Jung on Christianity

291 Pages·1999·2.07 MB·English

by  Jésus-Christ.

J U N G
O N C H R I S T I A N I T Y
E N C O U N T E R I N G
J U N G
J U N G O N A L C H E M Y
J U N G O N E V I L
J U N G O N A C T I V E I M A G I N A T I O N
J U N G O N M Y T H O L O G Y
J U N G O N S Y N C H R O N I C I T Y
A N D T H E P A R A N O R M A L
J U N G O N C H R I S T I A N I T Y
E N C O U N T E R I N G
J U N G
O N C H R I S T I A N I T Y
Selected and Introduced by Murray Stein
princeton university press ◆ princeton, new jersey
Introduction and Selection copyright 1999 by Princeton University Press
Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
All Rights Reserved
This book is composed of texts selected from the following volumes of the Collected
Works of C. G. Jung: The Zofingia Lectures, Supplementary Volume A (cid:1)1983 by Princeton
University Press; The Symbolic Life, Volume 18, (cid:1) 1958 by Bollingen Foundation, (cid:1) re-
newed1986 by Princeton University Press; Aion, Volume 9ii,(cid:1)1959 by Bollingen Foun-
dation, 2nd ed. (cid:1) 1969 by Princeton University Press, (cid:1) renewed 1987 by Princeton
University Press; Psychology and Religion: West and East, Volume 11,(cid:1)1958 by Bollingen
Foundation,2nd ed. (cid:1)1969 by Princeton University Press, (cid:1) renewed 1986 by Princeton
University Press; Psychology and Alchemy, Volume 12,(cid:1)1953 by Bollingen Foundation, (cid:1)
renewed 1981 by Princeton University Press; Alchemical Studies, Volume 13, (cid:1) 1967 by
Bollingen Foundation; and Dream Analysis,(cid:1)1984 by Princeton University Press. Other
excerpts are taken from The Collected Letters of C. G. Jung, Volumes 2,(cid:1)1953,1955,1961,
1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975 by Princeton University Press; Memories, Dreams,
Reflections,(cid:1)1961,1962,1963, and renewed 1989,1990,1991 by Random House, Inc.
(reprinted here by arrangement with Pantheon Books, a division of Random House,
Inc.).
Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav), 1875–1961.
On Christianity / selected and introduced by Murray Stein.
p. cm. — (Encountering Jung)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN0-691-00697-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Christianity—Psychology. I. Stein, Murray, 1943–
II. Title. III. Series: Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav), 1875–1961.
Selections. English. 1995.
BR110.J84 1999
230—dc21 99–28902
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of ANSI/NISO
Z39.48-1992 (R1997) (Permanence of Paper)
http://pup.princeton.edu
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Introduction 3
Part I. Jung’s Relationship to Christianity 25
1. A Father’s Unfinished Work 27
2. “Thoughts on the Interpretation of Christianity” 43
3. The Experience of “Religious Realities” 61
4. “Why I am not a Catholic” 69
Part II. Jung’s Psychological Approach to Christian Doctrine,
Ritual, and Symbol 73
1. “Christ, A Symbol of the Self” 75
2. “Christ as Archetype” 107
3. “Father, Son, and Spirit” 119
4. The Holy Ghost 127
5. “The Mass and the Individuation Process” 133
6. “Symbolism of the Cross” 155
7. Mythic Features in Christian Doctrine 161
Part III. Jung’s Interpretation of Christian History and
Its Future 179
1. From “Introduction to the Religious and Psychological
Problems of Alchemy” 181
2. “The Sign of the Fishes” 213
3. From “Answer to Job” 235
4. The Missing Element in Christian Doctrine 273
Index 277
J U N G
O N C H R I S T I A N I T Y
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INTRODUCTION
The arcane substance [of alchemy] corresponds to the Christian
dominant, which was originally alive and present in consciousness
but then sank into the unconscious and must now be
restored in renewed form.
C. G. Jung (CW14, par. 466)
In the passage quoted above, taken from the late work Mysterium
Coniunctionis, Jung speaks as a religious man (a homo religiosus), and
also as one for whom the central images of Christianity are a psychic
reality that carries significant meaning. Often he writes about Christian
themes in this way. He cares deeply about their value and importance,
and he even proposes several important theological and practical revi-
sions for Christianity. He speaks, however, as a psychologist and not as a
Christian theologian or believer. This combination of factors, which
characterizes Jung’s approach to Christianity, has led to several general
misunderstandings.
One major misinterpretation is that Jung was a Christian apologist,
i.e., a defender of Christian truths within a contemporary setting using
modern concepts and language. By some he has even been looked
upon as a possible savior of Christianity in a time when its spiritual
message is going unheard for want of persuasive images and concepts.
His writings are taken at times as the words of a modern prophet. He is
seen as a kind of evangelist in the garb of a medical psychologist.
Clearly this kind of evangelical persuasion was not Jung’s intention,
even if some of his writings give this impression. When he states (as
above) that the Christian message “must now be restored in renewed
form,” one might imagine him speaking in the voice of the Protestant
Reformation but, given Jung’s overall perspective and psychological
program, this is a misreading. Unlike his Swiss countrymen, Karl Barth
and Emil Brunner, two Protestant contemporaries who did consider
the revitalization of Christian theology to be their mission, Jung does
3
introduction
not place himself within the Christian theological circle. This would be
presumptuous. He was trained as a medical doctor, not as a theologian.
He was not out to serve the church, nor, like Paul Tillich, to correlate
Christian “answers” to modern culture’s “questions.” It is true that he
expresses grave concern about a perceived lack of vitality in contempo-
rary Christianity, but his focus lies not so much on the church as on
modern people who are spiritually adrift and need living symbols to
find meaning and direction in their lives. Also, unlike the theologians,
Jung does not look to the Bible or to Christian tradition for authority
or inspiration. Instead, he turns to the psyche and most particularly to
the unconscious. This brings a wholly different dimension into play. To
date, Christian theologians have not paid serious attention to the un-
conscious.
A second major misinterpretation—precisely the opposite of the
first—is that Jung was anti-Christian and out to destroy Christianity or
to supplant it with his own psychological theory, analytical psychology.
This is as erroneous as it is to view him as a modern evangelist of
Christianity. Jung’s attachment to Christianity was indeed profound,
and it ran stronger than a mere nod to Swiss conventionality. His com-
mitment became increasingly evident in the latter years of his life. Af-
ter his taxing journey to India in 1938 at the age of sixty-eight, Jung
turned almost exclusively in his thinking and writing about religious
matters to Western—specifically to Christian—themes. He writes elo-
quently and with great sensitivity about religious rituals like the Roman
Catholic mass (“Transformation Symbolism in the Mass”) and about
Christian doctrines like the Holy Trinity (“A Psychological Approach to
Dogma of the Trinity”). He also dwells deeply on the symbol of Christ
and considers the meaning of Christianity for Western culture and hu-
mankind (Aion). In Answer to Job, he offers a stunning and highly con-
troversial interpretation of the Bible. In all of these late texts, he speaks
as a concerned psychologist. While he confesses ignorance of formal
theology, he shows great awareness of theological issues and tackles
some of the thorniest theological doctrines known to Christendom.
These are not attacks upon Christian belief and practice, nor do they
foresee their demise or suggest their replacement by analytical psychol-
ogy. Clearly, Christianity meant a great deal to Jung. I believe that in
later life it became for him something like an “ultimate concern,” to
use Paul Tillich’s phrase for the religious attitude.
Christianity’s past and future were close to Jung’s heart. He advo-
cated the transformation of Christianity. This is significantly different
from seeking to revitalize and reform it on the one hand or from aban-
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