The image of God, i.e., Yahweh.
Carl Jung: It would be the fundamental fact of the pair of opposites united in the image of God, i.e., Yahweh.
To Michael A. Ledeen
Dear Mr. Ledeen, 19 January 1961
I gather from your letter that your immediate wish is to have some suggestions for your forthcoming sermon on the problem of Job.
As you yourself realize, one hour is hardly enough to deal with such a big problem satisfactorily.
I would suggest a reduction of your programme, namely that you deal with its important aspect.
It would be the fundamental fact of the pair of opposites united in the image of God, i.e., Yahweh. The two are Love and Fear, which presuppose an apparently irreconcilable contradiction.
Yet such an opposition must be expected wherever we are confronted with an immense energy.
There is no dynamic manifestation without a corresponding initial tension which provided the necessary en- ergy.
If we suppose the deity to be a dynamic phenomenon in our experience, its origin must be an opposition or a paradox.
Job obviously is confronted with this problem and he even expresses his conviction that God will help him against God.
As the monotheistic tendency always tries to postulate or to construct an anthropomorphic unity of the God- image, it is strange and painful to us to admit a paradoxical or a contradictory God-image.
If we try to realize what the full acceptance of such an image means, we will soon discover why most people are afraid of it.
This problem is so difficult that its discussion will fill an hour easily. This in spite of the fact that it is an old truth.
I was quite interested to learn from your letter that my ideas have appealed to you.
Sincerely yours,
C.G. Jung Carl Jung, Letters Vol. II, Page 623
