Freud v. The Bible: Who Wins?

I have heard one person after another, who claims Christianity as their own, viciously renounce the research and claims of Sigmund Freud. This eccentric psychoanalyst who revolutionized the field of psychology has created vast controversy as a result of his views that sex is the basis of everything that happens in life and are the basis for our actions as humans. Though this is obviously wrong from the perspective of biblical truth, it is unscientific to completely discount his valuable research on the human psyche and it's influences. As a Christ-follower, it is incredibly difficult and mostly unreasonable to accept any Freudian ideas, but truth is still present to a degree.

Freud, beyond his sexualization of life, is most notably known for his division of the human psyche into the Super-ego, the Ego, and the Id. In a battle of the Super-ego against the Id, the Super-ego represents obligation created by the moral code of the human mind. In essence, Super-ego is the legalism that everyone experiences at one point or another, when guilt overwhelms us and an individual feels obligated to do the morally right action. The opposition to Super-ego is the Id--our most primitive impulses and desires with no restraint. This portion of the psyche is impulsive to no end and is generally pleasure seeking regardless of morality or consequences. Lastly, the Ego is the balance between the two that is most often seen in humans. Most people we encounter daily are ruled by their Freudian Ego, the balance between hedonism and legalism.

Though these ideas seem purely secular in nature, God is omnisciently pervasive throughout creation--even into the human psyche. Paul addresses the conflict of the human mind at the end of his letter to the church in Galatia.

Galatians 6:15 - Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

When Paul talks about circumcision, he is addressing a group of Christians in Galatia, called the Judaizers, who believed that to be saved and acceptable to God, one must accept Christ and also follow the whole Jewish law. This philosophy is more commonly known today as legalism, and it is something we have all been faced with at one point or another. Obligation is one point that the modern church emphasizes subconsciously, as we seem to put too much emphasis at times on the "do nots" of life. Additionally, spiritual prowess is equivalent to being visually active in church activities. Freud's Super-ego is the exact parallel of this influence on human behavior, as the Super-ego is the formal embodiment of legalism in the human mind. By placing obligation over a joy-filled relationship with our loving creator, the legalism of the Super-ego cannot give a person the full satisfaction of life.

Uncircumcision also represents another group of people in Galatia--the Hedonists. Since hedonism has such a negative connotation of being grossly overindulging, it goes to represent our most primitive desires for pleasure and personal satisfaction. The Hedonists followed a form of Deism, where God is like a clockmaker who creates the world as a giant clock, then simply leaves it to function on its own. If God does not permeate every portion of life, there is no need to follow our moral law and we are able to give in to our pure desire for pleasure. Freud named this section of our human psyche the Id--our impulsive journey for personal gratification. A philosophy following the Id has no need for personal responsibility and gives no heed to innate moral law or the consequences of not following this code. This is how the majority of modern men live: for their personal betterment financially, emotionally, physically, and in all other ways. Though we are not meant to live as emotionless machines, there must be some purpose and moderation in all of the pleasurable pursuits that life has to offer.

Lastly, both Freud and Paul search for the middle ground between the two. At one end lies the endless stretch of guilt and oppression within moral obligation, and at the other resides a filthy pit of unrestrained human indulgence. Freud finds his middle ground on a see-saw, a continuous game of tug-of-war between the conflicting portions of the human psyche. The Ego represents our "sense of self", our identity, that we can only have when mediating the struggle between Super-ego and the Id. In theory, this balancing act is feasible, but Paul realizes that humans cannot do this alone. The Freudian Ego in Paul's letter is represented by the "new creation" that we can be in order to have freedom through God's saving love. By relying on God's power to mediate our conflicting Id and Super-ego, we receive incredible intellectual and personal freedom through the power of Christ's death on the cross. In essence, all that is required of us is to simply be dependent on the power of God to create our Ego--our own unique identity. In this, we can experience the incredible freedom of living the Ego that God has for us.