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[German Version] The term, introduced by Eugen Bleuler as Tiefenpsychologie in 1910 as a synonym for Freudian psychoanalysis, is commonly used in Germany (less in the Anglo-Saxon countries) as a collective ¶ term for the sometimes heatedly feuding schools, such as psychoanalysis (S. Freud), individual psychology (A. Adler), analytical or complex psychology (C.G. Jung), existence analysis (Ludwig Binswanger, Medard Boss), logotherapy …

[English Version] I. Begriff Der Begriff »P.« ist eine wörtl. Übernahme aus der antiken Philos.: τη˜ς ψυχη˜ς ϑεραπει´α/tē´s psychē´s therapei´a (oder ε᾿πιμε´λεια/epime´leia) bedeutet jene – päd. – Fürsorge und Pflege, die nach Plato der unsterblichen Seele gelten soll. Eine direkte bibl. Entsprechung findet sich nicht, jedoch hat der griech. Begriff durch die lat. Übers. (cura animarum) und deren Übertragung ins Dt. im Spät-MA als »Seelsorge« Eingang in unseren Sprachgebrauch gefunden. S. Freud nannte seine P.…

[German Version] 1. Susanna (Aug 13, 1820, London – Nov 25, 1884, Clifton), grew up in Manchester, where she was drawn into the intellectual climate of the Gaskells and their circle. She opened up a new spiritual dimension in 19th-century Britain by translating two key works of German mystical theology, the Theologia Germanica (1854) and History and Life of Johannes Tauler with Twenty-Five of his Sermons (1857). She also translated the Life and Letters of Barthold Niebuhr (B.G. Niebuhr, 1852) and Signs of the Times (1856) and God in History (1868–1870), two works of contemporary rel…

[German Version] I. Terminology The term psychotherapy is a literal borrowing from Greek philosophy: τῆς ψυχῆς ϑεραπεία/ tḗ s psychḗ s therapeía (or ἐπιμέλεια/ epiméleia) denoted the (pedagogical) care and nurture that Plato believed the immortal soul required. There is no direct biblical equivalent, but the Greek term entered modern usage through its Latin translation cura animarum (“care/cure of souls”), translated ¶ into the vernacular in the late Middle Ages (cf. Ger. Seelsorge [pastoral care]). S. Freud called his psychotherapy “secular Seelsorge,” and V. Frankl spok…

[English Version] I. Religionswissenschaftlich Die Entdeckung des U. als Schlüsselkonzept für die Psychoanalyse schrieb S. Freud sich selbst zu. Es finden sich aber in rel. und philos. Systemen Konzepte des U., die weitaus älter sind. So lassen sich etwa: a) schon bei Plato (α᾿n̆α´μn̆ησις/anámnēsis als unbewußte Bedingung für bewußte Geistestätigkeit) und Plotin, b) im indischen Vedānta und Buddhismus (avidyā, »Nichtwissen«, bedingt māyā) und c) in der ma. christl. Mystik bei Meister Eckhart (»Seligkeit«) oder im engl. myst. Text The C…

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff Die S. erforscht die Weisen des sozialen Erlebens bzw. Verhaltens und die Interaktionsprozesse (Interaktion) sowohl interindividuell als auch zw. Individuen und sozialen Systemen (Gemeinschaft und Individuum) unterschiedlicher Komplexität (Mikrosysteme wie Partnerschaften, Familien, Gruppen; Mesosysteme wie Organisationen, Institutionen; Makrosysteme wie gesellschaftliche, polit. oder kulturelle Einheiten) bzw. die Beziehung sozialer Systeme zueinander. Die Grundprob…

[German Version] I. The Concept Social psychology studies the modes of social experience and behavior and the interaction processes both of individuals and between individuals and social systems (Community and the individual) of varying complexity (microsystems like partnerships, families [Family], groups; mesosystems like organizations and institutions; macrosystems like social, political and cultural entities), as well as the relationship of social systems to each other. The basic issues, which are…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies S. Freud claimed credit for discovering the unconscious as a key concept for psychoanalysis, but much older concepts of the unconscious are found in religious and philosophical systems: (a) in the works of Plato(ἀνάμνησις/ anámnēsis as the unconscious condition for conscious mental activity) and Plotinus, (b) in Indian Vedānta and Buddhism ( avidyā, “ignorance,” inducing māyā), and (c) in the medieval Christian mysticism of Meister Eckhart ( Seligkeit) and the 14th-century English mystical text The Cloud of Unknow…

[German Version] I. General – II. Psychology of Religion I. General The child is the subject of different psychological subdisciplines, for example developmental psychology, educational psychology, psychology of culture, and clinical psychology. The following presentation mainly adopts the perspective of developmental psychology and looks into the question of the point of view from which psychologists describe and explain the development (Development: III) of the child in the first years of life. 1. Children and their world. The changes in our view of childhood and our …

[English Version] I. Zum Begriff Die Seele (: IV.) als Gegenstand der P. ist immer nur von einer Theorie her zugänglich, die versucht, die Erfahrung des Menschen mit seinem Innenleben und -erleben (denken, vorstellen, wollen, fühlen) kognitiv zu erfassen. Als »Bürger zweier Welten« (I. Kant) steht der Mensch existentiell und kognitiv vor dem Psycho-Physischen Problem und der Frage, wie er sich, zugleich leibliches Sinnenwesen und geistiges Subjekt, als personale Einheit denken kann. Seelentheorien …

[German Version] I. What Is Psychology? The psyche (Soul: IV) as the object of psychology is accessible only through a theory that attempts to obtain a cognitive grasp of the inner life and experience of human beings (thinking, imagining, wishing, feeling). As “citizens of two worlds” (I. Kant), human beings confront the psychophysical problem existentially and cognitively: how can they conceive of themselves – being both rational animals and cognitive subjects – as unitary persons? To be considered …

[German Version] I. History – II. Practical Theology – III. Latin America, Asia, Africa I. History 1. Early Church. The verb κατήχειν/ katḗchein originally denoted the oral transmission of a message in the sense of “tell, inform.” In Paul and early Christian literature it usually means “teach, instruct” (Gal 6:6; Lat. catechizare); in contrast to glossolalia, it refers to intelligible speech (1 Cor 14:19; Luke 1:4) such as instruction in the law (Rom 2:18) or in the teaching (“the way”) of the Lord (Acts 18:25). In t…

[German Version] I. Terminology – II. Catholic Catechisms – III. Orthodox Catechisms – IV. Protestant Catechisms – V. Catechetical Instruction I. Terminology Linguistically and semantically, the word catechism is derived from the Greek verb κατήχειν/ katḗchein, “to echo.” This etymology suggests a semantic connotation, according to which the transmission of the faith is fundamentally seen as a mediation of the content of the faith through personal testimony (cf. the Lat. personare, “to sound through”). Only when used in a transitive sense does κατήχειν acquire the meani…

[German Version] I. Religious Studies Prayer is one of the most frequent and important religious acts in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It also appears in other religions – for example the indigenous religions of America. But it does not appear to be universal. Some Buddhist traditions, for example, are atheistic, and in them there is no prayer in the strict sense; these traditions often allow their adherents to pray to gods (e.g. Hindu gods), but they value the goals of such prayer less than enl…