Page 22 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 15

I appreciate the idea, that if God chooses to Remarkable for me was the idea, that not only
name himself ‘father’, he not (only) reflects a
patriarchal environment (perhaps to be un-
derstood by the humans) but He wants to
stress that fathers are important for the faith
development of their children.
Apparently Paul has understood this well
when he shows himself as a spiritual father to
the Corinthians.
But even the ‘motherly’ component we find in
the Bible: “As one whom his mother comforts,
so will I comfort you;” (Isa66,13a KJ). And
Paul – often misunderstood as misogynous –
herein is not inferior to God, if he speaks to
the Galatians: “My little children, of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in
you!” (Gal4,19 KJ)
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the offer of more ‘male’ activities could make
the church more attractive for men but also a
more profiled (less soft) approach to the biblical
truth.
For me there is a still easier approach to those
topic than ‘Attachment theory’ or ‘Object relati-
on theory’: I adapted the psychoanalytical me-
chanism of ‘transferance’ to the theory of for-
giveness and cam to the conclusion that unfor-
giveness leads to - mostly unconscious – trans-
ference and reenactment, here: The guilt of the
father shows itself in the child via unconscious
expectations about (non)relationship with ‘fa-
therfigurs’ including God-father.
On the other hand I am thankful, that as a male
therapist, who works much with man, I can fo-
ster growing up spiritual fathers by forgiveness-
work including a piece of “fathering” the male
clients.