432 - The Christian Psychology of Paul Tournier

The Christian Psychology of Paul Tournier
By Cary R. Collins
Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Book House, 1973. 222 pp. $4.95.

This volume is a product of the author's wide reading of Tournier's writings plus his reflections on a recent visit to Switzerland. His stated intent is threefold: first, to describe Tournier as a man; second, to summarize his writings as well as his major ideas about theology and psychology; and, third, to evaluate Tournier's life and work. He faithfully accomplishes these tasks and clearly states his own presuppositions upon which his evaluations are made. The audience to which the volume is directed is that of interested professionals in both the theological, medical, and behavioral sciences, as well as literate laymen who have been influenced by Tournier but who never knew much about him.

Paul Tournier is a retired Swiss physician who has written sixteen books since 1941. The name of his home, "Le grain de ble" (the grain of wheat), is symbolic of his active life and prolific contribu-

434 - The Christian Psychology of Paul Tournier

tion to the worlds of psychotherapy and pastoral theology. While he is a general practitioner, untrained in psychiatry or theology, his writing has influenced a generation of medical and religious professionals the world over.

Focal to Tournier's career were the death of both parents by the age of six, his salvation/vocational decision at age twelve, and his sense of insecurity during adolescence. He was greatly influenced by the Oxford Group Movement and became active in its affairs during years when he was experiencing some isolation from his own church. His early years as a physician found him seeking to attend to the personal as well as the physical needs of his patients; his style of practice became for him an expression of Christian witness and ministry. Most of his writings are reflections on these experiences with persons coupled with attempts to explicate a view of man consonant with the Christian faith and modern psychology.

Collins presents the substance of Tournier's writing in two ways. The first is a chronological recounting of the books in sequence, complete with the theme and the occasion which prompted them. The second is a thematic discussion of Tournier's ideas concerning theology and psychology.

It is intriguing to note the way in which Tournier's writing developed from his life situations. His first book, The Healing of Persons, came out of his newly found clinical approach as a physician. It emphasizes the close relationship between mental and physical problems and the importance of submitting oneself to God. His second book, Escape from Loneliness, was written to raise the morale of isolated persons in the Switzerland of World War II. He wrote about the causes of isolation and the ways fellowship could be rekindled. As a result of attending a multi-disciplinary conference in Bad Bol, Germany, Tournier wrote The Whole Person in a Broken World, which focused on the confusion which continued to exist even after peace bad come. As in his other books, be felt that the hope of the world lay in the willingness of individuals to commit themselves to Jesus Christ. In 1947 he established his own yearly conferences between medicine and theology at Bossey. They provided the occasions for most of Tournier's writing in the succeeding years. The first of these books, The Strong and the Weak, was the first statement of his anthropology. All men are afraid; some handle their fear through weakness, some through strength. Faith is the prime ingredient for coping with fear. The sequel to this volume, A Doctors Casebook in the Light of the Bible, convincingly states his thesis that hope for persons was to be found in Scripture. Through his own study, he was convinced all physicians should study the Bible.

Guilt and Grace was the compilation of thoughts resulting from the Bossey conference of 1957. He distinguishes between false and

435 - The Christian Psychology of Paul Tournier

real guilt and notes the necessity of man finally confessing his sin to God and receiving God's forgiveness. By this time Tournier was in his mid-sixties. The Seasons of Life dealt with his understanding of human development from childhood through old age. The Bossey conference again provided the stimulus for Tournier's twelfth book, To Understand Each Other. Herein, he suggested steps for improving marriage and for understanding the marital relationship within the will of God. Secrets was his attempt to explicate the ways in which giving and receiving confidences influences maturation, marital happiness, and spiritual growth.

His next book, The Adventure of Living, was an autobiographical testimony to his own pilgrimage as he looked back on his life. After recuperating from a serious heart attack Tournier wrote another personal statement on his struggle to find a new place in life (A Place for You). It was a reaffirmation of his intent, under God, not to surrender in the face of stress. Finally, Tournier's reflections on aging have resulted in Learn to Grow Old, a sensitive analysis of the problems of late life and retirement.

Collins also discusses the thinking of Tournier thematically under the headings of psychology, theology, methodology, and practical wisdom. In all these areas, Tournier comes through as a seminal but simplistic and disorganized thinker and also as a vocal and consistent apologist for a functional faith. He is a shade beyond those well-trained psychiatrists who see religion as similar to bawling, as no more than a handy tool for adjustment. Certainly Collins is to be commended for allowing this forthright faith of Tournier to shine through. One has the distinct impression that Tournier practices what he recommends to his patients.

Collins' critique of Tournier is, on the whole, well considered and worthy of reading by any serious student of Tournier. Nevertheless, many pastoral theologians will wonder why Collins insists on playing the old liberal-conservative game in citing Tournier for seeming to affirm all men will be saved. Better that Collins bad explicated just what function adherence to such doctrines plays in theological anthropology and religious counseling; to note simply the omission of a biblical doctrine is not enough.

All in all, Collins has done a commendable job. It is a helpful addition to recent numbers of The Journal of Theology and Psychology and The Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation which commemorated Tournier's seventy-fifth anniversary. It will be read by many who have an interest in this, the twentieth century's most famous, Christian physician.

H. Newton Malony
Fuller Theological Seminary
Graduate School of Psychology
Pasadena, California