Holding Contradictions Together: an Object-Relational View of Healthy Spirituality

Abstract

This paper challenges the classical psychoanalytic perspective on religion by an exploration of what can be understood by healthy and unhealthy spirituality. Drawing on object relations theory, the paper suggests that a hallmark of healthy spirituality is the capacity to revise internal object-representations of God in the light of experience and exploration. The work of Rodney Bomford is used to illuminate the kind of God image a spiritually healthy person might possess.