Professor Thinks Bible Stories are Better Than Greek Mythology for Psychotherapy

UIC Professor: the Bible "gives people free will. In the Greek world, people are fated. You can't possibly get over any dysfunction."

From "Oedipus Wrecks" by Mike Thomas at suntimes.com, posted 5/12/08

Goodbye, Oedipus. Hello, Isaac. That's the basic premise of a new online course being offered through the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine.

Funded by a grant from the John Templeton Foundation and titled "A Biblical Approach to Mental Health," the class examines how hope-filled Bible stories can and should substitute for the fatalistic Greek narratives that serve as case studies in traditional psychotherapy. Abraham and Isaac, for instance, would bump Oedipus and Laius.

"The Greek notion of a tragedy is that people can't change," says UIC professor of clinical psychology Kalman J. Kaplan, a Fulbright Fellow and widely published author. He'll co-teach the course with the help of chaplain Elizabeth Recht Jones, coordinator for UIC's Religion, Spirituality and Mental Health program. "So if you're using stories that imply people can't change, what's the point of doing therapy?"

Abraham, not Oedipus Rex

As mythology buffs and fans of the Doors might recall, Laius' son Oedipus is pre-destined to kill his pop and bed his mom in the strife-rife Greek tale -- so Laius tries to have his boy offed before that happens.

In the Old Testament story, Abraham's nearly sacrificed son Isaac is divinely spared slaughter by Dad's knife and becomes his father's blessed disciple. Instead of discord, there's harmony. Instead of despair, there's joy.

The Western world "has it all reversed," Kaplan says. "They look at the Bible as being an enslaving doctrine. That's not the way we see it at all. It gives people free will. In the Greek world, people are fated. You can't possibly get over any dysfunction."

Duh...

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