Carl Jung & the Bible

I was looking for a quote attributed to Joseph Campbell. In reality, it was Campbell quoting Carl Jung, famous psychoanalyst. It comes from Campbell's The Power of Myth. It is so very wonderful: "Religion is a defense against religious experience."

If nothing else, that is the nugget for the day; however, in reading this article regarding an analysis of Answering Job by Jung, it dawned on me a very important point that I've always felt, but never heard articulated: The Bible must stay together, lest we turn God into a horrid beast, sub-human, something less than worthy of our worship.

Jung argues that the God of the book of Job is amazingly self-serving. God allows ha-satan, the adversary in Hebrew...something akin to " the prosecutor," to set a wager of Job's response. Jung uses the word "bamboozles." All in all, Jung, a believer in God (not necessarily the God of orthodox Christianity...but shaped by the Church and Scripture), makes some blasphemous statements...

But, I had a hard time arguing with him...I wanted to, but there are some really crazy things in that book. That got me started on the book of Joshua....more crazy things. Yet, each of these books have some beautiful things, too.

I think perhaps what Jung is pointing to is the incarnational nature of Scripture. Job was never meant to stand alone. It is a book of a community talking about suffering. Joshua was book of national identity and power. The book of Judges is about survival. The Gospels are books of hope and salvation. The Epistles are about community conduct (ironically so are Numbers, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy).

Taking a glimpse of God given to us by these inspired men and women allows us only to see in part...as St. Paul says, "We see through the mirror dimly..."

Looking at the Bible as such takes some faith because it's not neat, pretty, and concise. It takes work, hope, and faith to see the God of the Universe behind the pages, behind the stories.

It takes courage to sit through the argumentation of having a book like Ezra in the same Bible as Ruth....or the Epistle of James alongside St. Paul's writings.

Jung and Campbell are men I love to converse with (through their writings...they're both dead), and I often leave conversations with them provoked, disturbed, and questioning...

And for that I thank God for them, for their minds, and for their courage to write uncomfortable questions and thoughts...I also thank God for the Spirit giving me the courage to cling to faith and question at the same time.

Enjoying the Sermon Series

I hope it doesn't sound too pretentious to say that I'm enjoying the sermon series we're doing on the book of Revelation. It's been a while since I've dug into the book very deeply, and as theology and learning increase/change, it's fun to see it afresh!

I am in particular enjoying the book's fresh impact on my understanding of the Christian and government. It's been very challenging, scary, and confusing all at the same time.

I am not enjoying how confusing it is putting together a preterite understanding of Revelation with the idea of a Day of the LORD event. If anyone knows good books on this, let me know!

My Unembarrassed Ad for Disciple Bible Study

First, to clarify my last post, I do read my Bible...religiously. How ironic is that?

But, it got me thinking, I've read Dune at least 18 times, so how many times have I read the Bible, cover-to-cover? My first time through was in college. Did it in a month. I did it once in seminary, too. Since then, I've done it 3 times, and each time it's taken me 34 weeks...

Why 34 weeks? Disciple Bible study! It's a great Bible Study program, and if you've never done it, well you really need to! The approach is very good. It comes with a book that outlines the readings. There are 5 days of reading, 1 day of answering questions in the booklet, and a day of rest. Then once a week you meet with your Disciple class where you watch a video done by professors who study each part of the Bible you're reading that week. After watching the video, the class discusses the readings, shares their thoughts, and answers some questions.

In a nutshell, here's why Disciple I is AWESOME!:

1. You have accountability friends to help you read all through the Bible...even the slow, hard parts where Hallugoaboah begat Yaojodeeoho who begat Bill...yeah, those parts, too!


2. You get great insight from the video, the booklet info, and the class discussions.


3. The aim of the study is to help us apply Scripture to our lives...not just study it.

All, in all, I highly recommend it, and if you're in Winchester on Thursdays, we start at 7 p.m.

Confession of a Little War

I read a particular book religiously. In fact, I've read it cover to cover, since I was 13, on average, every year. Yes, that makes it about 18 times, give or take a few. [Yes, Danny, over 18 times...jerk. LOL!]

My confession is that it's not the Bible. It's Dune by Frank Herbert. From the first time I read it, Dune has captivated my imagination. A science fiction book that is quite heady, the storyline weaves issues of politics, psychology, ecology, and religion together to form an exciting messianic story.

In the Appendices (yes, I read them each time as well), there is a quotation that struck me last night as I finished up 2009's reading: "Every man is a little war."

From the Islamic concept of the inner struggle or jihad, Herbert's Fremen religion speaks of how each person must continually fight all of the forces within themselves. From our biological impulses to our learned vices to our beliefs and who we choose to be, each of us has a plethora of voices crying out to have us and control us. To be truly human is to win that war, or perhaps to even engage in the struggle.

Jihad has rightly earned a "bad" name as of late; however, when I was in a Philosophy of Religion class at Purdue, I remember learning how Jihad was primarily understood as this inner struggle. I loved the concept as it really resonated with my Christian faith, too. Romans 7:14-25 speaks of this struggle, of our own personal war. 1 Timothy 4:6-10 also speaks of how we need to continually refine our spiritual selves like an athlete or soldier as we face our own struggles.

Understanding that each of us is in our own turmoil, I believe helps us understand each other better...allowing us to offer Grace a bit freer, and to forgive a bit quicker. I know my war...I know my struggles.

Perhaps, seeing each person as a 'little war' helps me offer them the love that God is continually offering this 'little war', named Mark.