The Norwegian social reformer Bertram Dybwad Brochmann (1881–1956) was a passionate visionary with an unshakable belief in humanity’s ability to renew itself and society. He began as a gardener but became one of Norway’s most original social critics during the interwar years. As a public lecturer, author, and Member of Parliament, he founded a newspaper where he developed his ideas for a profound reform of society, grounded in a new understanding of the Bible, psychology, and economics. In a time marked by crisis and upheaval, he became a voice for those seeking something more profound than the conventional answers offered by politics and the church.
He was convicted of cooperating with the Germans after World War II because he had publicly criticized the Norwegian king and government for fleeing to London at the beginning of the war. Brochmann believed fighting the enemy with spiritual power was better than with bombs and grenades. His pacifist ideas have not been forgotten. They live on, quietly but persistently, in an age when many once again ask what kind of society we are truly building. A theater group in Norway has recently dramatized his postwar defense speech. It serves not merely as a historical revisitation but as a warning—a voice from the past calling out to the future. Brochmann stood trial for his words and ideas, but he refused to betray his conviction: that humanity must rediscover its inner dignity, not through power, but through truth and insight.
Amid the ruins of war, he saw the potential for transformation—a new beginning. His tools were not weapons but words: the Bible, the insights of psychology, and a radical rethinking of economic principles. For Brochmann, these were not separate fields but threads in a single tapestry—the struggle for human liberation.
To him, the Bible was not a rigid authority but a living guide, full of imagery and symbols to help people understand their responsibilities and potential. He wrote, “The Bible is not a book of dogma, but a mirror in which man can see himself and his society.” He saw the teachings of Jesus not as theological doctrine, but as a moral summons—a challenge to the conscience. Love of neighbor was not a sentimental ideal, but a principle for organizing a more just and humane society.
He found inspiration in Erich Fromm, who described how modern people flee from freedom through submission and conformity. Brochmann was among the first to introduce Fromm’s work in Norway, publishing articles and reflections on his thinking long before Fromm gained wider international recognition. He also drew on Jung, who revealed how the collective unconscious carries humanity’s legacy and longing for wholeness. And he understood, like Freud, that we must confront our inner shadows to become whole.
Brochmann wove these psychological insights into his deep critique of the economy. He saw a system that confused growth with value, speed with direction, and money with meaning. He warned against a society that turned humans into cogs in a machine they had built, but no longer controlled.
His vision resonated beyond his immediate circle. Ragnar Frisch, who would later receive the very first Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1969, acknowledged Brochmann’s influence and shared his belief in the need for a more holistic and socially anchored economic model. In many ways, Brochmann anticipated the thinking of today’s heterodox economists who argue for economies that serve people, not just markets.
Today, in a world marked by wars, climate crises, technological alienation, and growing social unrest, Brochmann’s vision offers a guiding alternative. He called for a society where the economy serves human growth, not the other way around, where the ethical core of the Bible—justice, responsibility, and love—can once again find its place in public discourse, and where psychological insight is not used to manipulate but to heal.
Bertram Dybwad Brochmann left us no ready-made solution. But he gave us a direction. Through his understanding of the Bible, depth psychology, and economics, he pointed toward a path on which humanity might once again find its footing. In the face of a civilization at risk of collapsing under its weight, his ideas remain an essential contribution to our shared future.
The question remains: do we dare to revisit these forgotten paths before it’s too late?
Featured image © Eldar Einarson
One response to “The Bible, Depth Psychology, and Economics: Can an Old Vision Save Us From Ourselves?”
[…] the world is to have a future, something new must break forth from within: a new consciousness, humility, and understanding of our place in the whole. It begins with each person’s willingness to know themselves, to listen […]