Hur känner kristna inför tesen att er gud har en narcisisstisk personlighetstörning?

Diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder
The accuracy of this diagnosis becomes quite apparent if not self-evident when we consider the diagnostic criteria for narcissistic personality disorder. The DSM-IV states that a diagnosis of narcissistic personality is warranted if there is “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following” (p. 661): (1) has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements); (2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; (3) believes that he or she is “special” and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high status people (or institutions); (4) requires excessive admiration; (5) has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations; (6) is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends; (7) lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others; (8) is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her; and (9) shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes.

Biblical evidence in support of the narcissistic personality disorder diagnosis
Having engaged in patient research on these various utterances and behaviors, I have come to the conclusion that God is best viewed as having narcissistic personality disorder. As previously noted, the primary feature of this disorder is “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts” (p. 611).

This pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy is evident in the first several chapters of Genesis where God’s grandiosity is perhaps best revealed in his decision to make man in his own image (Gen. 1:26–27). In so doing, he displays his high estimate of himself and also feeds his need for admiration. Conceivably, the need for admiration could be met by other creatures (parrots, for example) who are able to tell God that he is the greatest, but as every narcissist knows, it is much better to expect those who are similar in kind to recognize that one is, nonetheless, superior to them. As for the lack of empathy, one need only point out that God expelled these beings who most resembled himself from the home he had provided them, thus treating them with disdain. Then, he added insult to injury by placing guards at the entrances to the garden so that the humans he had created would not have access to the tree of life, which would afford the one quality that God reserved for himself, that of a life that never ends. Significantly, they did not challenge this expulsion despite the fact that they outnumbered him by two-to-one. We wonder how would he have liked it if their positions were reversed and they had thrown him out of the garden. Thus, our first introduction to God alerts us to the likelihood that he is, in fact, a narcissistic personality.

A diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder, however, requires that a person manifest five or more of the nine characteristics which we have already identified. If God manifests five of these, a diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder is warranted. I hope to show, however, that God manifests all nine of them, thus making the diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder a perfect one. We would, of course, expect no less of a perfect God. If God is a narcissist, he is, by definition, the best one, and this means thatr he scores a perfect nine. Here are the nine characteristics and a small selection of the biblical evidence that supports the judgment that they apply to God.

(1) a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements.) Does God have a grandiose sense of self-importance? I believe that he does, and that the name he assigns himself—“I AM WHO I AM”—is an indication of such grandiosity. Whereas other deities had names suggesting that they were the gods of the people residing in a given locale, God took a name that not only drew attention to himself but also manifested the sort of grandiosity for which narcissists are famous, for he says, in effect, that a person as important as he is does not have to identify himself: “Who I am is who I am.”

There is also the issue of whether God exaggerates his achievements and talents and expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements. The story in Exodus of how he got the people to leave Egypt and embark on the ill-fated 40-year trek through the wilderness in search of an elusive promised land supports this diagnostic criterion. He did not hesitate to appoint himself as the one to whom the people of Israel owed absolute loyalty, yet his performance was not nearly as impressive as his demand for absolute loyalty would lead us to expect.

True, he was able to outmaneuver the Pharaoh, his Egyptian rival, by performing a series of plagues, e.g., turning the Nile River into blood, sending swarms of frogs, gnats, flies, and locusts, and inflicting man and beast with boils all over their bodies. But how impressive was this, and did it demonstrate that he was actually his rival’s superior? A psychiatrist might judge these achievements as rather miniscule for someone who expects others to treat him with absolute deference and to view him with a sense of awe. After all, he did not oversee the construction of impressive buildings devoted to education and the arts, nor did he preside over the development of a successful economic program, or the creation of a solid industrial base. In comparison to such achievements, most of us would tend to view the ability to produce swarms of frogs, gnats, flies and locusts as little more than showmanship, a certain adeptness in the art of gaining attention for himself.

God admits as much. He said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the heart of his servants, that I may show these signs of mine among them, and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and of your son’s son how I have made sport of the Egyptians and what signs I have done among them; that you may know that I am the Lord” (Exod. 10:1–2). This charge to Moses reflects the very thinking of a narcissistic personality: the whole idea is to draw attention to himself through a few signs that make sport of the Egyptians, making them look rather foolish. It seems a bit odd that the great God Almighty would think that these signs done for sport will bring him honor and prestige, and be worthy, therefore, of being remembered from generation to generation. For, however clever they may have been, they fall rather short of a statesmanlike performance.

(2) is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love. I believe that this diagnostic criterion also applies to God. The story of the 40 years of wandering in the desert may raise serious questions about Moses’ leadership skills, but we should not allow these questions concerning Moses (who, after all, was God’s own selection) to obscure the fact that it was God who thought up the original idea and who oversaw its execution.

The distance between Egypt and the promised land was about 225 miles, yet it took 40 years to complete the journey. To put this into perspective, it is roughly the distance between Cleveland and Columbus, St. Louis and Kansas City, Nashville and Knoxville, and Albuquerque and El Paso. It is about 5.6 miles per year or about one tenth of a mile per week. (No wonder that the trek is referred to as “wandering” in the desert, as it stretches the imagination to think that the group, even allowing for young children and decrepit oldsters, walked this slowly on a straight line.) In any event, the fact that it took 40 years to cover 225 miles suggests that God was unable to instill in the people the sense of dedication that one would expect from a brilliant, powerful, and inspiring visionary. Nor is there much evidence that he inspired their love and personal devotion.

Konsekvenserna av att dyrkan en gud med personlighetsstörning gör att du inte kan tänka klart och beviset på detta är att du motsäger dig själv. Med andra ord, min personlighetsanalys kan inte appliceras på gud, men din rosenskimrande analys av guds gärningar, det går minsann bra! Det blir tokigt när man dyrkar en mentalt sjuk gud, med andra ord.