To the Editor:
May I add two observations to Rabbi Petuchowski’s penetrating review of Erich Fromm’s The Art of Loving (December).
While Fromm’s latest work may be a modern midrash, as a Christian I claim that it contains no basic precept of love that isn’t taught in a sermon or Bible class or through pastoral counsel. After the overemphasis and priority given to sex by the Freudian school, it is heartening that a man of Fromm’s stature has psychiatric interpretations in accordance with Judaic-Christian attitudes.
Even though the Rabbi touched lightly on the errors of Reverend Norman Vincent Peale’s teachings, one can only wish for a fuller exposition of his criticism. Several of my Catholic friends are concerned that from his writings one gathers that Doctor Peale associates mainly with the big businessmen who take God into partnership. Aside from the issue of social snobbery, it is well to recognize that man exists to serve God, and that God isn’t always available whenever one has red ink in his ledger.
Walter R. Storey
Philadelphia, Pa.
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