Ann Belford Ulanov is the Christiane Brooks Johnson Professor of Psychiatry and Religion at Union Theological Seminary in New York. In this thought-provoking and erudite collection of essays, she explores the salutary interface between these two fields of study. Ulanov believes that Carl Jung's investigation of the psyche has great relevance to spiritual matters. Whether looking at the psychological roots of anti-Semitism or the challenges of teaching Jung in a theological seminary, the author keeps her eyes on the prize of Christian discernment.
There are quite a few deeply profound essays here. The one on the intense devotional life of Therese of Lisieux is quite extraordinary. Near her death her sister asked, "What are you saying to Jesus?" Therese answered: "I'm saying nothing to Him; I'm just loving Him." In two pieces on the Protestant theologian Paul Tillich, Ulanov covers his vision of the liberating power of grace and the feminine in his writings and life. Scattered throughout these essays are epiphanous one-liners such as "Prayer is to religious life what dreaming is to psychic life."