Did God create the heavens and the earth? Or is the universe nothing more than an accident that “just happened”? In The Question of God, Harvard psychiatrist Armand Nicholi sets up a debate over this question between two deeply influential men, a famous psychiatrist and a famous professor of medieval literature. Their positions were unequivocal—and mutually exclusive. Today, Dr. Nicholi writes, we need to ask ourselves how much of what they believed was based on evidence and how much on emotion that caused them to distort reality?

To the question, is there a God? Psychiatrist Sigmund Freud answered no. Belief in what he labeled “an idealized Superman” is patently infantile” and “foreign to reality.” Freud “strongly advised us to face the harsh reality that we are alone in the universe,” Nicholi writes, “In short, Freud shouted, ‘Grow up!’”

Nicholi goes on to say that Oxford don C. S. Lewis answered the question of God with a resounding yes. Lewis pointed to the fact that the universe is filled with “signposts” such as the “starry heavens above and the moral law within”, “all pointing with unmistakable clarity to that Intelligence.” Lewis shouted, “Wake up!”

Freud attacked the Scriptures as being “full of contradictions, revisions, and falsifications.” Religion, Freud wrote, is “the universal obsessional neurosis of humanity,” and the teachings of Jesus are “psychologically impossible and useless for our lives.” Freud was convinced, Nicholi writes, that psychoanalysis “has shown us that a personal God is, psychologically, nothing more than an exalted father,” a “projection of powerful wishes and inner needs.”

Lewis offered evidence that God does exist. He wrote, “He left us conscience, the sense of right and wrong. And all through history there have been people trying...to obey it.”

Nicholi notes also that Lewis countered Freud’s wish-fulfillment argument by pointing out that the “biblical worldview involves a great deal of despair and pain and is certainly not anything one would wish for.”

Neuroscientists have recently found evidence that the brain is genetically programmed for belief. This confirms what Christians have always believed about the Imago Dei—the image of God—being implanted in us. And it may explain why Freud was preoccupied with God to the end of his days, determined to prove he doesn’t exist.
(excerpt from "God’s Signposts" by Charles Colson and Anne Morse in the How Now Shall We Live? Devotional)

A debate on the age-old questions that affects every person’s worldview is setup between two influential diametrically opposite men—Freud (1856-1939) and C. S. Lewis (1898-1963) in this book by Nicholi. How we determine the answer to these questions affects us individually and corporately as a people. We will look at a different but crucial question that Colson and Morse pose when contemplating the competing worldviews: “How much have you been influenced by Freud’s ‘religious’ teachings over the years, perhaps without fully realizing it?”

Mankind has the propensity to want to remold the world to one’s heart’s desire. While you yourself may not have been affected as much by Freud and his cohorts, every aspect of worldview has been. Be attentive to your thoughts and feelings as you work through this devotion. After thinking more about Freud’s focus, you may perhaps realize some of the world’s ways have crept in. If they have not, praise God, but be aware it is happening all around and does affect each one of us. Make prayer an essential part of this study: ask God to reveal new insights and challenges.

Monday: 2 Peter 2:1-19; Matthew 24:11-12; Romans 1:28-32
Freud, who “debunk[ed] the very notion of moral responsibility,” reduced human beings to the status of complex animals. Negating such terms as “sin, soul, and conscience,” he determined human behavior was due to “instinct and drive” rather than rational choice. Furthermore by attacking the Scriptures, he thus undermined the only source that makes sense of and gives direction and value to life in today’s world. Freud’s teachings, along with those of other popular contemporary secularists, have attacked the foundations of truth and integrity upon which the Christian faith is built just as the false teachers mentioned in biblical days led people astray.

Believing people are only complex animals led by instinct and drive devalues humanity. How is this mindset affecting moral responsibility and relationship--among individuals, between governments and people, differing nations, races, religions, education and economic status in today’s world?

Tuesday: Jeremiah 17:9; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 2:12-16; Colossians 3:5-11
God’s Word tells us it’s deep within us that we must deal with our heart’s deceptive nature; Freud recognized the heart as having hidden motives. Here the similarities end. Sin as a transgression or a rebellion against God’s laws due to a perverse heart is where Freud deviated in his view of human nature. He believed and wanted others to think what’s been considered acts of “evil” by society are really only due to uncontrollable “primitive impulses.” He maintained these impulses come from leftover remnants of the ancient animal brain, part of which, he believed, still remained within the evolved human brain. Freud said, people were like “pawns in the grip of unconscious forces they do not understand and cannot control.”

How is this lack of acknowledgement of sin working against God’s purpose for humanity? How can this be used as an excuse to continue to sin? Reflect on your own life; have you used this excuse?

Wednesday: Matthew 13:15; John 3:18-21; Colossians 2:4-8
Freud was convinced God was a projection of our wishful thinking to have the ultimate parent to lean upon in our “infantile helplessness.”  It is the “constraints of moral rules and guilt they produce” which has created the various types of psychological disorders. Interestingly, Freud believed those who embraced religion regress “to primary narcissism.” Above as we see, Lewis would have countered this by pointing out the “biblical worldview involves a great deal of despair and pain and is certainly not anything one would wish for.” Also while there may be some narcissistic tendencies in most people, those who have put their faith in Christ realize this and work toward God-centeredness and away from self-centeredness.

How did Freud in reality project his own dark “wishful” desires and wants onto what he himself wanted to avoid? How are those whose eyes are closed, ears hardened and hearts calloused self-centered? How has becoming a Christ-follower opened a new center for your life?

Thursday: Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-23, 45-49; Philippians 3:18-21
Freud maintained if we were to “take as truth that knows no exceptions everything living dies from internal reasons—becomes inorganic once again—then we shall be compelled to say that ‘the aim of all life is death.’”  He asserted cells have an unconscious desire—they “carry this death-wish”—to return to their inorganic state—a death state. This state follows the Second Law of Thermodynamics [entropy]. Scripture clearly indicates those who choose to do nothing and remain in Adam’s sinful nature will experience death. By raising Christ from the dead and conquering death, God changed the natural laws for those who choose Him. It is through faith in the death and resurrection of Christ we are lifted up by his mercy and grace to new and eternal life.

How does having an eternal perspective of life affect how we live in this world? Think about those minds which are saturated with the view of life according to Freud and his peers. How do those perspectives play into the unrest and power struggles affecting our world today?

Friday: Romans 1:18-25, 5:20-21, 6:15-19; Ephesians 5:6-10
Lewis said God provides us evidence of his existence by giving us a “conscience, the sense of right and wrong” and throughout history people have tried “to obey” it. One person described life in this way: “As a sinner, separated from God, you see his law from below, as a ladder to be climbed to get to God. Perhaps, you have repeatedly tried to climb it only to fall to the ground every time you’ve advanced one or two rungs. Or perhaps the sheer height of the ladder seems so overwhelming you have never even started up, In either case, what relief you should feel to see Jesus offering with open arms to lift you above the ladder of the law to take you directly to God!”⁸ Freud either could not see or chose not to see the truth from his earthly position. His proposition has influenced many people to go down the wrong path for the last century.

In the Romans’ passage, Paul says there are those who refuse to glorify God and have exchanged this truth of God for a lie worshiping the created rather than the Creator. In what ways has this lack of truth dehumanized the soul creating deeper darkness today?  How well is your path lit?

Saturday: 2 Corinthians 4:1-18; Ephesians 2:1-5
Sin which caused all creation to fall from its intended perfect state put the world in bondage to death and decay, so it cannot fulfill its intended purpose. While Christians see the world as it is—in its physical decay and spiritual void with sin, there’s no reason to be pessimistic. Yes, the truth is our bodies are destined to go back to the dust. But this isn’t our true selves. We’re made for eternity—for a life with God forever with a new body that won’t decay.⁹ Our hope is found in a future glory—eternal life. “Genetically programmed for belief” was not something Freud had the privilege to know. He fought the truth that the Imago Dei—the image of God—was implanted within us until to the end of his days; he was determined to prove God didn’t exist.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul says the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. Today there is a desire for a “new order” centered in this world by many in the secular stream. Ponder the thoughts and insights gained through this study. What needs to be the focus when praying for guidance and direction in living out a Biblical worldview and bringing light into the darkness?

Sunday: Romans 13:11-12; Ephesians 5:11-14; Hebrews 6:1; Revelations 3:1-3
Considering the question: Is there a God? Nicholi says Freud would say no and advise “us to face the harsh reality that we are alone in the universe.” He would shout at us to “grow up!” C. S. Lewis would answer with a resounding yes describing the universe clearly marked with “signposts” unmistakably pointing to “Intelligence.” Lewis would shout, “Wake up!”

If one is to grow up, must one first wake up--wake up to truth? We hear about “a new order”—the need for global governance—by those who are centered in this world. In what ways has Freud influenced the secular movements today? How does Satan use this for his purposes?

The Lesson for the Week:
God is the one who will create the true new order that will free the world of sin, sickness, and evil. We’re called to live as Jesus—he who is the “visible image of the invisible God” [Col. 1:15]—by “serving others, giving up our rights, and resisting pressures to conform to the world.” Perhaps you found ways you’ve been influenced by Freud while also having considered how it has influenced others and the state of our world. In what ways has God spoken to you this week? How will you respond?

If you would like to explore this topic further, order the book, The Question of God: C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life, from our online store.

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