(LifeSiteNews) — Two scholars outrageously claimed that accounts of Jesus in the Bible show that he had a “propensity for alcohol” as well as an “impulse control disorder.”
Simone and Claudia Paganini — a theologian and an ethicist — are quoted in the German language Catholic news outlet, katholisch.de, asserting that Jesus and many other towering biblical figures showed signs of psychological abnormalities, ranging from depression to narcissistic tendencies.
“From Adam and Eve in Genesis to the visionary of Revelation — every book contains figures who show signs of psychological disorders,” they explained in a recent interview published in Christ und Welt, according to katholisch.de.
The duo suggests that the story of Jesus flipping the tables of the money changers and those selling animals for sacrifice, driving them out from the temple courts, shows that he “snapped” because he lacked “impulse control.”
“Jesus is the one who says: If someone strikes you, turn the other cheek. And then he arrives at the Temple, is annoyed by the livestock traders there — and — bam—he snaps,” Simone Paganini said.
Paganini contrasted this with examples of Jesus driving out demons that he claims were in reality “mental illnesses.”
After all, “many mental disorders were attributed to the devil at that time,” Paganini said.
According to the katholisch.de article, when Jesus cast the seven demons out of Mary Magdalene, “these were likely cases of mental illness.”
The Paganinis’ outrageous diagnosis of biblical mental illness wasn’t limited to Jesus Christ.
“From Adam and Eve in Genesis to the visionary of Revelation — every book contains figures who show signs of psychological disorders,” the duo said.
While allowing that the narratives found in the bible lack many details a psychiatrist would need to make a diagnosis, the symptoms of mental illness can be identified.
Moses “is very successful,” Simone Paganini said, “yet he cannot feel joy. He bears the burden of responsibility alone; he is exhausted and lacks drive, even wishing for death.”
They suggest that Job exhibits “symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder” because he worries excessively about his children.
When Job loses his children and possessions, he falls “into a deep depression and withdraws,” they noted.
Job’s “lamenting never really ceases,” Claudia Paganini said. “There is something pathological about this, katholisch.de noted.