JOURNAL OF JUNGIAN THEORY AND PRACTICE - CG Jung ...

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(C. G. Jung, Answer to Job)IIt is now more than half a century since C. G. Jung wrote Answer toJob (Jung, 1952), to my mind one of the most important spiritual texts of thetwentieth century. That book was nothing less than a psychological study ofthe history of God over the last twenty-five hundred years. Lessspectacularly considered, Jung attempted to understand how the Self, theimage of God in the Western psyche, had undergone change anddevelopment over that time. Of special interest to him was the problematiccondition of that psychological image at the approaching end of theChristian aion, as Jung put it.As might be expected, the book was greeted with alarm andmisunderstanding, both in theological and scientific circles, but has enjoyeda continuing interest among the educated public. The larger academic worldhas neglected this book, but a recent scholarly work has gathered together allthe relevant literature (Bishop, 2002). Theologians, such as Victor White,from the Catholic side (White, 1959), and Martin Buber, from a Jewishperspective (Buber, 1952), found much to criticize in Jung’s attempt at the“psychization,” so to speak, of the God image. Comments even from someof Jung’s followers suggest a lack of understanding of what he was about. Ina 1993 volume of the Journal of Analytical Psychology, for example, twoanalysts, one from Britain and one from Israel, believed it necessary tointerpret the text reductively, as reflecting Jung’s childhood problems, so itis not surprising that this major work has proved difficult for many to grasp.On the other hand, another Jungian, Edward Edinger, has written anC. G. Jung’s Answer To Job: A Half Century Later Pg. 47 (Online Edition)by J. Marvin Spiegelman
excellent introduction and commentary (Edinger, 1992). A former Jesuit,Jack Miles, has done something similar to Jung in writing a Biography ofGod (Miles, 1995), also basing himself on the Biblical text. In a personalcommunication, he told me that Answer to Job had impressed him, but thatJung did not sufficiently appreciate the role of Israel. I shall quote some ofhis work later on and add to it as well.In this paper I propose to examine how Jung’s predictions have heldup and suggest how what he was trying to do can be extended, even if only alittle. I will begin by presenting a summary of that book, together with somecomments, to refresh those who may not have read it for some time and toprovide necessary information for those who have not studied it. I begin bygiving the flavor of Jung’s (1952) writing, after the introduction:The book of Job is a landmark in the long historical development of adivine drama. At the time the book was written, there were alreadymany testimonies which had given a contradictory picture ofYahweh—the picture of a God who knew no moderation in hisemotions and suffered precisely from this lack of moderation. Hehimself admitted that he was eaten up with rage and jealousy and thatthis knowledge was painful to him. Insight existed along with cruelty,creative power along with destructiveness. Everything was there, andnone of these qualities was an obstacle to the other. Such a conditionis only conceivable either when no reflecting consciousness is presentat all, or when the capacity for reflection is very feeble and a more orless adventitious phenomenon. A condition of this sort can only bedescribed as amoral. (para. 560)C. G. Jung’s Answer To Job: A Half Century Later Pg. 48 (Online Edition)by J. Marvin Spiegelman
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