Kohut's Self Psychology and Theory of Narcissism: Some Implications regarding the Fall and Restoration of Humanity

Kohut's contributions toward the understanding of narcissistic development are briefly reviewed, then cast into a mode of theological inquiry that delineates his anthropology and soteriology, utilizing the initial sketch of these dimensions drawn by Randall (1980). Kohut's view of “Tragic Man” searching to fulfill the blueprint of the essential self in actualizing ideals and ambitions through healthy forms of narcissism, of humanity's fall from the realization of these ideals and the means of restoration, are integrated with the biblical account of the dilemma at the Fall, the consequent impact upon the human condition, and God's solution to this predicament.