Psychology as Religion: The Cult of Self-Worship

As a psychologist AND Christian, I was troubled by trying to see mental illness and psychotic behavior from both a psychology and Christian perspective.Many Christians think all mental illness (depression, anxiety, psychotic behavior, etc) is spiritual attacks from the devil or demons. There is the story about Jesus casting evil spirits out of a man who was cutting himself and the evil spirits were cast into swine/pigs.However, there are so many Christians who are suffering with depression, anxiety, psychosis etc who aren't being treated because they refuse to see the psychology component to these illnesses.Reading this book helped me formulate a better perspective on this topic. A must have for any therapist who is Christian. Good to read books from both arguments then develop your own conclusion.If this was helpful, please let me know by selecting below. Thanks!

This is the real story, debunks a lot of psycho-babble going around on very logical terms. If you want to heal, this is the book for you.

This book opened my eyes to the uneasiness I had been feeling about the entire field of psychology for some years, that it had largely moved away from its scientific basis and had moved into the realm of its own religion, while at the same time professing to move away, far away, from the traditional organized religions, as we know them. Psychology is now nothing more than "Humanism," or "selfism," the Worship of Self. I would be extremely wary of allowing myself or any family member to go to any psychologist or psychiatrist unless he or she was personally associated with my own organized religion. Selfism will not cure anyone of anything, it will just promote our headlong slide into anarchy.

Well I thought Vitz was really prophetic in this book - it was a comprehensive and accurate indictment. He didn't get too too technical on all of his points which i suppose was on purpose, but I still found it enlightening and helpful as believers seek to understand and utilize psychology when it is helpful, and to be aware of when it is more philosophical and operating on naturalistic, self-focused assumptions which masquerade as scientific or when it is setting itself up as all-encompassing.

USED FOR COLLEGE CLASSES

This is one of those books that just stared back at me in the book store. I've yet to comprehesively read it in it's entirety but there's a lot here I'm grateful for. I can't even say I'm 100% behind Vitz's analysis and solutions but his insights are coherent, clarifying and offers surprisingly accurate context for the western mind in the modern era. At a time where I'm personally conflicted and confused about what kind of points of view and stances I want to have concerning important life questions, and consequently what direction in life will hold true meaning for me, this book is an excellent place for ideas to meet and find their deeper articulation. Reading this book I also experienced how ingrained and unconscious much of my own American psychological conditioning has been.There is a strange tendency for people in today's society to completely ignore the Christian perspective, especially it's deeper essence, and use a rejection of Christianity or other religions as a sort of justification or basis for leading other lifestyles. In my experience this has the potential for a kind of proud reactivity which makes for an insecure psychological foundation and can easily act as a source of unnecessary suffering for one's self and others. In that regard I believe this book offers the opportunity to weigh the arguments and develop a more honest and healthy relationship with our (western) theological ideas. There is much to be said for stimulating ourselves by offering counterarguments against our positions and seeing how airtight they really are. Furthermore to see how different perspectives correspond or confirm with reality. Isn't that how science is supposed to work?

Vitz does a good job in revealing the cult of self-esteem which has penetrated the church. Being written by a psychologist himself, he has much insight concerning the dangers of self-worship and how it has come to be a religion apart from Christianity.

Dr Vitz exposes the origins and trajectory of modern society's values and world view and identifies the logical consequences that follow such a philosophy. While I have little doubt that his analysis is spot on, I fear that his critique of our present MO may be too hard for some to take; to accept his criticisms is to accept a condemnation of modern ideals: autonomy, tolerance of pluralism, and hedonism. Until society accepts these criticisms, however, society will continue to decline morally, socially, and consequently, politically/economically.

Now, in 2024 we ca see the damage the psychology industry has caused to the young adults: we see the increase in mental health problems, we see family estrangements, we see brokenness and over-diagnosis, we see the young people focused on themselves and obsessively, religiously working on improving themselves through psychotherapy from which they never seem to graduate. Recent books by psychology professor Jean Twenge show the terrible damage the cult of self-worship has done to people born after 1970 - read her "Generation Me", The Narcissism Epidemic". Most new age therapies focus on boosting the egos while breaking the existing societal norms that held the civilization together for thousands of years as they promote deconstruction of any religious beliefs and family ties. It's a lonely, spiritually void world of isolated, scared, estranged from any free support network people, who rely on therapists to make decisions for them ...... for a hefty fee.

What a ground-breaking book this is. Paul Vitz sheds new light on a bias that exists within the fields of psychology and psychotherapy. That bias is in the form of a pervasive humanistic attitude that is pro-secular when it comes to the traditional religions of Christianity and Judaism. However, by supplanting the old moral order with supposed atheism, they have created a new religion, worshipping a new God – the Self. This is not a transcendent God to whom we pray, but a Human, man-made one. The Self is the new God, be it the psychological self or the spiritual self.Paul Vitz is a Christian but this book is far more than a disenchanted account from a disgruntled theist psychologist. Instead, it grapples with a topic that few have thought about, even less have crystallised. In this book, he analyses the schools of five well known psychologists, from Carl Jung to Abraham Maslow, Eric Fromm to Carl Rogers and Rollo May. In each case he identifies the underlying humanistic philosophy that at first appears banal even benevolent. However, it soon turns into something that is promoting a self-serving ideology. Humanistic philosophy ends up supporting a new moral order, a ‘politically correct’ agenda of modern values that are fast becoming as rigid and authoritarian as the old morality they sought to depose.Paul Vitz is a breath of fresh air in the field of psychology, which is dominated by left-wing ideologies masquerading as moderate and reasonable voices.

Paul C. Vitz explores in deep the implications of the psychologystic (and expecially psychologystical selfism) times we all live today. Though his analysis is about America and Americans, it probably reflects also the occidental mind and behavior of today's people. A great book to understand how psychology has changed our vision of the world and how it has contributed to distort Christianity and high moral values in everybody life. Recommended!

HERE'S A BOOK THAT EXPLAINS SO MUCH OF WHAT IS WRONG WITH WESTERN SOCIETY. WHY ISN'T IT MORE FAMOUS?

This book has explained a lot to me. Although it was written from the point of view of a Catholic a lot of information remains valid for everybody.