Psychobiography of Jesus Christ in view of Władysław Witwicki’s theory of cratism

Amadeusz Citlak

Amadeusz Citlak Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences

Keywords: psychobiography, psychobiography of Christ, Lvov-Warsaw school, W. Witwicki, theory of cratism

Abstract

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pepsi-2015-0007

The article is an attempt at a critical evaluation of applying one of the most original theories of Polish psychology, i.e. W. Witwicki’s theory of cratism, to the interpretation of the activities and personality of Jesus Christ. The theory of cratism, though it provides substantial explanation possibilities, has been largely forgotten. W. Witwicki used it to try to interpret many aspects of human activity such as art, social relations, as well as the life of ancient figures, among others, Socrates and Jesus Christ. Thanks to this, he created the first ever in Polish psychology (and also one of the first in world psychology) psychobiography. The proposal to decipher the activity of Jesus of Nazareth through Witwicki, however, raises large concerns, which discouraged many psychologists, and especially religious environments. I would like to indicate the most controversial moments of his work, while drawing attention to the great value of the theory itself also today, at the beginning of the 21st century, particularly in the area of historical psychology.

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