Today I heard a sermon that quoted this book from the 1960's as being a major basis for the 'ills' of our contemporary society and problems in the church. It seems that preachers think this book is actually about narcissistic tendencies to accept anything and everything and claim no need for divine intervention. The comment made my neck hairs bristle, as I have heard this as a simple tactic to place blame for complex problems in a prior time in my life, indicating that my behavior to individuate and change the status quo was 'selfish'. Yes, I was defensive.
I don't believe that Dr. Harris, the author, was writing about self-centeredness when that book was written. "Knowing" yourself, and being honest with yourself--maybe. But Christians should not deny those as necessary to admitting their need for God. Transactional Analysis has its place in the history of modern psychology, and that is what he was trying to explain. If preachers were to better understand TA, they might actually see the similarities between Christ's teachings and the model of mature communication/behavior that Eric Berne's theories propose.
Both have to do with the need for a person to change in order to live a healthier life. It does not have to do with forsaking spiritual help to do so. In fact, TA can be a very effective way for some people to accomplish the 're-birth' that is explained in biblical terms. We don't have to forsake psychology to be faithful to our Christian upbringing. LM
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