ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores possible elements in religion which might lead to change by facilitating access to the unconscious. It describes the context in which ideas about growth and change in psychoanalysis and in theology have developed. The book is concerned with the search for ‘goodness’ and ‘maturity’ in religion and in psychoanalysis. It examines what is meant by ‘growth’ and ‘goodness’ in theology and in psychoanalysis. The book also explores the theological differences between the Wesley brothers. It shows that their conversion experiences, their attitudes to mysticism, their ideas on Christian Perfection and their positions on the meaning of suffering and on the Trinity. The book draws the differences between the two brothers and the implications of these differences in understanding the ways in which individual personality factors and psychological defences influence the practice of religion.
