Abstract
This article represents a broad survey of the views of C. G. Jung regarding confession and for giveness. Man, a naturally religious being, has a need to confess his wrong and to gain forgiveness of one sanctioned to absolve. The curative effect of confession has been known for centuries. Without confession, man remains in moral isolation. Priests, ministers, and rabbis, as well as psychotherapists, attest to the universality of this human phenomenon. Confession is located in that place where psychology and religion meet-guilt. Jung's views on confession bridge the chasm between psychology and religion.
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References
Monden, L., “Confession: Psychology Is Not Enough.” In Taylor, M.J., ed.,The Mystery of Sin and Forgiveness. New York, Alba House, 1971, p. 167.
For details of Jung's personal history this writer relies entirely on Ellenberger, H.,Discovery of the Unconscious, 2nd printing. New York, Basic Books, 1970.
Jung, C.G., “Editorial.” InThe Collected Works of C.G. Jung, R.F.C. Hull, trans., Bollingen Series XX (hereafter abridged asCW), vol. 10. New York, Pantheon Books, 1964, p. 549.
op. cit., p. 724.
Jung,Psychotherapists or the Clergy, CW, vol. 11. New York, Pantheon Books, 1958, p. 334.
—,Psychology and Religion, CW, vol. 11. New York, Pantheon Books, 1958, p. 8.
op. cit.. p. 698.
Latko, E.F., “Confession, Auricular.” InNew Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 4, 1967, p. 131.
Paragraph 72 in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy reads: “The rite and formulas for the sacrament of penance are to be revised so that they give more luminous expression to both the nature and effect of the sacrament. Documents of Vatican II, Abbot, W., ed. New York, Guild Press, 1966, p. 161.
Barton, J.M.T.,Penance and Absolution. New York, Hawthorne Books, 1961, p. 65.
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—Psychology of the Transference, CW, vol. 16. New York, Pantheon Books, 1954, p. 292.
—,The Theory of Psychoanalysis,op. cit., p. 192.
—,Problems of Modern Psychotherapy, CW, vol. 16., New York, Pantheon Books, 1954, p. 68.
Ibid., p. 59.
Ibid., p. 55.
Moreno, A.,Jung, Gods and Modern Man. Notre Dame, University of Notre Dame Press, 1970, pp. 44–45.
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op. cit. p. 41. (This writer is aware of the apparent contradiction between Moreno here and Ellenberger's reference to Jung's rejection of Darwinism, referred to earlier in this article.)
Jung,Psychology and Religion,op. cit., p. 76.
—,Problems of Modern Psychotherapy,op. cit., p. 59.
—,Introduction to the Religious and Psychological Problems of Alchemy, CW, vol. 12. New York, Pantheon Books, 1953, p. 20.
—,Psychology and Religion,op. cit., p. 77.
Ibid..
Jung,The Theory of Psychoanalysis,op. cit., p. 192.
—,Psychoanalysis and the Cure of Souls, CW, vol. 11. New York, Pantheon Books, 1958, p. 353.
—,Problems of Modern Psychotherapy,op. cit., pp. 55–75.
Ibid., p. 60.
Jung, “Editorial”,op. cit., pp. 549–550.
—,Yoga and the West, CW, vol. 11. New York, Pantheon Books, 1958, p. 531.
Ibid., p. 21.
Ibid., p. 351.
Jung,Problems of Modern Psychotherapy,op cit., p. 16.
—,Symbols and the Interpretation of Dreams, CW, vol. 18. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1976, p. 223.
—,Problems of Modern Psychotherapy,op. cit., pp. 55–75.
—,Yoga and the West,op. cit., p. 536.
Ibid., p. 55–75.
Jung,Problems of Modern Psychotherapy,op. cit., p. 55.
—,General Problems of Psychotherapy, CW, vol. 16. New York, Pantheon Books, 1954, p. 16.
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Todd, E. The value of confession and forgiveness according to Jung. J Relig Health 24, 39–48 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01533258
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01533258