Notions of divinity are psychoactive. Whether one is a believer, an atheist, an agnostic, a spiritual seeker or a student of religion, it is difficult to contemplate questions of God without significant investment in the answers. This lecture will discuss the “complex” psychology of our response to the God topic. It will show how a Jungian approach can provide a way to negotiate the associated conundrums and controversies. From contemplating the death of God to the psychodynamics of fundamentalism and the search for meaning in between, our goal will be a deeper appreciation of the psychological stakes involved.

Related Workshop: God: Finding a Perspective for Our Time

GLEN SLATER, PH.D., has a background in both religious studies and clinical psychology. He teaches Jungian and archetypal psychology at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, California. He edited and introduced the third volume of James Hillman’s Uniform Edition, Senex and Puer, as well as a volume of essays by Pacifica faculty, Varieties of Mythic Experience, and has contributed a number of articles to Spring journal and other Jungian publications—several in the area of Jung and film.