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First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
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The International Library of Psychology ISAAC AND OEDIPUS Founded by C. K. Ogden The International Library of Psychology PSYCHOLOGY AND RELIGION In 6 Volumes I II III IV V VI Hindu Psychology Religious Conversion The Psychology of Religious Mysticism Indian Psychology Isaac and Oedipus Man in his Relationships Akhilananda de Sanctis Leuha Sinha Wellisch Westmann ISAAC AND OEDIPUS A Study in Biblical Psychology of the Sacrifice of Isaac The Akedah E WELLISCH First published in 1954 by Routledge Reprinted in 1999, 2000, 2001 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, 0X14 4RN Transferred to Digital Printing 2007 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group © 1954 E Wellisch All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. The publishers have made every effort to contact authors/copyright holders of the works reprinted in the International Library of Psychology. This has not been possible in every case, however, and we would welcome correspondence from those individuals/companies we have been unable to trace. These reprints are taken from original copies of each book. In many cases the condition of these originals is not perfect. The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of these reprints, but wishes to point out that certain characteristics of the original copies will, of necessity, be apparent in reprints thereof. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Isaac and Oedipus ISBN 0415-21114-X Psychology and Religion: 6 Volumes ISBN 0415-21133-6 The International Library of Psychology: 204 Volumes ISBN 0415-19132-7 TO MY SON This page intentionally left blank Preface T HIS is a religious-psychological study of the father-son relationship. It represents a re-evaluation of the Oedipus Complex and is based on the exposition of the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, the Sacrifice of Isaac. The thesis of the study is that phenomena described in the Bible provide a unique contribution to psychological truth. The analysis of the story of the Sacrifice of Isaac shows that it contains mental mechanisms which are characteristic for the Oedipus situation; but it also reveals mental experiences which differ in important aspects from this situation. These experiences are specific for Jewish and Christian religion, or —to use a term which expresses the essential bond between them—for Biblical religion. Mental experiences and mechanisms characteristic of Biblical religion occur in every person and can be observed clinically. This opens possibilities for a new field of psychiatric research. I am deeply grateful for the encouragement given to me in the course of this study by Dr. Kenneth Cameron, Physician of the Department of Child Psychiatry at the Maudsley and Bethlem Royal Hospitals, London. I am also very thankful for kind interest and advice from the Rev. Stafford Wright, Principal of Tyndale Hall Theological College, Bristol. Invaluable criticism and help was given to me by Dr. vii Preface R. J. Z. Werblowsky of Leeds University, for which I am very much indebted. Mr. H . J . Sants of the Crayford Child Guidance Clinic has given me most valuable assistance in the work and in the reading of the manuscript and I thank him most sincerely for this. Dr. H. Frankfort, Director of the Warburg Institute of the University of London and his