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Editorial

Editorial

The complete picture of my identity distinguishes me from others. Only
I am that, or have that, which constitutes my identity, and no-one else
does, even if I share many a feature with others. Discovering this and af-
firming it gives me inner strength. But isn’t this identity simply a delusion,
something I imagine? Wouldn’t others describe me quite differently and
perhaps more realistically? But what, ultimately, is realistic? Am I not un-
dergoing constant change, certainly in my body, but also in terms of my
competences, my knowledge, my experience, my relationships, and even
my memories?

There are different concepts of identity: we will be able to read about these intermay@gmx.net
in this edition of Christian Psychology Around The World and also to cast
light on what could be key elements in Christian identity. But here we are
speaking not so much about what makes me a Christian and thus distin-
guishes me from people of other faiths, but about how my Christian faith
– lived in my heart and in my turning outwards, alone and with others
– my self-perception, my self-acceptance, my self-forming, what I belong
to and what I distance myself from, what influences me essentially and
constantly, including in my professional identity as psychologist, therapist
or counsellor.

“Around The World” means going in search of a Christian identity world-
wide, including the various Christian traditions and confessions as well as
national identities.
I admit that one issue of a journal can only begin to approach the subject,
but the intention is to set a direction: to discover common features behind
all the differences in theology, church history and psychology.

Why do we have a bilingual journal?
In our movement for Christian Psychology, we meet as Christians with very different backgrounds: different churches,
different cul-tures, different professional trainings…
There is a common desire for the movement, but highly “multi-lingual” ideas of its realization! Therefore, a bilingual
journal is just a small reference to our multilingual voices to remind us:
• Languages are an expression of cultures, countries and of their people. By writing in two languages, we want to show
our respect to the authors of the articles, to their origin and heritage, and at the same time symbolically show respect
to all the readers in other foreign countries.
• There are many foreign languages that we do not understand. Within our own language, we intend to understand
one another, but we fail to do so quite often. To really understand one another is a great challenge, and we also want
to point to this challenge by offering a bilingual journal.
• “When languages die, knowledge about life gets lost.” (Suzanne Romaine, 2011)
• Finally, there is a pragmatic reason: As we want to have authors from one special country to write the main articles
of every journal, it will be easier for them to distribute the journal in their own country, when it also is in their own
language.

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