Suivre Jésus est-ce l'imiter ? Approche psychologique de l'identification au Christ

Abstract

A recent seminar on religious psychology took up the theme of identification with Jesus Christ. A first, theoretical development discusses the process of identification ; its principal stages, the constant tension between « imaginary identification» and «symbolic identification», and the resolution of this tension through a project- identification (creative searching rather than reproductive conformity). There follows a concrete illustration provided by a study of the Centre de psychologie de la religion (Louvain). Finally, a broader reflexion is undertaken based on the concepts of real, imaginary and symbolic identification. «Identification with Jesus» leads to a transformation of our desire, going beyond a "repetition-identification" of the historical Jesus ; this transformation occurs through receptivity to the Word (of the Gospel) and by a commitment to the route opened by Jesus, route which entails human solidarity.