Eugen Drewermann
b. 1940 · German theologian, former Catholic priest and church critic
Eugen Drewermann (born in Bergkamen in 1940) is a German theologian who served as a Catholic priest for decades before leaving the Church in 2005. He belongs to the tradition of critical theology and is best known for reading the Bible with the tools of depth psychology.
He studied philosophy in Münster, theology in Paderborn and psychoanalysis in Göttingen. He was ordained a priest in 1966 and from 1979 taught the history of religions and dogmatics at the Catholic theology faculty in Paderborn. Influenced by Freud, Jung and later psychoanalysts, he treats biblical texts as symbolic stories whose therapeutic message can still speak to people today. For him, anxiety grows out of the human capacity to reflect on oneself, and religion should help to calm it.
In 1991 he published a harsh critique of the clerical ideal, and the Archbishop of Paderborn soon withdrew his right to teach and then his licence to preach. His political views, opposed to war and to the military, have won him both support and sharp criticism. His work has been translated into more than a dozen languages, and his influence reaches mainly readers outside academia.
Key ideas
- Symbolic reading of the Bible: biblical stories can be understood as psychological images rather than literal facts, which keeps their healing power.
- Human anxiety: existential fear, linked to our capacity for self-reflection, is the central problem that faith should help to ease.
- Critique of the clerical ideal: the figure of the priest, as the institution shapes it, can produce guilt and psychological dependence.
- A non-violent faith: Christianity, in Drewermann's view, requires integrating depth psychology into exegesis and rejecting war as a solution.
Curiosities
Leaving the Church
He left the Catholic Church on his 65th birthday, 20 June 2005, and announced the decision on a German television talk show.
Cover of Der Spiegel
The magazine Der Spiegel put him on the cover of its 1993 Christmas issue, at the height of his popularity as a church critic.
Dialogue with the Dalai Lama
He appeared twice with the Dalai Lama in Zurich and wrote a book with him on dialogue among religions.
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.