Mark Vernon is a writer and psychotherapist and as such has
written much of interest – not just books about Ancient
Philosophy, but numerous articles which cover Socrates and Plato, Freud and the unconscious, spirituality and the soul, faith and transcendence, wonder and well-being, and the big question: God. He was ordained in the Church of
England, but later left the priesthood and the church, and then – from what one
reads – went from theism to atheism and on to agnosticism. An obvious guest to invite to Wychwood
Circle, then, where we question everything, whatever our world view. We look forward to hearing much more from him in person on February 5th.
Faith and the unconscious
Dipping - in anticipation - into a book on Psychoanalysis
and Religious Experience (by Meissner, pub 1984) provided the following
quotations about Freud and religion, though the author went on to place Freud
himself on the couch, so to speak – also an illuminating exercise:
All religious behaviour and belief is a form of obsessive-compulsive neurosis … an exercise in passivity, compliance, and dependence – essentially a feminine preoccupation… Freud could not conceive of religion on other than emotional grounds…
Mark Vernon will surely not have ducked such claims in making
his own journey and in an article celebrating the 100th anniversary
of Sigmund Freud’s “The Unconscious” in 2015 he concluded thus:
The founder of psychoanalysis is not often thought of as a friend of religion. But read him more closely: his curiosity concerning the dynamics of the human soul produces reasons for confidence in, as well as the development of, the insights of generations of people of faith.
A way of reaching towards the unknown
Vernon's 2011 book How To
Be An Agnostic includes chapter headings such as Cosmic Religion: How Science Does God; How To Be Human: Science and Ethics; and Socrates or Buddha? On Being Spiritual But Not Religious. In chapter 7, Following Socrates: A Way of Life, Vernon has some interesting
things to say that may illuminate where he is coming from, which makes it even
more intriguing to know where he has got to in 2017:
Religion is not just a set of beliefs or a moral code. It is a way of seeing the world and a way of approaching what is unknown. …
This also adds to why, although I lost my faith, I found atheism unsatisfying. Atheism is not a practice but a principle. You can no more believe in atheism than you can in science: the whole point is that you don’t believe; you know. … We need something bigger than ourselves to be ourselves. My religious imagination demanded this something else. …
Agnosticism as a way of reaching towards the unknown reaches back before Christianity. It rest on the shoulders of Socrates. And he can provide a complementary resource to the Christian one.Elsewhere he has noted that spirituality has become 'a kind of taboo': serious people are embarrassed by it, rather like Victorians felt the need to cover up piano legs! But we are depriving ourselves (and our souls?) of making certain essential connections and this lack of perspective may be one reason why 'we find ourselves so frequently to be ethically and personally at sea'.
Anthropology, Psychoanalysis, and then Theology?
The conclusion of Psychoanalysis and Religious Experience, by the way, is that psychoanalysis
only goes so far: it is very useful in negative terms for studying the ‘impeding
psychic forces’ which we need to be released from, but then theology needs to
take over where psychoanalysis leaves off.
And then the theology also needs an anthropology which benefits from psychoanalytic input...
So if we are to
understand ourselves and our human needs it seems we need three or more disciplines to interact. Mark Vernon will be able to provide insights from
at least two of them and maybe persuade us that 'secular enlightenment ... is not enough'.
Dr MARK VERNON joins us at Wychwood Library on Sunday, February 5th at 7pm.
On Sunday, March 5th at the same time and place, our guest speaker is Canon BRIAN MOUNTFORD, author of Christian Atheist - Belonging without Believing (2011) and formerly vicar of the University Church in Oxford, whose topic is Spiritual but not religious.
On Sunday, March 5th at the same time and place, our guest speaker is Canon BRIAN MOUNTFORD, author of Christian Atheist - Belonging without Believing (2011) and formerly vicar of the University Church in Oxford, whose topic is Spiritual but not religious.
Anyone is welcome. Entry is free and donations are requested at the end.