Description
Take a romp through the radical paradigm shifts of the 20th century and their impact on religion.
In the introduction to her book, Ilia Delio writes, quoting Phyliss Tickle’s book The Great Emergence:
Every five hundred years or so religion undergoes a significant paradigm shift. The shift we are in today is so dramatic I thought about putting a warning label at the beginning of this book.
WARNING: This book may be hazardous to the stability of your soul and may cause undue anxiety or outright bursts of emotion.
This warning label could have been placed in the introduction to Jung’s Answer to Job as well.
I invite those of you who share my curiosity about The Not-Yet God to join me in this study group, which will be led by analyst Sheldon Culver. I welcome and look forward to your thoughts and opinions on this scholarly work from Sister Delio.
Sincerely,
Rick Vaughn (event coordinator)
We suggest that participants purchase The Not-Yet God: Carl Jung, Teilhard de Chardin, and the Relational Whole (ISBN 978-1-62698-535-3), though it is not required. Additional suggested reading:
- The Human Phenomenon by Teilhard de Chardin
- Answer to Job by Carl Jung
Learning objectives
By the end of this course, participants will
- Know what Carl Jung and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin have in common when it comes to their understandings of the evolution of the God image—and how quantum science and artificial intelligence figure into this dynamic
- Be able to discuss Ilia Delio’s conclusion that Christianity is in a “metaphysical mess”—and appreciate why she says Catholic liturgy is often like a narcoleptic drug and what is required of religion to make a much-needed paradigm shift
- Understand why Christ as an archetype of the self is important for your personality integration
- Appreciate why understanding matter and quantum science is so important to the future of religion
Proposed schedule
Week One: (Sunday, Jan. 12) Introduction and the Unbroken Whole (Intro & Chapter 1)
Week Two: (Sun. Jan. 19) Teilhard de Chardin and Carl Jung (Chapters 2 & 3)
Week Three: (Sun. Jan. 26) The Question of God, Ground, and Mystics (Chapters 4 & 5)
Week Four: (Sun. Feb. 2) Trinitization and the Individuation of God (Chapters 6 & 7)
Week Five: (Sun. Feb. 9) Christ as Archetype and Are We Saved? (Chapters 8 & 9)
Week Six: (Sun. Feb 16) Quaternization & the Religion of Tomorrow (Chapters 10 & 11)
Sheldon Culver, M. Div., D. Div., is a Jungian Analyst with an active, soul-healing practice in St. Louis, MO. She is a graduate of Washington University and Eden Theological Seminary, both in St. Louis. She is a Diplomate with the Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts, having graduated from the North American training program in 1996.
She is an active member of The Inter-Regional Society of Jungian Analysts (IRSJA) and The International Association of Analytical Psychology (IAAP).
Sheldon’s analytic work focuses on dreams and how they serve to guide soul’s journey. She is particularly interested in the specificity of dream images and the dynamics within the dream.
She has done extensive study on “home” and belonging, on difference and the process of individuation, on women’s spiritual and psychological journeys, and on “the Fool” as a compelling and liberating archetypal image. Since Jung’s Red Book was published in 2009, Sheldon has focused attention on this seminal work, which is the key to understanding Jung and his sense of “soul,” whose language is “image.” She has a deep love for poetry, classical music, and fine arts.
Sheldon is also an ordained minister with the United Church of Christ, having served congregations and middle judicatory ministries in Missouri and Illinois since 1974. She is now retired from this realm of service.
Sheldon was born and raised in Massachusetts, one mile from Waldon Pond, in the heart of “transcendental” New England. She credits the woods, fields, and swamps of her childhood with the spiritual grounding of her life.