated and reality as God sees it is sharp. The man in his rebellion against God sought a way to eleviate man from his guilt without reference to the supernatural. To some extent you can say he managed, but he only managed in the sense that the outcome downstream from him is a more broken world. His panacea in that sense was nothing more than poison
The contrast between the world Freud saw and communicated and reality as God sees it is sharp. The man in his rebellion against God sought a way to eleviate man from his guilt without reference to the supernatural. To some extent you can say he managed, but he only managed in the sense that the outcome downstream from him is a more broken world. His panacea in that sense was nothing more than poison
September 15, 2022
While others have pursued the pseudoscience of psychology, and while we today turn our noses up at Freud's weird ideas, Rushdoony does a great job explaining why Freud was and is so influential.
My three big takeaways of why Freud was unique in the world of psychology:
1. Freud hated God and religion. He was focused on divorcing science from theology and even destroying theology altogether. The natural man loves this idea.
2. Freud reframed guilt. Rather than remove guilt, like the Gospel does, he assured man has nothing to feel guilty for. And there would be less guilt if there were fewer cultural restraints on sex and anger. The natural man loves this idea.
3. The id, ego, and superego were simply the old man, the mind/reason, and the conscience. Freud renamed them to sound more scientific and separate them from religion.
And a bonus takeaway, Freud was much more sexually conservative than he taught others to be. I see this today. The crazy leftists want others to explore crazy sexual pursuits rather than try it themselves (e.g., AOC hasn't pursued a sex changed and enjoys looking very feminine). Almost as if they know the damage it causes.
My three big takeaways of why Freud was unique in the world of psychology:
1. Freud hated God and religion. He was focused on divorcing science from theology and even destroying theology altogether. The natural man loves this idea.
2. Freud reframed guilt. Rather than remove guilt, like the Gospel does, he assured man has nothing to feel guilty for. And there would be less guilt if there were fewer cultural restraints on sex and anger. The natural man loves this idea.
3. The id, ego, and superego were simply the old man, the mind/reason, and the conscience. Freud renamed them to sound more scientific and separate them from religion.
And a bonus takeaway, Freud was much more sexually conservative than he taught others to be. I see this today. The crazy leftists want others to explore crazy sexual pursuits rather than try it themselves (e.g., AOC hasn't pursued a sex changed and enjoys looking very feminine). Almost as if they know the damage it causes.
April 4, 2014
Trying to wrap my mind around the twisted, humanistic ideas of this man was an intellectual workout, but it was worth it to understand (at least to some extent) the ideas which have wielded such power over the post-enlightenment world.
Freud was one of the top three most influential Enlightenment thinkers, joining the ranks with Marx and Darwin. He recedes far into the abyss of the depraved human heart in his quest to understand human guilt, but unable to answer the problem, could offer mankind no hope.
Freud was one of the top three most influential Enlightenment thinkers, joining the ranks with Marx and Darwin. He recedes far into the abyss of the depraved human heart in his quest to understand human guilt, but unable to answer the problem, could offer mankind no hope.
August 4, 2020
This is a hefty, yet incredible work on Freud. Whenever I hear people dismiss presuppositionalism as “people not doing their homework” (statement made by RC Sproul), and/or “legalistic” in their approach to evangelism and apologetics, I want to recommend works like these to them. Rushdoony not only understands Freud, but he clearly gives us the problems and implications of Freud’s thinking, while giving us the biblical alternative.
March 3, 2022
Though many of his ideas now seem obsolete, Freud has endured as a major cultural influencer. My guess is that he will remain so for some time. He is widely regarded as the founder of modern psychology and has shaped other disciplines like counseling and sociology significantly. “The culture of therapy is everywhere” said Newsweek in 2006. Freud marked the beginning of an inward shift in the understanding of the self. Even modern language bears a touch of Freud. Unconscious, or subconscious, is very much a popularized Freudian idea. Dream interpretation, projection, the conceptualization of deep problems, and of course, Freudian slips, all have some connection to the man.
In this short work, Rushdoony highlights Freud’s issue with the problem or reality of guilt, which “is primeval and haunts man” (36). For Freud, guilt was located in the clash of age old evolutionary urges (the id) being constrained by the external forces taught by society (superego), producing anxiety, ambivalence, and guilt feelings. He never really offers a solution, only analysis.
In this short work, Rushdoony highlights Freud’s issue with the problem or reality of guilt, which “is primeval and haunts man” (36). For Freud, guilt was located in the clash of age old evolutionary urges (the id) being constrained by the external forces taught by society (superego), producing anxiety, ambivalence, and guilt feelings. He never really offers a solution, only analysis.
April 9, 2023
Rushdoony's voice here was a lot, lot better than in some of his other works. He extended more grace to Freud than to dispensationalists! The book was a great overview of the necessary consequences of Freud's thinking and insights into the depraved inner man that Freud desired to let loose. Thank God for His ever-restraining grace. Good book for a Christian overview of Freudian psychology.
July 11, 2018
Heavy
Another great work from Rushdoony. I’ll admit, much of this went straight over my head, but that’s fine. I just had to reread some of the harder sections. Now it’s time to read Freud himself ro see if Rushdoony’s conclusions are correct.
Another great work from Rushdoony. I’ll admit, much of this went straight over my head, but that’s fine. I just had to reread some of the harder sections. Now it’s time to read Freud himself ro see if Rushdoony’s conclusions are correct.
July 23, 2024
If you're looking for a good overview of Freud's thought from a Christian perspective, this is a great book to read.
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November 26, 2012In this book Rushdoony discusses about the ideas of Freud from a Christian perspective. No doubt Christians would have concern with his ideas. The biggest thing I got out of this book is Rushdoony's point that Freud's biggest contribution was not explaining man in terms of unconscious forces or sex driven but rather his theme of explaining away guilt in such a way that man is no longer responsible for his or her sins before a God that he or she will have to give an account to one day. This is where Rushdoony's strength comes in: his ability to cite people and their ideas comes into play when he documents people who was before Freud that proposed explaining man in terms of the unconscious and sex driven. While Rushdoony cites sources no later than the 1960s I think his analysis of Freud's impact today still rings true. Rushdoony interact with some of the biographers who wants to paint Freud as a morally upright man, and also unmasks the real Freud. Rushdoony also points out that the followers of Freud has engage in a revision of his idea, in that while Freud did not think man can be changed (the goal is just observation and knowing man has a problem), present psychoanalysis is inconsistent with Freud's original insight. Good critique. I love how Rushdoony's critique is able to penetrate more deeper than just pointing out the nonscientific origin and status of Freud's ideas. As always, Rushdoony is able to demonstrate that Freud's attack on religion is not just anti-religious, but Freud is religious as well, of course in a Secular Humanistic fashion. Ever conscious of the dangers of Statism, Rushdoony also points out the ramification of Freud's idea as undermining liberty and freedom as well: “If we think in terms of sin, we imply responsibility and hence restitution and punishment. If we think in terms of mental illness, we deny responsibility and make it a medical or psychiatric matter. As a poster widely circulated in the 1950’s stated it, ‘Mental sickness is no disgrace. It might happen to anyone.’ In other words, there is no responsibility. This means that man, not being responsible, has no true liberty, and hence not entitled to civil liberties either. He can be hospitalized indefinitely for crime and experimented on by psychiatrists. He has no rights” (43-44).
June 19, 2014
Chapter 9 is a must. Very interesting discussion of Freudian Revisionism. Previous chapters were valuable as well, but you will need to read other things on Freud or by Freud to get a more complete picture of his worldview. I don't believe this book ever claims to be comprehensive. The points that are raised are excellent. It is brief, but no fluff.
October 27, 2023
Read again in 2023. Still good and helpful. Works best as a primer, not as a deep resource.
Read in 2020. Rushdoony provides a brief history of Freud and Freudian psychology, differentiates it with Christian belief, and finds Freud and his works wanting. There was much more room to go more in depth and I wished he would have, but what he did cover was good.
Read in 2020. Rushdoony provides a brief history of Freud and Freudian psychology, differentiates it with Christian belief, and finds Freud and his works wanting. There was much more room to go more in depth and I wished he would have, but what he did cover was good.
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July 2, 2012
January 1, 2023
An insightful look into who Freud was and into his thoughts. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews