The main question of this thesis is how clinical depression can and should be understood from the perspective of a Christian world view. The method is a contextual idea analysis and the main material for the analysis is five books about depression or psychological disorders from a Christian and theological viewpoint. On the basis of the material, six theological models for depression are found. The first three models are natural depression, in which the condition is viewed as structural to creation, depression as spiritual illness, in which it is viewed as based on sin and weak faith, and depression as spiritual growth, which links the condition to the dark night-tradition of sanctification. The final three are depression in a trinitarian model, which is a combinational model consisting of the above-mentioned models, depression as potentially transformative, in which the condition is viewed as a potential birthplace for personal growth, and depression as a Hagaric wilderness experience, which views the condition as meaningless suffering even though God is present. These models are then evaluated on two grounds. The primary ground is how well the models can be integrated with a cruciform theology. A cruciform theology stems from the belief that Jesus on the cross fully reveals the character of God as self-giving non-coercive love. The secondary ground is the pragmatic consequences the models may have for the person suffering from depression. Are the consequences of these theological models healing or destructive? Based on these two grounds, depression as potentially transformative, combined with a cruciform theology which entails some kind of free will theodicy and a view of God as passibleand suffering with the person struggling with depression, is proposed as the preferabletheological model for depression.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-503022 |
| Date | January 2023 |
| Creators | Öhland, Joanna |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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