Abstract
One's God-concept, herein referred to as the “image of God,” is a major determinant of the quality of one's personal relationship with God. In addition, the image of God one maintains may be observed to correlate with one's capacity for relational experiences with significant others. In this article object relations theory is applied to perceptions of God. The development of object relatedness in the child is discussed and the concept of parataxic distortions in the image of God is considered within the context of biblical history and childhood development. Parataxic distortions as found in the psychotherapeutic relationship are also briefly addressed, as is the psychotherapeutic resolution of distorted God-percepts.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.