Sin, Pride & Self-Acceptance

The Problem of Identity in Theology & Psychology

By Terry D. Cooper

(paperback)

Product Details

Line: IVP Academic
Length: x + 180 pages
Size: 6 x 9 inches
Binding: paperback
Published: June 2003

ISBN-10: 0-8308-2728-5
ISBN-13: 978-0-8308-2728-2
IVP Order Code: 2728

Related Subjects

Psychology

Introduction
The Direction of This Book

1. Pride and Self-Contempt
Psychological Critics of the "Low Self-Esteem" Argument
Social Critiques of Self-Centeredness
Rogers and Niebuhr as Representatives of the Debate
Reenactment of the Pelagian Controversy
The Larger Issue: Sin and Self-Acceptance

2. Pride As the Primary Problem
Anxiety and Pride: Niebuhrian Theological Psychology
Differences with Augustine
Niebuhr and Freud: The Deceptive Nature of Sin
The Primacy of Pride
Warning About Equating Narcissism with Niebuhrian Pride
Summary

3. Pride, Sensuality and Addiction
Sensuality, Concupiscence and Addiction: From Augustine to Gerald May
Back to the Pride Versus Self-Contempt Conflict
But Is Pride the Problem for Everyone?

4. Pride and Self-Loss
Pride and Self-Loss: Socialized to Sin Differently?
Social Versus Individual Sin
Conclusion

5. Self-Acceptance and Humanisstic Psychology
The "Gospel" of Humanistic Psychology: The Actualizing Tendency
"Natural Goodness": The Organismic Valuing Process
Incongruence and the Emergence of the Undervalued Self
Reclaiming the Despised Self
"Theologizing" Carl Rogers?
Pride and Low Self-Esteem Intertwined?

6. Pride and Self-Hate: Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Basic Anxiety
Three Neurotic Trends to Alleviate Anxiety
Common Bonds in All Three Movements
The Idealized Self
Three Responses to the Idealized Self
Pride and Self-Hate
The "Search for Glory"
Neurotic Claims and Entitlement
Genuine Self-Esteem and Neurotic Pride
Horney's Contribution to the Pride Versus Self-Contempt Debate

7. Anxiety, Sin and Self-Understanding
Integrating the Pride and Self-Contempt Perspectives
Back to Niebuhr and Feminist Understandings of Sin
Pride and Distrust
Pride and Sensuality: A Confusion of Terms?
"Manly" and "Womanly" Sin
Equality of Sin, Inequality of Guilt
Anxiety and Its Relationship to Sin
Sinning Out of Strength as Well as Weakness
Conclusion

Select Bibliography

Author Index

Subject Index