Carl Jung And Christian Spirituality

A collection of the best articles dealing with this topic during the last twenty years.

C. G. Jung, son of a Swiss Reformed pastor, used his Christian background throughout his career to illuminate the psychological roots of all religions. Jung believed religion was a profound, psychological response to the unknown--both the inner self and the outer worlds--and he understood Christianity to be a profound meditation on the meaning of the life of Jesus of Nazareth within the context of Hebrew spirituality and the Biblical worldview. Murray Stein's introduction relates Jung's personal relationship with Christianity to his psychological views on religion in general, his hermeneutic of religious thought, and his therapeutic attitude toward Christianity. This volume includes extensive selections from Psychological Approach to the Dogma of the Trinity," "Christ as a Symbol of the Self," from Aion, "Answer to Job," letters to Father Vincent White from Letters, and many more.

Spiritual Pilgrims explores the remarkably similar understanding of symbols in the work of Carl Jung and St. Teresa of Avila, the Spanish Carmelite mystic. Jung's depth psychology is a reflection upon contemporary experience while Teresa's Interior Castle is a classic on the life of prayer.

In this revised edition of Natural Spirituality: A Handbook for Jungian Inner Work in Spiritual Community, Joyce Rockwood Hudson moves Jungian dream work from the professional world of the analyst’s office into the everyday world of spiritual seekers in local community, both inside and outside the institutions of traditional religion. For those willing to meet the divine in the natural flow of life, this book offers an opportunity to embark upon the spiritual path of individuation, whether traveling alone or with the support of a group. With clarity and simplicity Joyce Hudson puts into her reader’s hands the tools for inner work that Carl Jung offered to spiritual seekers everywhere. JOYCE ROCKWOOD HUDSON Joyce Rockwood Hudson has taught the principles of Jungian inner work to church and community dream groups for almost three decades. Since its original publication, her book Natural Spirituality has been a handbook for dream groups across the U.S. and abroad. She is on the faculty of the Haden Institute, where she teaches in the Dream Leader Training Program and helps oversee the annual Summer Dream and Spirituality Conference. The author of seven books, her literary prizes include Holland’s prestigious Silver Pencil award, an American Library Association Notable Book award, and Georgia Writer of the Year in Fiction.

While not all aspects of Carl Gustav Jung's work have aged well, many of his ideas remain consistent with current concepts in behavioral psychology and neuroscience. Psychology of the Spirit reviews the lasting effects of Jung's work and how it integrates with modern neuroscience, cognitive and behavioral studies, and Christian theology. It combines the mystical insights developed by Eastern Orthodox Christian theology with Jung's vision of the psyche and the concept of the collective unconscious and its archetypes. Though written as a contribution to the field of psychology and as a tool for clinical practice, it is also accessible to lay readers interested in the relationship between the mind and the brain....

Jung's explanation of the religious tendency of the psyche addresses many sides of the contemporary debate on religion and the role that it has in individual and social life. This book discusses the emergence of a new mythic consciousness and details ways in which this consciousness supersedes traditional concepts of religion to provide a spirituality of more universal inclusion. On Behalf of the Mystical Fool examines Jung's critique of traditional western religion, demonstrating the negative consequences of religious and political collective unconsciousness, and their consequent social irresponsibility in today's culture. The book concludes by suggesting that a new religiosity and spirituality is currently emerging in the West based on the individual’s access to the sense of ultimacy residual in the psyche, and seeking expression in a myth of a much wider compass. This book will be of interest to scholars and students at all levels who are engaged in the expanding field of Jungian studies. It will also be key reading for anyone interested in the theoretical and therapeutic connections between the psyche and religious experience.