C.G. Jung was literally unique in both knowledge and wisdom. "Answer to Job" is by his own attestation one of his most important books of so many excellent contributions to understanding the human psyche. It is most essential for human survival that people understand how the lack of integrating the self in what Jung calls individuation allows the unconscious to compel us perpetually towards attitudes and actions of mutual destructiveness. (See also his essay "The Development of Personality". ) "Answer to Job" delineates precisely how humans have projected onto their image of god the unresolved conflicts of a deeply conflicted shadow self. It should be read with Edward F. Edinger's "Transformation of the God-Image" and Murray Stein's "Jung's Map of the Soul". Dr. Jung (medical doctor, analyst, scholar and author extraordinary) remains one of the great SEERS of the modern world, and as such offers us a special CURE FOR THE SOUL of humanity in our perilous condition.

--and brother, does the Big Guy have problems! Read any biography of Stalin side-by-side with the Old Testament and you don't see much difference between the dictator and the Almighty. Paranoid, jealous, vain, ruthless, and vengeful, they demand unquestioning, unthinking obedience and they will crush you with unlimited violence if they don't get it. Gulag, Hell, it's all the same, except you can't escape Hell even in death.

God, as Jung points out, isn't quite right in the head. As Exhibit A, Jung uses the biblical story of Job--the faithful servant tortured to within an inch of his life by the God he loves--to deal with that age-old question: why do horrendous things happen to good people, or, if God is so powerful, so good, so infallible, why are there concentration camps, cancers, pederastic serial killers, tsunamis, terrorists--so many Evil-doers in the world? And, even worse, why are there so many innocent victims of all this evil? It's a problem inherent in monotheism. If there's only one God, then why shouldn't he be held responsible for all of it...good and bad?

There's got to be a better answer than the one God gives Job in the Bible, which is, basically, "I'm bigger than you, I'm stronger than you, this is my world, I made it, and if you don't shut yer yap I'm gonna rip you a new one, you worm!"

Job gets the point: might makes right--and he does obeisance and keeps quiet as any sensible person would confronted by an armed and pumped up lunatic in full-blown `roid rage. But there's got to be a better answer to Job's very valid question than that, doesn't there?

With wit, passion, and probing analytic insight, Jung finally provides Job with the answer God Himself should have given Job--if only the Almighty could have articulated it. For the truth is, as Jung rather stunningly tells it, God is actually unconscious of a large part of Himself and not unlike a lot of his creatures, He's in the process of "discovering" Himself as an individual. Perhaps even more stunning is Jung's assertion that God has a lot of catching up to do with his creatures since men like Job, who've looked deeply into themselves, actually occupy higher moral ground than He does. That, according to Jung, is the reason that God had to become man, and why he is still trying to become man: to come to awareness about Himself.

God, in other words, would be better if only he realized what a lot of pain and misery He's been causing! It's truly a case of His Right Hand not knowing what His Left Hand was doing.

*Answer to Job* is a simply brilliant interpretation of this classic Biblical story and its subsequent influence on the development of New Testament theology from the point of view of Jungian psychoanalysis. The translation is crystal-clear, largely free of technical or scholarly jargon, and livened by Jung's often irreverent sense of humor. You really do get the sense, as Jung says in his preface, that he's writing as a man for whom Job's pained and passionately urgent questioning of God doubles for his own: Why so much suffering? Why so much evil? How can there possibly be a God?

As Jung makes clear, these are questions that are evolving over time, along with their answers. And while in presuming to answer for God, Jung's may not be the final word, but it's sure a lot more satisfying than the answer God Himself gave.

Just as Freud wrote _Moses and Monotheism_ at the end of his career, in which he analyzed the Hebrew religious tradition; Jung wrote _Answer to Job_ late in life as an attempt to integrate the Christian God! It is sometimes hilariously chatty, as when he remarks that "the family life of our first parents was not all beer and skittles." (p. 31) The central thesis is that the motive for the Christian Incarnation was to redeem God, whose moral inferiority had been disclosed by the events of Job. Jung's text culminates in a discussion of the Apocalypse.



Although Jung at first claims to be limiting his treatment to the psycho-symbolic dimensions of the Apocalyptic narrative, without discussing their parallels in historical events, he eventually succumbs to the latter temptation. Specifically, he points out the Roman Catholic church's doctrinal acceptance of the Assumption of the Virgin as a socio-historical realization of the Patmos vision of the Woman Clothed with the Sun.



In my reading, it occurred to me that the Catholic church can function like a great mythic barometer of Western society, because of its vast population, tightly integrated through an organismic hierarchy. And I wondered what "archetypal" conditions might be augured by that church's current focus of attention: priestly child abuse.



The paternal figure of the priest, denoted as benevolent and an agent of divine forgiveness, is now shown to have a terrible hidden aspect more fearsome than that of the God of Job. While that God was merely unjust in authorizing the torment of a righteous man, the God of the abusive priest is cruel in having his ministers victimize the innocent.



Of course, this cruelty is not entirely without biblical precedent. The plague on the firstborn of Egypt was, at least, visited on the offspring of tyrannous, non-Yahweh-respecting, unregenerate pagans who were thus understood as estranged from God. But the molestation of Roman Catholic children who have been brought to church for blessing and instruction is more reminiscent of Herod's massacre of the innocents, which usually portends an array of dark and worldly forces opposing God's attempt at sacrificial incarnation. In this case, though, it is God who sends the sacerdotal predators, like He sends the locusts from the bottomless pit in Revelation IX:



"For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." (v. 19)

Just as Freud wrote _Moses and Monotheism_ at the end of his career, in which he analyzed the Hebrew religious tradition; Jung wrote _Answer to Job_ late in life as an attempt to integrate the Christian God! It is sometimes hilariously chatty, as when he remarks that "the family life of our first parents was not all beer and skittles." (p. 31) The central thesis is that the motive for the Christian Incarnation was to redeem God, whose moral inferiority had been disclosed by the events of Job. Jung's text culminates in a discussion of the Apocalypse.

Although Jung at first claims to be limiting his treatment to the psycho-symbolic dimensions of the Apocalyptic narrative, without discussing their parallels in historical events, he eventually succumbs to the latter temptation. Specifically, he points out the Roman Catholic church's doctrinal acceptance of the Assumption of the Virgin as a socio-historical realization of the Patmos vision of the Woman Clothed with the Sun.

In my reading, it occurred to me that the Catholic church can function like a great mythic barometer of Western society, because of its vast population, tightly integrated through an organismic hierarchy. And I wondered what "archetypal" conditions might be augured by that church's current focus of attention: priestly child abuse.

The paternal figure of the priest, denoted as benevolent and an agent of divine forgiveness, is now shown to have a terrible hidden aspect more fearsome than that of the God of Job. While that God was merely unjust in authorizing the torment of a righteous man, the God of the abusive priest is cruel in having his ministers victimize the innocent.

Of course, this cruelty is not entirely without biblical precedent. The plague on the firstborn of Egypt was, at least, visited on the offspring of tyrannous, non-Yahweh-respecting, unregenerate pagans who were thus understood as estranged from God. But the molestation of Roman Catholic children who have been brought to church for blessing and instruction is more reminiscent of Herod's massacre of the innocents, which usually portends an array of dark and worldly forces opposing God's attempt at sacrificial incarnation. In this case, though, it is God who sends the sacerdotal predators, like He sends the locusts from the bottomless pit in Revelation IX:

"For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails [were] like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt." (v. 19)

Jung's "Answer to Job" was recommended to me by friends, and after some procrastination, I finally decided to give it a read. My only regret is that I waited so long to get around to it. I was surprised by both the candor and the comprehensive sweep of the book.

It should be understood that this book is not a book on pure theology, though theological issues inevitably arise. Jung himself emphasises that he is a "layman" in this area. He also makes plain that the book is a subjective response to Job. Jung also works from an orthodox premise, taking as given that the Father of Jesus Christ and Yahweh are the same being. With these born in mind, Jung's book is informative, interesting and very thought-provoking.

Jung's book has three main sections to it, as far as I could tell. First, he discusses the Book of Job, and the situation surround Job's life, trials and the drama played out with Satan. This section is darkly humorous, often eliciting a chuckle at Jung's descriptions of Yahweh. This aspect truly surprised me immensely, though pleasantly so. Jung treats Yahweh honestly, and is not shy of pointing out Yahweh's faults, which are many and abundant. Yahweh's apparent willingness and readiness to take Satan's bait, Yahweh's readiness to violate his own laws and so on are all mentioned and raised.

As the book progresses, Jung starts to address the pyschological processes within Yahweh, as he sees them. The book also gets more serious, losing that dark humour. Some aspects were a bit difficult understand the workings of, like the failure of Yahweh "to consult his omniscience" in dealing with Job. It seemed to me that there was a separation between Yahweh and some part of his being, which I could not grasp very well. That said, this is the first book of psychology that I have read, so those more familiar may have a better understanding of it than I.

Thirdly, Jung enters into a discussion on the psychological processes of people who have become "incarnations of the spirit", (Jung's words, paraphrased a bit). In this section, Jung discusses the Book of Revelation in detail, tackling some of the issues that book raises, especially in the contrast between the Jesus of the Gospels and the Jesus of Revelation.

Overall, the entire book is definitely interesting, and gives one a lot of food for thought. Jung takes an honest and very open look at the problems raised by Yahweh's dealings with Job, and uses that as a spring board for a broader discussion on psychology from Jung's perspective.

Despite my own problems of understanding parts in detail, I still enjoyed the book immensely, and have a lot of new ideas to think about. The book was well written, and certainly has a lot crammed into the 108 pages of text, (not including other stuff).

However, nowhere does Jung go so far as the Gnostics to say that Yahweh is an inferior and ignorant demiurge. While criticising Yahweh, Jung offers a pyschological explanation as to why Yahweh seemed to be an absolute cretin to a man who was blameless in his sight; as good an explanation as I have ever read or heard.

For such a topic, it is pretty rare to find a book that gives so much to ruminate on in such a small space. An excellent buy, and certainly one that will occupy your mind for some time after the last page.

Carl Jung is highly respected by psychologists, both private and religious. I read some works by Jung on dreams and people who claimed they saw flying saucers. These so much impressed me that I also formed a high opinion of Jung. I then read Jung's "Answer to Job" when I researched a book I wrote about "Revelation and the Fall of Judea." I had read commentaries by many authors to make sure I understood what others had said. "Answer to Job" touched on the same topic. What an eye opener! This man, so highly revered as an expert on human thinking, doesn't himself understand who God is and what God has done, even with Job.

Jung claims that God once was in a state of unconsciousness and was prodded by Lucifer, who was inclined to make use of God's omniscience, into acting unfairly with Job. Job proved himself morally superior to God. God then became the human being, Jesus Christ, so he could suffer the way Job was made to suffer. Jung's position surprised me because God was never in a state of unconsciousness. God is unchanging. Jung mentions Lucifer. I'm surprised that Jung didn't believe the biblical text that it was Lucifer who brought suffering onto Job. Lucifer did it to demonstrate before God that Job would blaspheme God if Job experienced misfortune. God gave Lucifer permission to harass Job but set limits on what Lucifer could do. Job actually proved himself morally superior to Lucifer because, even when suffering misfortune, Job would not rebel against God, whereas, Lucifer, without any suffering, rebelled through pride.

Job had three friends who tried to convince him that he offended God somehow, and that is why misfortune came. Their opinions were not true. Scripture has it that Lucifer brought misfortune to goad Job into rebellion. God permitted this because God had already informed Lucifer how faithful Job is. Now, under fire, Job's faithfulness is tried and proven. Spiritual growth came out of Job's suffering. That's why God permitted it. When the book of Job ends, God told Job to pray for his three friends because their untrue advice had offended God. I'm surprised Jung didn't pick up on that. God's asking Job to pray for his friends is one of the keys to understanding the book of Job.

Freud was merely a rational atheist. Jung not only believes in God but in 'Answer to Job' he has the temerity to psychoanalise Him. . .

The reuslts are provocative.

Jung reasons that God was a schmuck towards Job (and by extension to all innocents who suffer from 'acts of God') due to His not being fully conscious. A strange theory since, it would seem that by definiton God is Omniscient.

However God, in Jung's model, contains all opposites and paradoxes--including choosing not to consult Himself. Had He done so, He could have seen that Job would have been faithfull to the end and not needed to take Satan's "bet".
The devil is still able to waltz into heaven in the book of Job and complain about how rotten mankind is.

Unconsciousness accounts why God allows evil, why He breaks His own covenant and commandments, and why throughout The Old Testament accounts in His dealings with Israel He often resembles a petulant child given to fits of rage towards his pet hamster.

In short, why the Jews were right to "fear" Him, big time.

In the end of, God pulls out all the stops and counters Job's anguished pleadings for an answer to his misery with a 'might makes right' speech; while all poor Job can do is declare that he knows that his 'Advocate' lives, and then shut up.

Job is the moral winner while the seed of doubt is implanted in God that He's not exactly playing cricket, and His desire to Know culminates in the 'tour the force' (Jung's words) of The Incarnation.

Jesus (the Advocate) now had to be born so that God could experience how we poor slobs muddle through down here.

Christ's mission therefore is not only to save humanity, but also God from His worse half.

On the cross, when God shouts to God: 'Why have you forsaken me?' He's finally made the grade.
The union of God and Man.

Four stars only due to Jung's heavy prose and his peppering his paragraphs with untranslated Greek--

At first the book seems like a joke (perhaps it is but is it a joke or a Joke?) but going from syllogism to syllogism Jung does builds a powerful if disturbing thesis.

Despite his protestations that this is a work of psychology, inevitably 'Answer to Job' becomes a fascinating and bizarre work of theology.

...and daring in its conjecture that the God-image (NOT God) could only evolve out of its amoral unconsciousness through an encounter with a man of unbending integrity. Highly recommended, especially for open-minded theologians outgrowing the need to idealize images of the deity.

A much better take on the book of Job and the problem of suffering is Ren? Girard's book, "Job: The Victim of His People". Jung's analysis pales and bores in comparison with Girard's.