C. G. Jung and Hans Urs von Balthasar This book brings together the work of Carl Gustav Jung and Hans Urs von Balthasar, two of the most creative thinkers in psychology and theology in the twentieth century, to critically compare their ideas on the perennial question of God’s involvement with evil. In later life Jung embarked on a project relating to Christianity, with psycho- therapeutic and theological intentions, forming his collection of essays, Symbolik des Geistes, in which God and evil was a major theme. Balthasar gave significant attention to Jung’s psychology in his own theological trilogy, but opposed the approach to God and evil that Jung presented. In this book Les Oglesby provides a thorough examination of convergences and divergences in Jung and Balthasar’s thinking, their different approaches to the origins and reality of evil, and their alternative theological orientations. The book culminates in a study of each man’s understanding of the central event of Christianity, Christ’s death on the Cross and his descent to the dead, and dis- cusses how Balthasar’s ‘vertical’ and Jung’s ‘horizontal’ approach to this major happening can be held together fruitfully with one another. Illustrating how analytical psychology and Christian theology can mutually enrich one another when they are held in creative tension, this book invites reflection on the meaning of the central symbol of Christianity and God’s involvement with evil as an aid to integrated psychological living and theological maturity. It will prove fascinating for students of psychology and religion as well as for Jungian analysts and practical theologians. Les Oglesby was Director of Ministry in the Diocese of Ely, and has now retired. He gained his Lambeth PhD in Psychology and Theology in 2012. Research in Analytical Psychology and Jungian Studies Series Series Advisor: Andrew Samuels, Professor of Analytical Psychology, Essex University, UK. The Research in Analytical Psychology and Jungian Studies series features scholarly works that are, broadly speaking, of an empirical nature. The series comprises research-focused volumes involving qualitative and quantitative research, historical/ archival research, theoretical developments, heuristic research, grounded theory, narrative approaches, collaborative research, practitioner-led research, and self-study. The series also includes focused works by clinical practitioners, and provides new research-informed explorations of the work of C. G. Jung that will appeal to researchers, academics and scholars alike. Books in this series: Time and Timelessness Temporality in the theory of Carl Jung Angeliki Yiassemides Apophatic Elements in the Theory and Practice of Psychoanalysis Pseudo-Dionysius and C. G. Jung David Henderson C. G. Jung and Hans Urs von Balthasar God and evil – A critical comparison Les Oglesby C. G. Jung and Hans Urs von Balthasar God and evil – A critical comparison Les Oglesby Routledge Taylor & Francis Group LONDON AND NEW YORK First published 2014 by Routledge 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA and by Routledge 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2014 L. Oglesby The right of L. Oglesby to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Oglesby, Les. C. G. Jung and Hans Urs von Balthasar: God and evil—a critical comparison / Les Oglesby. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Jung, C. G. (Carl Gustav), 1875–1961. 2. Balthasar, Hans Urs von, 1905–1988. 3. Good and evil—Psychological aspects. 4. Good and evil—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title. BJ1401O45 2014 214—dc23 2013018314 ISBN: 978-0-415-87057-3 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-203-79667-2 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Book Now Ltd, London For Dorothy This page intentionally left blank Contents Foreword ix Preface xi Acknowledgements xii Abbreviations xiii 1 Introduction 1 PART I Constructing a framework for critical comparison 3 2 Introducing Jung and Balthasar 5 3 A framework for critical comparison 32 PART II Bases for critical comparison 57 4 Anthropology and theological orientation 59 5 Analogy and polarity 76 PART III God’s involvement with evil 101 6 Evil – its origins and reality 103 7 Jung on God’s involvement with evil 127 8 The Cross in Jung and Balthasar 144 viii Contents PART IV Conclusion 173 9 A cruciform model for God’s involvement with evil 175 10 Summary 195 Bibliography 199 Index 210 Foreword It is a pleasure to accept Les Oglesby’s invitation to write a brief Foreword for his book, C. G. Jung and Hans Urs von Balthasar: God and evil – A critical comparison. It is always gratifying to learn that one’s own work has stimulated others and planted a seed for further developments in a chosen field of enquiry, but in this case it is more than that, because Les Oglesby’s work far exceeds one’s modest hopes in this regard. His is a work of extraordinary intellectual rigour and broad scholarship. Much more than that, however, it takes up what is, in my mind, the most pressing issue for contemporary Christian theology and Jungian psychology alike: the problem of evil. For theology, this has to do with how to move forward in theological reflec- tion after the Holocaust; for Jungian psychology, it is how to deal with collective shadow and to treat traumas caused by man and nature. On the one side, God must be considered and in some fashion be held accountable; on the other side, the human psyche must be recognized not only as a source of wisdom and creativity but also as capable of generating evil on a scale impossible to accept. Both sides have a problem here, but can they help each other? Les Oglesby meticulously lays the groundwork for how Christian theology, as represented by the Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, might enter into a constructive dialogue with the depth psychology of Swiss psycho- analyst C. G. Jung regarding the problem of evil. In a sense, this work is a prolegomenon for further constructive work to come. It lays the foundations for a bridge, and in the process it clears away a great many inhibiting miscon- ceptions and misinterpretations on both sides of the gap between theology and psychology, which in the past have hindered construction of the much-desired exchange. This also requires setting solidly in place the positions on either side of the divide, theological presuppositions on the one side and psychological ones on the other. One of Les Oglesby’s great virtues is that he shows precise understanding of both sides and is even-handed and without prejudice with regard to both. The position of Balthasar as what he terms a ‘contextualizing theologian’ is shown to be open to consideration of extra-theological reflections and modern scien- tific views while retaining theological integrity within the purview of Roman