Page 125 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 7

Challenges for Christian Psychology

God image: The God image is a psychological 1. The imaginary companion frequently plays
construct related to how a person feels toward a specific positive role in the development
God, e.g., trustworthy, consistent and comfor- of the child, and once that role is fulfilled, it
ting or untrustworthy, inconsistent and his/ tends to disappear and is finally covered by
her impression of how God feels about him/her the usual infantile amnesia. 2) The functions
(Grimes, 2007). This process reflects one’s emo- served by the imaginary companion depend
tional experience of God, an experience that is upon the special needs of the child. 3) Some
developed through an initially unconscious set of the imaginary companion services to the
of relations, in which parents and significant child are (a) scapegoat for badness and ne-
others play a crucial role (Schaap-Jonker, 2008). gative impulses: the imaginary companion
In this context, God image embraces both the can be a projection of the child’s bad beha-
experiential and the rational, since it relates to viour; (b) confirmation and prolongation of
one’s emotional experiences and cognitive un- the child’s sense of omnipotent control; (c)
derstanding of God as well (Hoffman, 2005). assisting superego in the face of a weakened
tendency to behave well; (d) companion
God concept: The “God concept” is defined as for a lonely, neglected, or rejected child;
one’s intellectual, theological understanding of (e) corrective complement of painful reali-
God, for instance, Almighty Saviour (Lawrence, ty; (f) helper in moments of crisis to “avo-
1997). In other words, the “God concept” is “the id regression and symptom formation”; (g)
God of the philosopher” about whom the child impersonator of ego ideals from an earlier
forms an idea through cultural, religious, so- period (Rizzuto, 1979, p. 191).
cial teaching imparted through liturgies, sacred
books, images, symbols of the divinity (Rizzut- In this sense, Rizzuto’s work and Nagera’s study
to, 1970, p.4). In the next section, we discuss allow one to better appreciate the link between
further the link between the imaginary and God image and the imaginary. For instance,
God images. Rizzuto (1979) reports the results of her psych-
iatric patients in terms of using the imaginary
The imaginary and God images to draw their God image which she groups in
Durand’s The Anthropological Structures of the four positions: 1) those who have a God whose
Imaginary (1960) and Rizzuto’s Theory of God existence they do not doubt; 2) those wondering
image (1979) are similar in the sense of elabo- whether or not to believe in a God; they are not
rating and re-elaborating inner images (i.e. an sure God exists; 3) those amazed, angered, or
Object Relation) to be able to deal not only with quietly surprised to see others deeply invested
existential anxiety but also with change and in a God who does not interest them; 4) those
meaning for life. Rizzuto, however, more specifi- who struggle with a demanding, harsh God they
cally stresses the function and the development would like to get rid of if they were not convin-
of the God image, while Durand has a more ced of this God’s existence and power (p.91). As
generalized approach that allows structures to stated above, within the context of the imagina-
consider cultural influences when dealing with ry, images are created to deal with anxiety and
anxiety over the passage of time and with the fear of time passing by (Rizutto, 1979; Durand,
fear of death (Durand, 2005). Rizzuto (1979) 1999). On this very central point, Rizzutto and
also enters into the field of the imaginary in Durand’s theories do converge.
terms of forming the God image (i.e. an Object The anthropological structures of the imagina-
Relation) to walk with the person throughout ry has been adopted for this study since it has
the life journey. For her, this process is condi- been empirically validated through the creation
tioned by one’s culture, religion and one’s own of an instrument, the other words, the imagina-
needs; she bases her argument on the study of ry is set up to compensate for disappointment,
Nagera (1969) who assesses the significance of to develop a shield against fears and provide al-
imaginary companions for ego development in ternative solutions (Boia, 1999). Furthermore,
dealing with distress as follows: Durand (1999) searched through the fields of

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