#36: Carl Jung on God and the Inner Life | Mark Vernon

In this thought-provoking conversation, we explore the profound psychological and spiritual insights of Carl Jung and ask a timeless question: Is the divine something we discover within ourselves?Jung did not treat God merely as a theological concept, but as a living psychological reality—an inner experience emerging from the depths of the psyche. Through ideas like the collective unconscious, archetypes, and the process of individuation, Jung argued that the journey inward is simultaneously a journey toward the Divine.We discuss Jung’s radical claim that religious experience is not inherited belief, but direct encounter—what he called the numinous: a powerful, transformative experience that connects us to something greater than the ego. Is God an external being—or an inner reality we must awaken to?Does modern secular life suppress our innate spiritual instinct?And can reconnecting with the “inner life” heal the existential crisis of our time?Drawing from psychology, philosophy, and theology, this episode invites you to rethink faith—not as blind belief, but as inner transformation and self-realization.