The quest for the psychological Jesus through a Jungian lens

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study employs psychological type theory to advance the quest for the psychological Jesus within the reader-response approach to biblical hermeneutics, drawing on data provided by 192 participants from a Pentecostal background who completed two versions of the Francis Psychological Type Scales: one explored the participants’ psychological type profile; the other explored the psychological type profile that they attributed to Jesus. In terms of the 16 complete types, 35% of the participants profiled Jesus as ESFJ, compared with 14% who profiled themselves as ESFJ. In terms of underlying scale scores, the data revealed a significant tendency for participants to construct their image of Jesus within the contours of their own psychological type profile. For example, thinking types were more likely to form an image of Jesus as a thinking type, while feeling types were more likely to form an image of Jesus as a feeling type.