A Comparative Psychological Study of C.G. Jung and C.S. Lewis in Their Spiritual Quests
The presenting problem of this study: Is it possible for a polarity of psychology and Christianity to be established by a juxtaposition of the works of a Christian icon and a psychology icon? This study focuses on mythology, theology, and psychology, weaving masculine and feminine principles into the lacunae of the tapestry (the sodality) of Western Religion, the substructure of the spiritual and psychological development of C.G. Jung and C.S. Lewis. Lewis, despite his unconscious use of (feminine) psychology, considers it antipathetical. Jung, his covert alliance with Christianity notwithstanding, pleads similar antipathetic views towards the institutional Church. Both Lewis and Jung, as children, chose to not trust God or women. Lewis' mother died when he was nine, and God no longer was in good stead with him. He grows up in an all male household with no feminine model. Jung grew not to trust 'Lord Jesus, ' and although his mother was important to him, he, despite the ineptitude of his father, forever trusted men, but not women. Jung and Lewis, two crusty old lions of men, are Garden People (metaphor for humankind). The history of this indefatigable species and their descendents is one of enmeshment in transition between the Garden (wisdom, freedom, growth, and expansion) and the Wilderness (theological systems, rigidity, and stagnation). Jung, entering the garden, embraces the feminine, whereas Lewis does not enter the garden, maintaining a regimental patriarchal Christianity. The dialogue of Jung and Lewis, in which they agree to disagree, exemplifies a divergence and convergence of their mythotheopoeic and psychological positions. As I begin this study, my thoughts are pendulous: Is it possible to fulfill my priestly vows, concurrently practicing psychology according to a Jungian model? An apt danger is polarization, for which no psyche has room. My inner self demands synchronization, solution. For the psyche to be healthy and whole, polarity is not a mere option. My creation of the dialogue of Jung and Lewis changes nothing for them, but allows the cobwebs in my mind to dissipate. Polarity is possible! As one travels the parallel mythology-paved roads of theology and psychology that remain mostly separate, but sometimes converge, the traveler, unconsciously, intentionally, sometimes forcefully, creates a synchronicity. Divergence, like convergence, to be a unit, must have masculine and feminine commonality.
The presenting problem of this study: Is it possible for a polarity of psychology and Christianity to be established by a juxtaposition of the works of a Christian icon and a psychology icon?
