Parting of the Ways: How Esoteric Judaism and Christianity Influenced the Psychoanalytic Theories of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung

The Enlightenment signaled diminished popular reliance on the religious “cure of the soul,” and witnessed the emergence of psychoanalysis. From its inception, Freud’s psychoanalysis was accused of being a “Jewish science,” and he countered by including non-Jewish Swiss psychiatrists in his movement. Carl Jung eventually broke with Freud due to differences concerning psychoanalytical theory and practice. This text explores the religious underpinnings of psychoanalysis, contrasting the textual and mystical traditions of Judaism with those of Christianity. It convincingly demonstrates that differences in the fundamental tenets of Judaism and Christianity have had a profound and continued influence on psychoanalysis.