The Psychology of God's Dark Side

About this episode

This episode explores Carl Jung's controversial work 'Answer to Job' and its insights into the nature of God and the coexistence of love and fear.

In 1952, at the age of seventy-six, Carl Jung wrote Answer to Job in a single burst of energy and with strong emotion. He completed it while ill, following a high fever, and upon finishing, he felt well again. The book explores the nature of God, particularly what Jung perceived as God’s dark side, a theme that preoccupied him throughout his life. In it, the theology first explored in the Red Book—the progressive incarnation of God, and the replacement of the one-sided Christian God with one that encompasses evil within it—found its clearest expression. This makes Answer to Job one of Jung’s most controversial works. Jung wrote in a letter that the book, “released an avalanche of prejudice, misunderstanding, and above all, atrocious stupidity.” The fundamental idea in Answer to Job is that the pair of opposites is united in the image of Yahweh. God is not divided but is an antinomy—a totality of inner opposites. This paradox is the essential condition for His omniscience and omnipotence. Love and Fear, though seemingly irreconcilable, coexist at the heart of the divine. The story of Job follows a righteous man whose faith is tested by Satan with God’s permission. Job loses his…

People in this episode

Host: Eternalised

Topics covered

• psychology
• theology
• God
• dark side
• Jungian philosophy
• suffering
• justice

Keywords

• Carl Jung
• Answer to Job
• God's dark side
• theology
• Job
• Satan
• Yahweh
• psychology
• suffering
• justice

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Answer to Job

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