The chapters in this book are based on papers that were presented at the international conference Psychological Aspects of Biblical Concepts and Persons, 4¿6 March 2002 in Amsterdam. The conference was organized by the Dutch Foundation for Psychiatry and Re- gion (in Dutch: Stichting Psychiatrie en Religie) a small, but active and lively organization, which organizes conferences and post-graduate education for mental health professionals and which offers a platform for interdisciplinary research and discussion in the field of mental health and religion. The organizers of the conference ¿ Gerrit Glas, Herman M. van Praag, and Peter J. Verhagen ¿ are m- bers of the board of the Foundation. All three are psychiatrists; two of them are also professionally occupied in another discipline: theology (Verhagen) and philosophy (Glas). The primary aim of the conference was to create a space for scientific dialogue between two disciplines with a troubled and complex relationship: psychiatry and theology. The exchange of opinions and viewpoints between specifically these two fields has dried up in the course of the past century and has virtually been absent from around 1960 till at least the early nineties of the previous century. I need to clarify that we were quite specific in isolating theology and psychiatry; instead of focusing on theology and psychology, or biblical studies and psychology, or theology and psychoanalysis. Psychology and psychoanalysis do not seem to have lost all contact with theology, at least not to such an extent as have psychiatry and theology.

Contributing Authors. Preface. Acknowledgements. Part I: Historical and Conceptual Issues. 1. Introduction to Historical and Conceptual Issues; G. Glas. 2. Psychiatry and Religion. An Unconsummated Marriage; H. van Praag. 3. Biblical Narratives as History: Biblical Persons as Objects of Historical Faith; C.S. Evans. Part II: Prophecy: Theological and Psychological Aspects. 4. Introduction to Prophecy: Theological and Psychological Aspects; G. Glas. 5. The Dynamics of Prophecy in the Writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel; N. Gillman. 6. The Prophets as Persons; B. Becking. 7. Jeremiah Interpreted: A Rabbinic Analysis of the Prophet; B. J. Levy. Part III: Martyrdom: Theological and Psychological Aspects. 8. Introduction to Martyrdom: Theological and Psychological Aspects; G. Glas. 9. Martyrdom: Theological and Psychological Aspects. Martyrdom in Judaism; H. Maccoby, Z.L. ¿ . 10. The Martyrdom of Paul; J. van Bruggen. 11. Spiritual, Human, and Psychological Dimensions of St. Paul¿s Martyrdom; H. W. M. Tájrá. Part IV:. Messianism: Theological and Psychological Aspects. 12. Introduction to Messianism: Theological and Psychological Aspects; G. Glas; 13. Casting a Psychological Look on Jesus the Marginal Jew; A. Vergote. 14. The Land of Israel: Desire and Dread in Jewish Literature; A. Ravitzky. 15. The Person of Jesus; A. van de Beek. 16. Imagining Jesus: To Portray or Betray? Psycho(-patho)logical Aspects of Attempts to Discuss the Historical Individual; P. J. Verhagen. Part V: Interdisciplinary Issues: Prospects for the Future.17. Introduction to Interdisciplinary Issues: Prospects for the Future; G. Glas. 18. The Hidden Subject of Job: Mirroring and the Anguish of Interminable Desire; M. H. Spero. 19. Biblical Themes in Psychiatric Practice: Implications for Psychopathology and Psychotherapy; S. Pfeifer. 20. The Bible and Psychology: New Directions in Biblical Scholarship; W. G. Rollins. 21. Searching for the Dynamic 'Within'. Concluding Remarks on `Psychological Aspects of Biblical Concepts and Personalities¿; G. Glas. Index of Names. Index of Subjects.