인간 형상과 하나님 형상: 내면적 하나님 이미지에 대한 목회신학적 고찰

Abstract

Psychologist Ana-Maria Rizzuto's theory that one's internal image of God originates from his/her significant interpersonal relationships is widely accepted by pastoral counselors and Christian counselors in South Korea. However, theological reflections on the psychological theory have not sufficiently been made to inform what an appropriate Christian approach to people's internal images of God is. As an empirical science, psychological theories reflect truths about the realities of the human life. Therefore, it is appropriate to draw upon psychological insights and methods into the practice of pastoral care to help people embody wholeness in their lives. However, as pastoral caregivers, we need at the same time to discern and cooperate with God in our psychotherapeutic practices through theological reflections on our pastoral practices and dialogues with psychological findings. As part of this theological effort, this article suggests an interdisciplinary model through which to correlate between the psychological phenomenon of the internal image of God and the self-revelation of God through creaturely objects. In the first part of this article, I have briefly reviewed the advances and limitations of the discussions of so-called religious psychologists such as Ana-Maria Rizzuto, William W. Meissner, and Moshe H. Spero. I have argued that the limitations of their discussions as psychology of religion can be overcome from the perspective of pastoral theology. In the latter part of this article, I have tried to reveal the meaning of interpersonal care-giving relationship particularly in the light of Karl Barth's Christological anthropology. I have argued that we can bear witness to God in our relationships with others by participating in Christ's action in our mutual relationships. We can image God to one another because God creates an analogy between His own image and people's image to bear witness to Himself among His people. Considering that the internal image of God is the product of significant interpersonal relationships, it could be understood as the internal image of the image of God or the internal representation of the representation of God. We as a Christian community embody the image of God in the world by participating in Christ's presence and action among us. Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger's interdisciplinary approach fails to reveal the dynamic interrelation between the psychological phenomenon of the internal image of God and God's self-revelation through creaturely objects, because she applies the Chalcedonian pattern directly to the relation between psychology and theology rather than the interrelation between human agency and divine agency in mutual caregiving practices. The Chalcedonian pattern, as well as analogia relationis, is a theological concept that explains the dynamic interrelation between the humanity and the divinity of Christ in His ministry in the world. This article has tried to overcome the limitation of Hunsinger's interdisciplinary model by explaining the correspondence and cooperation between the human agency and the divine agency in the Christian practice in the light of Karl Barth's Christological anthropology.