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ejp123
Guest
Does the church accept any of Carl Young’s philosophies and psychological theories? any particular contraversies? thx
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RPRPsych
Guest
If you mean Carl Jung, no, I don’t think he’s received any “official” seal of approval from the Church.
Jung was born a Protestant, and certainly differed with his “teacher” Freud on the nature and origins of religion. Freud favoured an entirely naturalistic origin, and made some huge leaps of fancy to explain the origins of Judaism in particular. (It’s a long story, but involves Akhenaton, Moses being an Egyptian, and his being slaughtered by his “sons” in true Oedipal fashion.
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However, Jung studied several other world religions, and I think he - like many modern men - would probably have described himself as “spiritual”, rather than religious. In his view, spiritual experience was meant to bring about an “individual transformation”.
While the Church does recognize the worth of psychology as a field of study, it’s quite obvious that much of what Jung believed and wrote is quite different from orthodox Church teaching. I’m not aware of any particular controversies with Jung in particular. However, you may be interested in reading this article, about one Catholic priest’s encounter with psychoanalysis:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jhbs.10153/abstract
The message, to me, seems to be: take what is good and true from Jung, or any other secular writer, but use discernment above all.
Jung was born a Protestant, and certainly differed with his “teacher” Freud on the nature and origins of religion. Freud favoured an entirely naturalistic origin, and made some huge leaps of fancy to explain the origins of Judaism in particular. (It’s a long story, but involves Akhenaton, Moses being an Egyptian, and his being slaughtered by his “sons” in true Oedipal fashion.
)However, Jung studied several other world religions, and I think he - like many modern men - would probably have described himself as “spiritual”, rather than religious. In his view, spiritual experience was meant to bring about an “individual transformation”.
While the Church does recognize the worth of psychology as a field of study, it’s quite obvious that much of what Jung believed and wrote is quite different from orthodox Church teaching. I’m not aware of any particular controversies with Jung in particular. However, you may be interested in reading this article, about one Catholic priest’s encounter with psychoanalysis:
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jhbs.10153/abstract
The message, to me, seems to be: take what is good and true from Jung, or any other secular writer, but use discernment above all.
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prodigalson2011
Guest
Fr. Mitch Pacwa has a book called “Catholics and the New Age” that covers Jung extensively, if you’re interested. In short, no, Jung is not “Catholic approved.”
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Michael_Mayo
Guest
I think Jung tried very hard not to be theological but made statments on the psychology of religion. Like, whether or not Jesus existed or is was who he said he was is not Jung’s interest. Rather, how does the image of Jesus function for us in the psyche? So Jung and the Catholic Church are speaking two different languages with two different purposes and meanings.
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prodigalson2011
Guest
Jung had some very specific thoughts on Christianity and organized religion in general, and these views undergirded his entire philosophy. Not to say that there isn’t some helpful stuff in his work, but overall, Catholics should be wary of him.
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Michael_Mayo
Guest
I guess his dream of the giant turd falling on the church does say quite a bit about his view of organized religion.
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