Mental health of Jesus

Study of the psychological state of Jesus

Ecce Homo, by Antonello da Messina, 1473

The question of whether the historical Jesus was in good mental health is a subject of consideration for multiple psychologists, philosophers, historians, and writers. The first person, after several other attempts at tackling the subject, who broadly and thoroughly questioned the mental health of Jesus was French psychologist Charles Binet-Sanglé, the chief physician of Paris and author of a four-volume work La Folie de Jésus (The Madness of Jesus, 1908–1915).[1][2][3] This view finds both supporters and opponents.

## Opinions challenging the sanity of Jesus

[edit]

The assessment of the sanity of Jesus first occurs in the gospels. The Gospel of Mark reports the opinion of members of his family who believe that Jesus "is beside himself." Some psychiatrists, religious scholars and writers explain that, according to the gospels, Jesus's family (Mark 3:21),[4] some followers (John 7:20,[5] see also John 11:41–53),[6] and contemporaries, at various points in time, regarded him as delusional, possessed by demons, or insane.[2][3][7][8][9][10]

> And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for people were saying, "He is beside himself". And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Be-el′zebul, and by the prince of demons he casts out the demons".

> — Mark 3:21–22, RSV[11]

The accusation contained in the Gospel of John is more literal:

> There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, "He has a demon, and he is mad; why listen to him?" Others said, "These are not the sayings of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"

> — John 10:19–21, RSV[12]

Justin Meggitt, a lecturer at the University of Cambridge,[13] suggests in his article "The Madness of King Jesus: Why was Jesus Put to Death, but his Followers were not?" (2007)[8] and in his book The Madness of King Jesus (2010)[14] that Pilate and other Romans regarded Jesus as an insane lunatic.[8] According to the Gospels, Jesus was presented to Pilate and sentenced to death as a royal pretender, but the standard Roman procedure was the prosecution and execution of would-be insurgents with their leaders. Therefore, to suggest that Jesus was put to death by the Roman authorities as some kind of royal pretender does not explain sufficiently why he was executed, but his disciples were not.[8][15] Jean Meslier (1664–1729) had similar thoughts in the 18th century. In chapters 33 and 34 of his Testament, he argues that Jesus "was really a madman, a fanatic" (étoit véritablement un fou, un insensé, un fanatique).[10][16]

Challenging the sanity of Jesus continued in the 19th century with the first quest for the historical Jesus. David Friedrich Strauss (Das Leben Jesu, 1864)[17] claimed that Jesus was a fanatic.[2][3][18] Lemuel K. Washburn opined in a pamphlet Was Jesus insane? (1889) that "Jesus was not divine, but insane".[19][20] Oskar Panizza introduced Jesus as a psychopathological and paranoid case.[21][22][23] Oskar Holtzmann in War Jesus Ekstatiker? (1903) presented Jesus as "ecstatic", which he described as a pathologically-strong excitability of the imagination and the power of will.[24][25] Henry Leffmann claimed in 1904 that Jesus was a megalomaniac with episodes of frenzy and auditory delusions.[26] Georg Lomer [de] (as George de Loosten, 1905) attempted to retrospectively diagnose Jesus as generally mentally ill, similarly to Jean Meslier.[2][3][27] Emil Rasmussen [ru] (1905) determined Jesus to be either epileptic or paranoid. Using a few examples, he developed a description of the typical pathological prophet ("Prophetentypus") and applied it to Jesus.[2][3][28] Julius Baumann [sv] (1908) hypothesised that the abnormalities he found in Jesus' behaviour could be explained by a nerve overstimulation (Nervenüberreizung).[29] However, it was not until the publication of Charles Binet-Sanglé's four-volume work La folie de Jésus from 1908 to 1915 that the topic was extensively and visibly discussed. Binet-Sanglé diagnosed Jesus as suffering from religious paranoia:[10][30]

> In short, the nature of the hallucinations of Jesus, as they are described in the orthodox Gospels, permits us to conclude that the founder of Christian religion was afflicted with religious paranoia.

> — (vol. 2, p. 393)

His view was shared by the New York psychiatrist and neurologist William Hirsch [de],[31] who in 1912 published his study, Religion and Civilization: The Conclusions of a Psychiatrist,[32] which enumerated a number of Jesus' mentally-aberrant behaviours. Hirsch agreed with Binet-Sanglé in that Jesus had been afflicted with hallucinations and pointed to his "megalomania, which mounted ceaselessly and immeasurably".[33][2][3] Hirsch concluded that Jesus was just a "paranoid":

> But Christ offers in every respect an absolutely typical picture of a wellknown mental disease. All that we know of him corresponds so exactly to the clinical aspect of paranoia, that it is hardly conceivable how anybody at all acquainted with mental disorders, can entertain the slightest doubt as to the correctness of the diagnosis.

> — (p. 103)

According to Hirsch, Jesus, as a typical paranoid, applied prophecies about the coming of the messiah to himself,[34] and had a deep hatred towards anyone who disagreed with him on everything.[35] The Soviet psychiatrist Y. V. Mints (1927) also diagnosed Jesus as suffering from paranoia.[10][36][37] The literature of the Soviet Union in the 1920s, following the tradition of the demythologization of Jesus in the works of Strauss, Renan, Nietzsche, and Binet-Sanglé, put forward two main themes: mental illness and deception. That was reflected in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita in which Jesus is depicted by Pontius Pilate as a harmless madman. It was only at the turn of the 1920s and the 1930s that the mythological option, the denial of the existence of Jesus, won the upper hand in Soviet propaganda.[38] Jesus' mental health was also questioned by the British psychiatrists William Sargant and Raj Persaud,[39][40] and a number of psychologists of the psychoanalytic orientation, like Georges Berguer [de] in his study Quelques traits de la vie de Jésus au point de vue psychologique et psychanalytique (1920).[41][42]

Władysław Witwicki, a rationalist philosopher and psychologist,[43] in the comments to his own translation of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Dobra Nowina według Mateusza i Marka[44] (The Good News according to Matthew and Mark [pl]), which is in fact a psychobiography of Jesus,[45] attributed that Jesus had subjectivism,[46] an increased sense of his own power and superiority over others, egocentrism[47] and the tendency to subjugate other people.[48] He also had difficulties communicating with the outside world,[49] as well as dissociative identity disorder,[50] which made him a schizothymic or even schizophrenic type (according to Ernst Kretschmer's typology).[51][52][53]

American philosopher and science skeptic Paul Kurtz, in one of his most influential writings, The Transcendental Temptation (1986, chapter Was Jesus disturbed?), notices that some passages in the gospels suggest that "Jesus was a disturbed personality." However, he notes, "It is difficult to be certain, since we have no way of submitting him to intensive psychiatric diagnosis." He states that if Jesus had any claim to divinity, "then he was deranged." According to Kurtz, Jesus "kept preaching that doomsday or the last days were at hand." In this context, he cites Matthew 16:28[54] and 24:34–35.[55] He also quotes passages in the gospels in which Jesus' family (Mark 3:20–21)[56] and other contemporary Jews (Mark 3:22,[57] John 10:20)[58] accused him of demonic possession and insanity.[59][60]

The American theologian and psychologist of religion Donald Capps, in his book Jesus: A Psychological Biography (1989, 2000),[61] diagnosed Jesus as a utopian-melancholic personality (he looked forward to a coming kingdom of God) with suicidal tendencies.[62][63] New Testament scholar Andrew Jacob Mattill Jr. [Wikidata], in his essay contained in The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read (1993),[64] draws attention to the ever-increasing megalomania of "John's Jesus" (described in the Gospel of John 6:29, 35, 38, 40, 47-58; 7:38; 8:12; 11:25-26; 14:6, 13-14),[65] and concludes:

> The more trust one puts in the Fourth Gospel's portrait of Jesus the more difficult it is to defend the sanity of Jesus.[2][3][65]

The English psychiatrist Anthony Storr in his final book Feet of Clay; Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus (1996)[66] suggested that there are psychological similarities between crazy "messiahs" such as Jim Jones and David Koresh and respected religious leaders including Jesus.[67][a] Storr tracks typical patterns, often involving psychotic disorders that shape the development of the guru.[70] His study is an attempt to look at Jesus as one of many gurus. Storr agrees with most scholars of historical Jesus, who are inclined to the hypothesis of Jesus as apocalyptic prophet:

> It seems inescapable that Jesus did share the apocalyptic view that God's final conquest of evil was at hand and that God's kingdom would be established upon earth in the near future.[71]

Storr recognises Jesus' many similarities to other gurus. It was, for example, going through a period of internal conflict during his fasting in the desert. According to Storr, if Jesus really considered himself a deputy for God and believed that one day he would come down from heaven to rule, he was very similar to the gurus whom he had previously described as preachers of delusions possessed by mania of greatness. He notes that Jesus was not ideal in family life (Mark 3:31–35,[72] Mark 13:12–13).[73] Gurus often remain indifferent to family ties. Other similarities, according to Storr, include Jesus' faith in receiving a special revelation from God and a tendency to elitism, in the sense that Jesus believed that he had been specially marked by God.[74]

American neuroendocrinology researcher Robert Sapolsky in his essay included in the book The Trouble with Testosterone: and Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament (1997, 1998)[75] suggests the occurrence of schizotypal ("half-crazy", p. 248) behavior and metamagical thinking in shamans, Jesus and other charismatic religious leaders:

> Oh, sure, one can overdo it, and our history is darkly stained with abortive religious movements inspired by messianic crackpots. (...) However, if you get the metamagical thoughts and behaviors to the right extent and at the right time and place, then people might just get the day off from work on your birthday for a long time to come.

> — (p. 256)

Then Sapolsky notes that "plausible links can be made among schizotypal behaviour, metamagical thought, and the founding of certain religious beliefs in both non-Western and Western societies." (p. 256) According to him: "The notion of the psychopathology of the shaman works just as readily in understanding the roots of major Western religions as well." (p. 255)

In 2012, a team of psychiatrists, behavioral psychologists, neurologists and neuropsychiatrists from the Harvard Medical School published a research that suggested the development of a new diagnostic category of psychiatric disorders related to religious delusion and hyperreligiosity.[76] They compared the thoughts and behaviors of the most important figures in the Bible, such as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Paul,[76] with patients affected by mental disorders related to the psychotic spectrum using different clusters of disorders and diagnostic criteria (DSM-IV-TR),[77] and concluded that these Biblical figures "may have had psychotic symptoms that contributed inspiration for their revelations",[78] such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, delusional disorder, delusions of grandeur, auditory-visual hallucinations, paranoia, Geschwind syndrome (especially Paul), and abnormal experiences associated with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). According to the authors, in the case of Jesus, it could have been: paranoid schizophrenia, bipolar and schizoaffective disorders.[7] They hypothesized that Jesus may have sought death through "suicide-by-proxy" (indirect suicide).[79][b]

## Opinions defending the sanity of Jesus

[edit]

Opinions and publications questioning the sanity of Jesus, especially Georg Lomer, Charles Binet-Sanglé and William Hirsch, caused polemical reactions. They were first challenged by Albert Schweitzer in his doctoral thesis, The Psychiatric Study of Jesus: Exposition and Criticism,[81][2][3] (Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu: Darstellung und Kritik, 1913)[82][83][30][84] and by the American theologian Walter E. Bundy [Wikidata] in his 1922 book, The psychic health of Jesus. Bundy summarized his defense of Jesus′ sanity:[85][2][3]

> A pathography of Jesus is possible only upon the basis of a lack of acquaintance with the course and conclusions of New Testament criticism and an amateur application of the principles of the science of psychiatry.

> — (p. 268)

Earlier the mental health of Jesus was defended by: the German Catholic theologian, professor of apologetics at the University of Würzburg, Philipp Kneib (Moderne Leben-Jesu-Forschung unter dem Einflusse der Psychiatrie, 1908)[86] – against the arguments of Holtzmann, Lomer, Rasmussen and Baumann;[87] the German evangelical theologian and pastor Hermann Werner [Wikidata] (Die psychische Gesundheit Jesu, 1908)[88] – against the arguments of Holtzmann, Lomer and Rasmussen;[89] and also by the German psychiatrist, chief physician of the Friedrichsberg Mental Asylum in Hamburg, Heinrich Schaefer [Wikidata] (Jesus in psychiatrischer Beleuchtung: eine Kontroverse, 1910)[90] – against the arguments of Lomer and Rasmussen.[91]

The mental health of Jesus is defended by Christian psychiatrists Olivier Quentin Hyder,[92] Pablo Martinez, and Andrew Sims.[93][94] Christian apologists, such as Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel,[95][96] also take up the subject of Jesus' sanity defense. The defense of Jesus' mental health was devoted to an editorial in the magazine of Italian Jesuits La Civiltà Cattolica, published November 5, 1994.[97] To the title question E se Gesù si fosse ingannato? ("What if Jesus had deceived himself?") the editors replied in the negative by arguing that Jesus was not a fanatic or megalomaniac but a mentally-healthy and very realistic person. Therefore, he did not deceive himself by saying that he was the messiah and the Son of God.[98]

American biblical scholar James H. Charlesworth, in his essay Jesus Research and the Appearance of Psychobiography (2002), discusses previous attempts to write a psychobiography of Jesus. In the final reflection, he suggests that earlier (created at the beginning of the 20th century) images of a mentally disturbed, paranoid Jesus with hallucinations resulted from comparing him to paranoids in the clinics of their creators and applying Freudian psychology to ancient sources. According to the author, Jesus' intentions should be examined in the context of his place and era, using historical research.[99]

Pope Benedict XVI wrote in his book Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration (2007):

> A broad current of liberal scholarship has interpreted Jesus′ Baptism as a vocational experience. After having led a perfectly normal life in the province of Galilee, at the moment of his Baptism he is said to have had an earth-shattering experience. It was then, we are told, that he became aware of his special relationship to God and his religious mission. This mission, moreover, supposedly originated from the expectation motif then dominant in Israel, creatively reshaped by John, and from the emotional upheaval that the event of his Baptism brought about in Jesus′ life. But none of this can be found in the texts. However much scholarly erudition goes into the presentation of this reading, it has to be seen as more akin to a "Jesus novel" than as an actual interpretation of the texts. The texts give us no window into Jesus′ inner life – Jesus stands above our psychologizing. (Guardini, Das Wesen des Christentums).[100]

American philosopher and Christian minister Robin Meyers devotes the first chapter of his book The Underground Church: Reclaiming the Subversive Way of Jesus (2012)[101] to defending the mental health of Jesus. According to him, "many of those who questioned the mental health of Jesus did it to render claims about him suspect and thus dismiss the gospel as nonsense" (p. 28). Further (p. 32) the author quotes Thomas Merton in reaction: "The whole concept of sanity in a society where spiritual values have lost their meaning is itself meaningless."[102]

C. S. Lewis famously considered Jesus' mental health in what is known as Lewis's trilemma (the formulation quoted here is by John Duncan):

> Christ either deceived mankind by conscious fraud, or He was Himself deluded and self-deceived, or He was Divine. There is no getting out of this trilemma. It is inexorable.

The agnostic atheist New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman wrote on his own blog:

> And he may well have thought (I think he did think) that he would be made the messiah in the future kingdom. That may have been a rather exalted view of himself, but I don't think it makes Jesus crazy. It makes him an unusually confident apocalyptic prophet. There were others with visions of grandeur at the time. I don't think that makes him mentally ill. It makes him a first-century apocalyptic Jew.[103]

## See also

[edit]

* Christianity portal
* Psychiatry portal

* Criticism of Jesus
* Divine madness
* Foolishness for Christ
* God complex
* Jerusalem syndrome
* List of messiah claimants
* Messiah complex
* Psychology of religion
* Rejection of Jesus
* Religion and schizophrenia
* Sexuality and marital status of Jesus
* The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (Milton Rokeach psychiatric case study)

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ As does neuroendocrinology researcher Robert Sapolsky.[68][69]
2. ^ Justin Meggitt refers to John 8:21–22.[80]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Binet-Sanglé, Charles (1908–1915). La folie de Jésus [The Madness of Jesus] (in French). Vol. 1–4\. Paris: A. Maloine. LCCN 08019439. OCLC 4560820.
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Havis, Don (2010). "Was Jesus Crazy? An Inquiry into the Mental Health of Jesus Christ". Not Resigned: Selected Works (1950-2010). Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris Corporation LLC. pp. 143–158\. ISBN 978-1-4500-4754-8. Retrieved June 8, 2024.
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Havis, Don (April–June 2001). "An Inquiry into the Mental Health of Jesus: Was He Crazy?". Secular Nation. Minneapolis: Atheist Alliance Inc. ISSN 1530-308X. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
4. ^ Mark 3:21
5. ^ John 7:20
6. ^ John 11:41–53
7. ^ a b Murray, Cunningham & Price (2012), pp. 414–415.
8. ^ a b c d Meggitt, Justin J. (June 1, 2007). "The Madness of King Jesus: Why was Jesus Put to Death, but his Followers not?". Journal for the Study of the New Testament. 29 (4). London: Sage Publications: 379–413\. doi:10.1177/0142064X07078990. ISSN 0142-064X. S2CID 171007891.
9. ^ Hirsch (1912), p. 135.
10. ^ a b c d Kryvelev, Iosif Aronovich (1987). "Mentally Ill (according to J. Meslier, A. Binet-Sanglé and Ya. Mints)". Christ: Myth or Reality?. Religious studies in the USSR; ser. 2. Moscow: "Social Sciences Today" Editorial Board. LCCN 87157196. OCLC 64860072. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
11. ^ Mark 3:21–22
12. ^ John 10:19–21
13. ^ "Dr Justin Meggitt – Faculty of Divinity". University of Cambridge. July 23, 2013. Retrieved June 13, 2020.
14. ^ Meggitt, Justin J. (2010). The Madness of King Jesus: The Real Reasons for His Execution. London: I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-8488-5410-9.
15. ^ Meggitt, Justin J. (2023). "The madness of King Jesus: why was Jesus put to death, but his followers were not?". Studies in the Historical Jesus: Anarchy, Miracles, and Madness. Cambridge: Mutual Academic. pp. 165–210\. doi:10.17613/mpjp-3c10. ISBN 978-1-916570-08-5.
16. ^ Meslier, Jean (1864). Le Testament (in French). Vol. 2\. Amsterdam: A la Librairie Étrangère, Raison R.C. Meijer. pp. 42–67\. LCCN 74194533. OCLC 9806959. OL 38622065M.
17. ^ Strauss, David Friedrich (1864). Das Leben Jesu, für das deutsche Volk bearbeitet. Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus. LCCN 17022642. OCLC 459102643. OL 18817475M.
18. ^ Bundy, Walter E. (1922). The Psychic Health of Jesus. New York: The Macmillan Company. p. 4. LCCN 22005555. OCLC 644667928. OL 25583375M.
19. ^ Washburn, Lemuel K. (1889). Was Jesus insane?. New York: The Truth Seeker Company. p. 20\. OCLC 38939887.
20. ^ Bundy, Walter E. (1922). The Psychic Health of Jesus. New York: The Macmillan Company. p. 27. LCCN 22005555. OCLC 644667928. OL 25583375M.
21. ^ Panizza, Oskar (1898). "Christus in psicho-patologischer Beleuchtung". Zürcher Diskuszjonen (in German). 5 (1): 1–8\. OCLC 782007054.
22. ^ Düsterberg, Rolf (1988). Die gedrukte Freiheit: Oskar Panizza und die Zürcher Diskussjonen. Europäische Hochschulschriften; Reihe 1, Deutsche Sprache und Literatur; 1098 (in German). Frankfurt am Main: P. Lang. pp. 40–91\. ISBN 3-8204-0288-8.
23. ^ Müller, Jürgen (1990). Oskar Panizza: Versuch einer immamenten Interpretation (in German). Würzburg. pp. 248–256\. OCLC 923572143.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
24. ^ Holtzmann, Oskar (1903). War Jesus Ekstatiker?: eine Untersuchung zum Leben Jesu. Tübingen: J. C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck). ISBN 1-332-63400-1. OCLC 902994315. OL 21869475M. `{{cite book}}`: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
25. ^ Bundy, Walter Ernest (1921). "Introduction". The psychic health of Jesus. The Macmillan Company. p. XIV. LCCN 22005555. OCLC 644667928. OL 25583375M. "O. Holtzmann presented Jesus as through and through an ecstatic character"
26. ^ Leffmann, Henry (1904). The mental condition and career of Jesus of Nazareth examined in the light of modern knowledge. Philadelphia: Leffmann. pp. 17–19\. OCLC 15004638.
27. ^ Lomer, Georg (1905). Jesus Christus vom Standpunkte des Psychiaters: eine kritische Studie für Fachleute und gebildete Laien. Bamberg: Handels-Druckerei. OCLC 31247627.
28. ^ Rasmussen, Emil (1905). Jesus, eine vergleichende psychologische Studie (in German). Leipzig: Verlag Julius Zeitler. OCLC 14790352. OL 20020984W.
29. ^ Baumann, Julius (1908). Die Gemütsart Jesu : nach jetziger wissenschaftlicher, insbesondere jetziger psychologischer Methode erkennbar gemacht. Leipzig: Alfred Kröner. OCLC 1091268451. OL 27164474M.
30. ^ a b Gettis, Alan (June 1987). "The Jesus delusion: A theoretical and phenomenological look". Journal of Religion and Health. 26 (2). Springer: 131–136\. doi:10.1007/BF01533683. ISSN 0022-4197. JSTOR 27505915. OCLC 4643399839. PMID 24301876. S2CID 29415793.
31. ^ "DR. WILLIAM HIRSCH; Retired Psychiatrist Had Served on Staffs of Hospitals Here". The New York Times. February 16, 1937. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
32. ^ Hirsch (1912).
33. ^ Hirsch (1912), p. 107.
34. ^ Hirsch (1912), pp. 127–128.
35. ^ Hirsch (1912), p. 137.
36. ^ Sirotkina, Irina (2002). Diagnosing Literary Genius: A Cultural History of Psychiatry in Russia, 1880–1930. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 169\. ISBN 978-0-8018-7689-9.
37. ^ Минц, Я. В. (1927). "Иисус Христос – как тип душевнобольного" [Jesus Christ: A Sample of Mentally Ill]. Клинический архив гениальности и одарённости (эвропатологии) (in Russian). Vol. 3\. Leningrad. pp. 243–252.`{{cite book}}`: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
38. ^ Дождикова, Надежда (2009). "Чем был недоволен Берлиоз? О романе М. А. Булгакова "Мастер и Маргарита" и "проблеме Христа"". Нева (in Russian) (7). ISSN 0130-741X. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018.
39. ^ Sargant, William (August 22, 1974). "The movement in psychiatry away from the philosophical". The Times: 14. ISSN 0140-0460. "Perhaps, even earlier, Jesus Christ might simply have returned to his carpentry following the use of modern [psychiatric] treatments."
40. ^ Persaud, Raj (April 27, 1993). "Health: A madman can look a lot like a messiah: There is no easy way for cult followers to tell if their leader is sane, says Raj Persaud". The Independent. Retrieved October 25, 2018. "Two thousand years ago Jesus received a crown of thorns. Today the Messianic have electro-convulsive therapy."
41. ^ Berguer, Georges (1920). Quelques traits de la vie de Jésus: au point de vue psychologique et psychanalytique (in French). Genève–Paris: Edition Atar. OCLC 417009760.
42. ^ Berguer, Georges (1923). Some aspects of the life of Jesus from the psychological and psycho-analytic point of view. Translated by Brooks, Eleanor Stimson; Brooks, Van Wyck. New York: Harcourt, Brace and Co. LCCN 23012901. OCLC 2628145. OL 6656731M.
43. ^ Nowicki, Andrzej (1982). Witwicki (in Polish). Warszawa: Wiedza Powszechna. pp. 7–9\. ISBN 83-214-0301-8.
44. ^ Witwicki (1958).
45. ^ Citlak, Amadeusz (2016). "The Lvov-Warsaw School: The forgotten tradition of historical psychology". History of Psychology. 19 (2). American Psychological Association: 105–124\. doi:10.1037/hop0000029. ISSN 1093-4510. OCLC 6029347169. PMID 27100926. S2CID 22112845.
46. ^ Witwicki (1958), p. 319.
47. ^ Witwicki (1958), pp. 266, 379.
48. ^ Szmyd, Jan (1996). Psychologiczny obraz religijności i mistyki: z badań psychologów polskich [Psychological picture of religiousness and mysticism: from the research of the Polish psychologists] (in Polish). Kraków: Wydawn. Naukowe WSP. p. 197\. ISBN 978-8-3868-4154-7.
49. ^ Witwicki (1958), pp. 203, 281.
50. ^ Witwicki (1958), p. 203.
51. ^ Citlak, Amadeusz (2015). "Psychobiography of Jesus Christ in view of Władysław Witwicki's theory of cratism". Journal for Perspectives of Economic Political and Social Integration. 21 (1–2). Scientific Society KUL: 155–184\. doi:10.2478/pepsi-2015-0007. ISSN 2300-0945. OCLC 998362074. S2CID 151801662. Retrieved September 21, 2022.1–2&rft.pages=155-184&rft.date=2015&rft_id=info:oclcnum/998362074&rft_id=https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:151801662#id-name=S2CID&rft.issn=2300-0945&rft_id=info:doi/10.2478/pepsi-2015-0007&rft.aulast=Citlak&rft.aufirst=Amadeusz&rft_id=https://ojs.tnkul.pl/index.php/jpepsi/article/view/769/764&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Mental+health+of+Jesus" class="Z3988">
52. ^ Citlak, Amadeusz (2016). Relacje społeczne świata antycznego w świetle teorii kratyzmu. Psychologia historyczna w szkole lwowsko-warszawskiej [Social relations of the ancient world in the light of the theory of cratism. Historical psychology in the Lwów–Warsaw school] (in Polish). Warszawa: Instytut Psychologii PAN. pp. 61–62\. ISBN 978-83-939589-7-9.
53. ^ Jarzyńska, Karina (April 10, 2008). "Jezus jako egocentryczny schizotymik" [Jesus as an egocentric schizotymic]. Racjonalista (in Polish). Fundacja Wolnej Myśli. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
54. ^ Matthew 16:28
55. ^ Matthew 24:34–35
56. ^ Mark 3:20–21
57. ^ Mark 3:22
58. ^ John 10:20
59. ^ Kurtz, Paul (1991) [1st pub. 1986]. "Was Jesus disturbed?". The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion and the Paranormal. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books. pp. 130–132\. ISBN 0-87975-362-5.
60. ^ Kurtz, Paul (2013) [1st pub. 1986]. "Was Jesus disturbed?". The Transcendental Temptation: A Critique of Religion an the Paranormal. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. pp. 173–175\. ISBN 978-161614-828-7. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
61. ^ Capps, Donald (2000). Jesus: A Psychological Biography. St. Louis, Mo.: Chalice Press. ISBN 978-0-8272-1713-3.
62. ^ van Os, Bas (2007). "Psychological method and the historical Jesus: The contribution of psychobiography". HTS Teologiese Studies. 63 (1): 332. doi:10.4102/hts.v63i1.207. hdl:2263/2971. ISSN 0259-9422.
63. ^ Powell, Mark Allan (2018). "Psychological Studies of the Historical Jesus" (PDF). Introducing the New Testament (Supplement). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic. ISBN 978-0-8010-9960-1.
64. ^ Mattill Jr. (2003), p. 121–129.
65. ^ a b Mattill Jr. (2003), p. 122.
66. ^ Storr, Anthony (1996). Feet of Clay; Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-684-82818-9.
67. ^ "Obituary: Anthony Storr". The Telegraph. March 21, 2001. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
68. ^ Sapolsky, Robert (April 2003). "Belief and Biology". Freedom from Religion Foundation. Retrieved July 27, 2023. "You can only do post-hoc forensic psychiatry on Koresh and Jones, but Charles Manson is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic. But get it just right, and people are gonna get the day off from work on your birthday for millennia to come."
69. ^ Dr. Robert Sapolsky's lecture about Biological Underpinnings of Religiosity on YouTube
70. ^ Storr, Anthony (May 19, 2015). Feet Of Clay: The Power and Charisma of Gurus. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781501122088. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022. `{{cite book}}`: `|website=` ignored (help)
71. ^ Storr (1997), p. 142.
72. ^ Mark 3:31–35
73. ^ Mark 13:12–13
74. ^ Storr (1997), pp. 143–146.
75. ^ Sapolsky, Robert M. (1998). "Circling the Blanket for God". The Trouble with Testosterone: and Other Essays on the Biology of the Human Predicament. New York: A Touchstone Book, Simon & Schuster. pp. 241–288\. ISBN 978-0-684-83409-2.
76. ^ a b Murray, Cunningham & Price (2012), pp. 410–426.
77. ^ Murray, Cunningham & Price (2012), p. 411.
78. ^ Murray, Cunningham & Price (2012), p. 424.
79. ^ Murray, Cunningham & Price (2012), p. 415.
80. ^ Meggitt, Justin J. (2023). "Psychology and the historical Jesus". Studies in the Historical Jesus: Anarchy, Miracles, and Madness. Cambridge: Mutual Academic. p. 93\. doi:10.17613/mpjp-3c10. ISBN 978-1-916570-08-5. "Indeed, John's gospel even records a tradition that Jesus was thought to be suicidal (although this was not thought to necessarily be an indication of mental illness in this period)."
81. ^ Schweitzer, Albert (1948). The Psychiatric Study of Jesus: Exposition and Criticism. Translated by Joy, Charles R. Boston: Beacon Press. LCCN 48006488. OCLC 614572512. OL 6030284M.
82. ^ Schweitzer, Albert (1913). Die psychiatrische Beurteilung Jesu: Darstellung und Kritik (in German). Tübingen: J.C.B. Mohr (Paul Siebeck). LCCN 13021072. OCLC 5903262. OL 20952265W.
83. ^ Schweitzer, Albert (1998). Out of My Life and Thoughts. Translated by Lemke, Antje Bultmann. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 108. ISBN 978-0-8018-6097-3.
84. ^ Seidel, Michael (January 2009). "Albert Schweitzer's MD thesis on Criticism of the medical pathographies on Jesus". Würzburger medizinhistorische Mitteilungen. 28 (1). Königshausen & Neumann: 276–300\. ISSN 0177-5227. PMID 20509445.
85. ^ Bundy, Walter E. (1922). The Psychic Health of Jesus. New York: The Macmillan Company. LCCN 22005555. OCLC 644667928. OL 25583375M.
86. ^ Kneib, Philipp (1908). Moderne Leben-Jesu-Forschung unter dem Einflusse der Psychiatrie [Modern Quest for the historical Jesus Under the Influence of Psychiatry] (in German). Meinz: Verlag von Kirchheim & Co. OCLC 936445547.
87. ^ Bundy, Walter E. (1922). The Psychic Health of Jesus. New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. 115–116. LCCN 22005555. OCLC 644667928. OL 25583375M.
88. ^ Werner, Hermann (1908). Die psychische Gesundheit Jesu [The Mental Health of Jesus] (in German). Berlin: Edwin Runge. OCLC 874419014. OL 28410083M.
89. ^ Bundy, Walter E. (1922). The Psychic Health of Jesus. New York: The Macmillan Company. pp. 113–115. LCCN 22005555. OCLC 644667928. OL 25583375M.
90. ^ Schaefer, Heinrich (1910). Jesus in psychiatrischer Beleuchtung: eine Kontroverse [Jesus in Psychiatric Illumination: A Controversy] (in German). Berlin: Ernst Hofmann & Co. OCLC 3534777. OL 27210095M.
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94. ^ Sims, Andrew (July 17, 2018). "Mad or God? A senior psychiatrist on the mental health of Jesus". Christian News on Christian Today. Christian Today. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
95. ^ McDowell, Josh (1977). "Lord, Liar, or Lunatic?". More Than a Carpenter. Wheaton, Illinois: Living Books. pp. 22–32\. ISBN 978-0-8423-4552-1.
96. ^ Strobel, Lee (1998). "The Psychological Evidence. Was Jesus Crazy When He Claimed to Be the Son of God?". The Case for Christ. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. pp. 144–154\. ISBN 978-0-3102-0930-0. Retrieved September 8, 2023.
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### Sources

[edit]

* Binet-Sanglé, Charles (1908). "La Folie de Jésus (tome 1). Son hérédité. Sa constitution. Sa physiologie". Internet Archive (in French). A. Maloine. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
* Binet-Sanglé, Charles (1910). "La Folie de Jésus (tome 2). Ses connaissances. Ses idées. Son délire. Ses hallucinations". Internet Archive (in French). A. Maloine. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
* Binet-Sanglé, Charles (1912). "La Folie de Jésus (tome 3). Ses facultés individuelles. Ses sentiments. Son procès". Internet Archive (in French). A. Maloine. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
* Binet-Sanglé, Charles (1915). "La Folie de Jésus (tome 4 et dernier). Sa morale, son activité. Diagnostique de sa folie". Internet Archive (in French). A. Maloine. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
* Hirsch, William (1912). Religion and civilization; the conclusions of a psychiatrist. New York: The Truth Seeker Company. LCCN 12002696. OCLC 39864035. OL 20516240M.
* Mattill Jr., Andrew Jacob (2003). "Destructive divines". In Leedom, Tim C. (ed.). The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You To Read (4th ed.). San Diego, CA: The Truth Seeker Company. ISBN 0-939040-15-8. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
* Murray, Evan D.; Cunningham, Miles G.; Price, Bruce H. (October 2012). "The Role of Psychotic Disorders in Religious History Considered". Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences. 24 (4). American Psychiatric Association: 410–426\. doi:10.1176/appi.neuropsych.11090214. ISSN 1545-7222. OCLC 823065628. PMID 23224447. S2CID 207654711.
* Storr, Anthony (1997). Feet of Clay; Saints, Sinners, and Madmen: A Study of Gurus. New York: Free Press Paperbacks. ISBN 0-684-83495-2.
* Witwicki, Władysław (1958). Dobra Nowina według Mateusza i Marka [The Good News according to Matthew and Mark] (in Polish). Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe. OCLC 681830910.

## Further reading

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Wikiquote has quotations related to Mental health of Jesus.

* Schweitzer, Albert (1958). The Psychiatric Study of Jesus: Exposition and Criticism. Translated by Joy, Charles R. Boston: Beacon Press. OCLC 977923917. OL 14099395M. (full text)
* Cossette, Jean-Philippe (2006). Jesus Was Schizophrenic. Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US. ISBN 979-8508630508.
* Behrman, Bruce W. (2023). The Historical Christ: A Cognitive Psychologist's Perspective. Eugene, Oregon: Resource Publications. ISBN 978-1666737844.

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