The sensational question that is often asked by Christians when considering Carl Jung is:

Was he communing with demons?

And I get it, he describes his conversations with the character Philemon in his book Memories, Dreams, Reflections saying, “It was he who spoke, not I.” The problem is he also states, “At times he seemed to me quite real.” With Jung’s unique psychologized mysticism, it is difficult to determine exactly what this figure was. I really don’t think we can conclude either way.

Regardless, I think the real question which underlies this is:

Can we listen to anything he proposes which came out of these visions?

In this episode, I trace several accounts of demon activity described in scripture to argue that the boring and perhaps frustrating truth is that we need to test the spirits against the Word of God.

I then begin to do just that by walking through the Liber Primus section of The Red Book including:

* The spirit of the depths vs. the spirit of the times

* The soul as a “self-existing being”

* The murder of the hero, and Jung’s claim that Christ descended into hell and became the Antichrist

* Elijah and Salome, and the claim that the holy and unholy are one

Stay tuned for part two which will cover Liber Segundus and The Scrutinies.

My episode which describes the levels of explanation approach to spiritual and psychological phenomena:

A free pdf of The Red Book: https://archive.org/details/carl-gustav-jung-the-red-book-liber-novu

Join the conversation on Substack: https://substack.com/@ashleyhageman

My private practice (Michigan only): https://www.solaceprofessionalcounseling.com/home

Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/

Can we as Christians learn anything from Carl Jung without accepting his mysticism?

I answer this question by establishing the timeline of his life and ideas, the methods he used to develop them, and the many streams of influence which fed into his larger theory. Prepare to dive into Victorian spiritualism, a sordid affair, and how Jung’s early optimism for Nazism gave way to providing psychological profiles of Hitler which proved useful to Allied war efforts. Finally, I propose that Jung’s various epistemologies at certain periods of his life can give us common ground on which to evaluate his ideas.

Join the conversation on Substack: https://substack.com/@ashleyhageman

My private practice (Michigan only): https://www.solaceprofessionalcounseling.com/home

Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/

Carl Jung often expounded on scripture and held Christianity to be the truest religion. For example, he once stated, “Among all my patients in the second half of life—that is to say, over thirty-five—there has not been one whose problem in the last resort was not that of finding a religious outlook on life. …and none of them has been really healed who did not regain his religious outlook.” And many Christians are attracted to his work via his descendant, Jordan Peterson. Yet while his work in psychology has proven to be wise and helpful, he makes several claims with theological significance which pose a danger to both the soul of the Christian and to the soul of the atheist.

Join the conversation on Substack: https://substack.com/@ashleyhageman

My private practice (Michigan only): https://www.solaceprofessionalcounseling.com/home

Music by Douglas Hageman https://doughageman.bandcamp.com/