Page:The International Journal of Psycho-Analysis II 1921 1.djvu/69

 A PSYCHO- ANALYTIC STUDY OF THE CHRISTIAN CREED 61

The grace received in the Holy Communion is a symbolic satis- faction of repressed love energy: and the symbolism of bread and wine serves to hide from consciousness the real nature of the rite.

"He suffered"

As a rule the person who gets pleasure from suffering is able to enjoy it in others as well as In himself In other words, strong masochism and sadism occur at different levels of the same soul. This co-existence of opposed emotions in the dissociated parts of one self is clearly seen in Jesus. Jesus has a strong tendency to enjoy suffering. Self-sacrifice was for him part of the good news! It was indeed only a means to the desired end — death as a way to life— but for Jesus it is the only way. Martyrdom is therefore to be sought by all who will to follow the Christ The weary, heavy-laden sufferers ever call forth the sympathetic com- passion of Jesus and receive his blessing as an encouragement to continue with patience to the end. The sadism of Jesus appears in his belief about the suffering of sinners. In order to hide the inconsistency from his consciousness Jesus projects upon the Father his unconscious impulse to enjoy the torture of his enemies.

"Was cruciiied also for us" "One Baptism for the remission of Sins"

In the ambivalent attitude of the son to his father we gain a new insight into the feeling of guilt and the desire for atone- ment with an offended God. We are also prepared to find both love and hate for the heavenly Father. If we venture to follow Freud in his fascinating parallel (see Totem and Taboo) between racial and individual development, we may suppose that in primi- tive society sons, like the modern infant, took little pains to conceal the jealous hate felt towards the tyrannical and repressive father. It is even possible that the young males actually agreed to kill the father when he too rigidly excluded his sons from the women of the clan. But in that case, a feeling of guilt would arise from their love and respect thus set at naught. In more civilised times parricide is impossible and even thoughts of hate must be sternly repressed after infancy. But the desire for atone- ment is still strong. God is offended by man's sin. Only by a sacrifice can the children of wrath wipe away their guilty stains,