Lamentations 4 in the light of Poetry Therapy
Gous, Ignatius G.P.
Why do we study the Old Testament? Why do we read and analyse Old
Testament poems? Does our work make a difference? Does it need to
make a difference, and if so, what kind of difference? A recent trend in
Psychology is called Poetry Therapy, and it is described as an interface
of the Arts and Psychology. The psychologist Adler (1933) wrote ‘Among
poetic works of art which have led me to the insights of Individual
Psychology the following stand out as pinnacles: fairy tales, the Bible,
Shakespeare, and Goethe.’ This paper explores the interface of Old
Testament poems and Poetry Therapy. In particular, some recent
commentaries on the Book of Lamentations are evaluated from this
vantage point, with questions whether they are just more of the same,
whether they are merely a proliferation of series of commentaries for
publishing houses, or whether they really contribute something new and
worthwhile to Old Testament Scholarship and the readers thereof.
Lamentations 4 is taken as a focal point. In short, this is a plea for
scholarship with a heart.
↧