Christianity and Psychoanalysis: Original Sin—Oedipal Or Preoedipal?

Abstract

The concept of original sin has been considered from many different perspectives. The primary question for Christian psychologists is, “How does original sin manifest itself in the human psyche?” Vitz and Gartner (1984) provocatively argued for a psychoanalytic understanding of original sin as grounded in the oedipal complex, and that Jesus, the remedy for sin, embodies an anti-Oedipus stance. This article critically examines their theory and presents an alternative interpretation: original sin is better understood as a manifestation of the preoedipal drive towards omnipotence arising from the infant state of primary narcissism.