This collection of letters between Swiss pastor Oskar Pfister and Sigmund Freud contains the surviving correspondence of the two men between 1909 and 1937. Other letters were destroyed during emigrations, and some letters were destroyed by Freud at Pfister’s request. Pfister made notes that have been used to reconstruct letters to fill in gaps in their correspondence.
In a memorable letter written by Pfister in the Fall of 1918, the pastor responds to Freud, who wonders why he, “a godless Jew,” and not one of the pious discovered psychoanalysis. Pfister says: “…piety is not the same as genius for discovery and most of the pious did not have it in them to make such discoveries. Moreover…you are no Jew [as I know Jews to be], Amos, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Job [etc.], a matter of profound regret [for me that you are not a Jew], and in the second place you are not godless, for he who lives the truth lives in God, and he who strives for the freeing of love ‘dwelleth in God’ l John 4: 16…if you raised your consciousness and fully felt your place in the great design…I should say of you: A better Christian there never was….”
In a letter written by Freud during the Spring of 1922, the founder of psychoanalysis states: “In matters of ethics, religion, and philosophy there remain differences between us which neither you nor I regard as a gulf.”
These quotes demonstrate the commitment the two men had to seeking the truth and respecting their differences, as well as their shared belief in the efficacy of psychoanalysis. The humanness of both men is revealed in these letters and is well worth reading if only to remind ourselves that “differences” with our fellow man should not be an impediment to communicating with one another.
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