By Brett Mullins
The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life is a book with the potential for far reaching insight into the minds of two individuals who focused much of their lives on the fields of Psychology and Philosophy. The author, Dr. Armand Nicholi, Jr., offers this text as an amalgam of his experience of teaching a class on Lewis and Freud at Harvard Medical School for several years. Nicholi attempts to present the views of Lewis and Freud “as objectively and dispassionately as possible.” With that being said, he adds that since these are emotionally charged topics, the objectivity will surely fade away as the conversation begins. This afterthought is largely the case with the following two hundred or so pages.
Freud rejected religion; more specifically, he rejected God on the grounds of being an image of an exalted father figure observed in early childhood development and longed for later in life. Lewis differed in that he proclaimed to be an atheist until a revelation in his thirties pushed him toward Christianity. Nicholi’s analysis relies heavily on biographies and letters to describe these two positions. The alternation between recognized works by Lewis and Freud themselves, posthumous biographies, and private letters set off internal alarm bells; my gut reaction is that the author pulled quotes out of context and grossly mischaracterized these two individuals.
The author utilizes the phrase “before his transition” numerous times (painfully numerous, I add) to compare the opposing positions on the existence of the divine. A theme develops throughout the book that the position of the ‘unbeliever’ is lacking in understanding and the capacity for love and happiness. Consider this passage regarding Lewis: “After the great transition Lewis turned outward. He no longer spent hours on himself--and he no longer kept a diary...His valuation of people changed dramatically. Lewis reached out and established a broad range of friends.” Through the negativity the author expresses toward Lewis’ previous state, it’s easy to imagine that he was a chain smoker or addicted to heroin.
The most pressing concern regards the simulated debate between Lewis and Freud. In one instance, the author presents Freud’s use of the problem of evil (if you’re unfamiliar with the particulars, listen to this podcast). Regarding this, there is no cited retort from Lewis that directly addresses this problem. At best, it can be said that the author danced around the topic in the chapter devoted to evil. It’s unclear as to if this is the fault of Lewis or Nicholi.
After reading The Question of God, I have formed a troubling opinion of each of these men. Freud was a brilliant, arrogant man who was so troubled by death that he could not foster a sexual life. On the other hand, Lewis was a self-hating, closet Christian for the first half of his life; his bitter feelings toward Freud were the product of his fantasy based sex life and Freud’s prescription against self gratification. I somehow doubt that this is reflective of their actual intellectual positions regarding God, god, or gods.