A Psychology of Hope: A Biblical Response to Tragedy and Suicide

by Kalman J. Kaplan

Can examining the difference between the attitude toward suicide in ancient Greek culture and the Bible provide a positive, biblical alternative to the rising suicidal element in modern Western culture? Kalman Kaplan and Matthew Schwartz develop such a biblical psychology in this book by combining the disciplines of history, psychology, and religion.

Ancient Greek society shows an obsessive interest in suicide and death. Kaplan and Schwartz explore the psychodynamic roots of that tendency and contrast it with the biblical stories, which speak little of suicide and approach reality and freedom in terms of a personal, lifegiving God. It is here that Kaplan and Schwartz find a viable solution for the hopelessness so prevalent in Western culture today.

285 pages, Paperback

First published March 30, 1993

Reviews

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title is misleading, most of the book is spent outlining the development cultural thoughts on suicide. I was hoping for more psychological focus.

[Michale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book for one of my Spertus classes. His thesis is that the Bible stories present much healthier paradigms for human growth and development that do the Greco-Roman myths upon which Freud based his analysis. I agreee with many of his ideas, but found that he picked only the stories that fit his paradigm, and ignored or glossed over some more troubling ones. He also uses Drash selectively when the Pshat (or perhaps other Midrashim) don't fit his thesis. i look forward to asking questions next week in class!

[Daniel Seifert · Rating 3 out of 5]

An approach to suicide prevention informed via a comparison of Greek and biblical literature. The approach has a strong attachment element to it that fits well in the framework of Family systems Theory