But our situation is different. We cannot return to the theocracy of ancient Israel; and we have to accept society as we find it; and see what we can achieve in the present social conditions. So my partial answer to the question, who it is who really does see, is that anyone who is able to view things with a perfectly relaxed consciousness has the opportunity to see clearly. But he does not necessarily do so, because in my opinion to see things in true proportion is the very highest intellectual achievement. To have the ability to relax the mind completely, gives us all the opportunity to think things through clearly, but does not necessarily mean that we do so. We are not in the position of Jesus, believing we can see our vocation with crystal clarity. Most of us are so fuddled by the amount of knowledge and technology, that we have lost sight of the vision that the world is wonderful, and was created. Science and techne so far from cutting down contingency, have half destroyed the will to cope with it; and so people are devastated by bad luck. For instance, a married couple finding they cannot have children may end up on the verge of a nervous breakdown, instead of just accepting it. Could Jung be right that the Spirit of God does lurk in the depths of the Psyche, and if you are wise you will come to terms with him sooner, or if you are Augustine later?
Whether I have understood Jung aright, or not, Christianity is about Spirit Possession. The prayer of Humble Access in the Communion Service makes this absolutely clear; it ends with the pious hope that Christ will ever more dwell in us, and we in him. Lest there should be any doubt that a spiritual union is contemplated, the 39 Articles say with blistering clarity that for Transubstantiation there is no authority in Holy Writ, it is contrary to the plain words of Scripture, and has been the source of many errors. You could not have it much plainer than that; it is a spiritual union that is envisaged, not a physical one in any sense. Equally you can have spirit possession between ordinary mortals; it more often takes the form of a man’s obsession with a woman, but you can have a woman obsessed with a man. If God exists outside the imagination, it would be surprising if you could not replicate with others any relationship which you think or believe you have with Him. If you find that this is not possible, then you are stuck in a monastery, whether it is one of the more traditional establishments, or simply a prison-house in your own mind. Any relationship which you have with anybody, it must be possible to replicate with others; or life in any sort of community becomes impossible. Christianity is about Spirit Possession.
It is better to be possessed by a good spirit, than a bad spirit; but better to be possessed by a bad spirit, than by none at all. One of the few passages in the Bible’s least attractive book, Revelation, that strikes a chord with me is the message to the Church at Laodicea; they are condemned for being neither hot nor cold, but only lukewarm. They had no spirit. Goethe called his spirit his “Daemon”, though I think nowadays it would cause less misunderstanding to call it his creative power. Eckermann in his conversations with Goethe speaks of that secret problematic power, which all men feel, which no philosopher explains, and over which the religious help themselves with consoling words. I suspect the words came from Goethe himself. Goethe held the view that no man, not even the unique and majestic spirit of Jesus, could fully manifest the Creator; and unless Jesus was immortal here and now, unless and until he was murdered, there seems to me to be a good deal to be said for Goethe’s view. But that hypothesis raises so many questions, (although I think it is a very tenable hypothesis that Jesus believed he was immortal, and sought to share that immortality with us), that any consideration of it is better left to later chapters. Suffice it to say, that he was probably the most perfect manifestation we are ever likely to get; so far beyond what most of us can hope to achieve, that the priests have turned him into a god, which relieves us all of any serious duty to attempt to imitate him, because we would not succeed. But if Christianity is about spirit possession, then of course we must imitate him; although the spirit vouchsafed to us may be very different from his.