Page 21 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 15
P. 21

Wolfram Soldan (Germany)

             Comment to

             “Father Attachment and

             Implications for Faith

             and the Church”



             It is a promising approach to connect attach-
             ment  theory  with  the  Christian  believe.  In
             Germany Sonja Friedrich-Killinger has done            Physician,  psychotherapist,  supervisor,
             a high-quality pioneer work with her docto-           teacher  in  counseling  training  on  va-
             ral thesis “The Attachment Relationship with          rious topics such as forgiveness, sexuality,
             God: A dynamic impact factor in therapy?”             dealing with the Bible (married, four dau-
             (Verlag  Dr.  Kovac,  Hamburg  2014).  Intere-        ghters). Part of the German Association
             sting for me was the focusing on father re-           for Christian Psychology, www.ignis.de
             lationship in the article of Steven L. Voss. In
             Germany  Hitler  and  the  second  world  war         Former  contributions  in  our  eJournal
             ‘de-fathered’ our society and we have this as         by Wolfram you can see here:
             an  actual  topic  repeatedly  since  Alexander       http://emcapp.ignis.de/2/#/48
             Mitscherlich’s  publication  in  1963  “On  the       http://emcapp.ignis.de/2/#/76
             way to a fatherless society” (cf. also “The fa-       http://emcapp.ignis.de/4/#/6
             therless society” of the well-known journalist        https://emcapp.ignis.de/11/#p=64
             Matthias Mattusek, publishing house Fischer
             2006).
                                                               ‘Unsecure  attached  people’  in  her  unsureness
             I agree when the author cites Erikson “trust      have  often  has  more  awareness  to  their  own
             is the foundation to basic functioning” and I     need  for  safe  relational  bonding.  That  points
             like to add: Trust (or faith) is the foundation   to a dynamic where a God who is seeking us
             of ‘spiritual functioning’ (whatever is not of    may let happen an experience of ‘Finally I have
             faith separates us from God; cf. Rom14,23b).      found  HIM  and  I’ve  been  found!’  And  now,
             Interesting for me are the findings, that un-     are ‘avoidant attached people’ in a kind cut off
             secure  attached  people  tend  to  experience    from God (‘shut door’)? There is an empirical
             sudden conversions and that an avoidant at-       appearance for this conclusion but this could be
             tachment style on the basis of lacking father     biased because we don’t (can) see the end. There
             relationship and spiritual role model of him      are hints in the case of several of the atheistic
             seems to shut the door to God:                    intellectual giants of the 20th century, that they
                                                               experienced a change in old age or at the very
             I could understand this as a kind of causali-     end of their lives. May be for the ‘attachment-
             ty or more complex as a dynamic of relatio-       avoiders’ the door to God is opening only later.
             nal acting of God. The latter I wish to outline   An empirical approach to this question is diffi-
             here: ‘Securely attached people’ in a manner      cult especially when happening on the death-
             of  speaking  have  a  bridge  to  a  safe  trust  in   bed. But it still remains the big loss and damage
             God which they can use but sometimes they         for the atheists themselves, who lived most of
             do not, because they do not grievously miss       their lives without knowing a them loving God.
             God.  This  makes  difficult  the  approach  of   And because of this ignorance they influenced
             God to them.                                      their society ‘ungodly’.







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