ABSTRACT
Ronald Fairbairn's choice of a vocation in psychoanalysis has often been misconstrued as a deviation from his earlier religious vision and preparation for Christian ministry. This chapter examines the centrality of Christian belief in the life and work of W. R. D. Fairbairn. It reviews formative religious influences in his culture, family, education, and professional formation. Fairbairn's emphasis on the absolute dependence of the infant upon his caregivers was another re-grafting of the sacred with science. Fairbairn speaks of normative Christianity in "Notes on the Religious Phantasies of a Female Patient". A prevalent conception of Fairbairn's religious faith and belief is that his psychoanalytic training and understanding superseded and replaced his early-to mid-adulthood Christian faith. In this view, Fairbairn's copious religious references in his professional papers are understood as no more than clinical utilisation of metaphor with a predominantly Christian culture.
