cond case, the God-archetype inflates consciousness to the extent that he loses contact with unconscious (e.g., “Nietszche fully identified himself with the figure Zarathustra [Mana personality] completely…” (Jacobi 1973, 144). Religious symbols need to be therefore kept within these two extremes supposing they should help a man to get on well with his unconscious mind (CW 11 1948). The Swiss psychologist warns not only against passive, thoughtless devotion to a symbol of God but also against a naive form of atheism that ignores deeper function of faith and ends in self-divination. A man living in a despiritualized world where reality is measured purely materially, can easily fall a victim to his own archaic instincts “the destruction of the God-image is followed by the annulment of the human personality“ (CW 9 II 1950, 109, 123). His book Answer to Job in 1951, written at the age of 76, has gained the greatest response. The book has earned him not only admiration, but a harsh criticism, too, especially in the theological circles. “Job is a direct continuation of Aion: it traces the growth of consciousness through a study of changing images of God, both within and without the limits of defined doctrine” (Heisig 1979, 79). Jung begins hisAnswer to Jobwith a declaration of spiritual truth where religious testimonies are also included. Jung again points out that he refuses to deal with transcendent realities. A testimony from the Bible is considered “expression of the Soul” that refers to archetypes growing from collective unconscious. The Biblical story of Job and Yahweh trying Job is well-known but Jung arrives at completely new interpretation. Job blames Yahweh for tormenting him and reveals his antinomic nature. Job then gets to a higher moral level because he sees that Yahweh only projects own doubts about himself. “Yahweh is (…) too unconscious to be moral. Morality presupposes consciousness.“ (CW 11 1952, 372). Yahweh sees that Job has something that surpasses him – the self-reflection and he strives to transform, to become a man. Only Christ with his death on he cross clears man of his guilt. God then lives out what he imposed on man. Christ here represents an archetype of the Self and the whole process from Yahweh to Christ is an individuation, from unconscious to fulfilment (CW 11 1952). Jung starts his book Answer to Job with a motto from the Bible, the Second book of Samuel: “I am distressed for thee, my brother“, for Jung it means a higher degree of consciousness as well as higher morality. At the end of his life he often draws attention to the fact that at the age of nuclear and chemical weapons man has too much power to remain ignorant. “For his aim is to offer modern man, faced with the problem of evil, an alternative to atheism and pious submission.“ (Heisig 1979, 82). However, he did not want to say that Christianity as such should come to an end. “I am, on the contrary, convinced that it is not Christianity, but our conception and interpretation of it, that has become antiquated in the face of the present world situation. The Christian symbol is a living thing that carries in itself the seeds of further development.“ (CW 10 1957, 279; CW 10 1958, 328). Spirituality Studies 2 (1) Spring 2016 59
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzgxMzI=