Stein, Murray (ed.) - Jung on Christianity (Princeton, 1999)

The arcane substance [of alchemy] corresponds to the Christian

dominant, which was originally alive and present in consciousness

but then sank into the unconscious and must now be

restored in renewed form.

C. G. Jung (CW 14, par. 466)

In the passage quoted above, taken from the late work Mysterium

Coniunctionis, Jung speaks as a religious man (a homo religiosus), and

also as one for whom the central images of Christianity are a psychic

reality that carries significant meaning. Often he writes about Christian

themes in this way. He cares deeply about their value and importance,

and he even proposes several important theological and practical revisions

for Christianity. He speaks, however, as a psychologist and not as a

Christian theologian or believer. This combination of factors, which

characterizes Jung’s approach to Christianity, has led to several general

misunderstandings.

One major misinterpretation is that Jung was a Christian apologist,

i.e., a defender of Christian truths within a contemporary setting using

modern concepts and language. By some he has even been looked

upon as a possible savior of Christianity in a time when its spiritual

message is going unheard for want of persuasive images and concepts.

His writings are taken at times as the words of a modern prophet. He is

seen as a kind of evangelist in the garb of a medical psychologist.

Clearly this kind of evangelical persuasion was not Jung’s intention,

even if some of his writings give this impression. When he states (as

above) that the Christian message “must now be restored in renewed

form,” one might imagine him speaking in the voice of the Protestant

Reformation but, given Jung’s overall perspective and psychological

program, this is a misreading.