Issues of naturalism and supranaturalism in Tillich's correlation of religious with psychological healing

Abstract

This article shows that Tillich's understanding of the relation of religious to psychological healing rests on the theological anthropology which informs his method of correlation and his understanding of the relation of essence to existence. Through these categories Tillich understands religious healing as essentialization and psychological healing as removing pathological responses to ontologically inescapable existential anxiety. The article summarizes the three locations in his work where Tillich establishes the above positions, argues that they are too clearly drawn and contends that the correlation of his own thought with contemporary psychologies of the self would effect a happier understanding of the relation of religious to psychological healing.