Placebo Effect Faith Healing

This note is for study only.

Placebo Effect Faith Healing

&

The Psyche

Samuel J. Hardman

2021

Illustration by William Blake: THE ANCIENT OF DAYS separating light from darkness. Courtesy of the Library of Congress (Rosenwald Collection).

Concerning spiritual matters and religion, I follow the excellent example of

William Blake—all that is beautiful, good, and helpful is of God and damn the religious nonsense.

THE PLACEBO EFFECT: WHAT'S INTERESTING FOR SCHOLARS OF RELIGION?

Anne Harrington

First published: 09 May 2011

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9744.2010.01188.x

Citations: 5

Abstract. The placebo effect these days is no longer merely the insubstantial, subjective response that some patients have to a sham treatment, like a sugar pill. It has been reconceived as a powerful mind-body phenomenon. Because of this, it has also emerged as a complex reference point in a number of high-stakes conversations about the metaphysical significance of experiences of religious healing, the possible health benefits of being religious, and the feasibility of using double-blind placebo-controlled trials to investigate the efficacy of prayer. In each of these conversations, the placebo effect is always pointing toward some larger issue, serving some larger agenda. The agendas, though, tend to pull in different directions, leading to a situation that feels at once fractured and stalemated. This essay reviews the main areas of interest, and proposes some specific issues where humanistic scholars of religion in particular might be able to introduce constructive and creative new perspectives.

Professor Crews on Freud:

“The fact that psychoanalysis frequently “works” is therefore less corroborative than some contented former patients think it is. Faith healing “works,” too, as Freud ruefully acknowledged in deferring to the superior results achieved at Lourdes. Just as a successful laying on of hands demonstrates nothing about Christ’s mercy, so the propositional content of psychoanalysis remains undemonstrated by a successful case history—or by any number of them. If psychoanalysis is to justify its distinctly exotic theory, it must show that the unique features of that theory are well authenticated by facts that do not lend themselves to any simpler explanation.”

Psychology Today, 2 March 2011:

“From a scientific perspective, faith healing is unexplained, incomprehensible, and should not work. Yet it does work. The same is true of drug placebo effects, of course. Scientists recognize that there are placebo effects but have trouble accounting for them.”

Comment: The writer for Psychology Today is somewhat confused. Faith healing and the placebo effect rely entirely on faith; hence, faith healing and the placebo effect are one and the same.

Comment: Contrary to common belief, we are of an immense age and possess splendid gifts inherited from our ancient past. Among these gifts are faith, healing, and intuition. Faith and healing are quite inseparable. Intuition is the ability to know something immediately without conscious reasoning, as in the marvelous case of the great mathematician Ramanujan. The gifts of faith, healing, and intuition are innate. Faith healing/aka placebo effect is a phenomenon at the psychic level that is quite inexplicable by natural laws.

Comment: The following documents make it quite clear that the so-called placebo effect and faith healing are one and the same—healing by faith. Further, the following documents make it quite clear that Jesus of Nazareth understood faith healing/aka placebo effect and used it perfectly to heal the sick in mind and

body. That Jesus understood the wonder-working power of faith and used it to heal the sick adds marvelous luster to his ministry of love and compassion. Further, the proven efficacy of the placebo effect/aka faith healing supports the universal claim among Christians that Jesus in fact healed the sick in mind and body by faith.

Robert H. Shmerling, MD
Senior Faculty Editor, Harvard Health Publishing:

“The placebo effect is a mysterious thing. I’ve long been fascinated by the idea that something as inert and harmless as a sugar pill could relieve a person’s pain or hasten their recovery just by the expectation that it would.

Comment: The placebo effect/aka faith healing is not a mystery or “mysterious thing”; it is a known and accepted fact.

Recent research on the placebo effect only confirms how powerful it can be — and that the benefits of a placebo treatment aren’t just “all in your head.” Measurable physiological changes can be observed in those taking a placebo, similar to those observed among people taking effective medications. In particular, blood pressure, heart rate, and various blood test results have been shown to change among subsets of research subjects who responded to a placebo.”

John Diamoud, M. D.

17 April 2019:

“I have seen many acutely disturbed, restless, anxious schizophrenics settle down, roll over, and go to sleep, and heroin addicts whose withdrawal symptoms ceased, following injections of distilled water. When I look back over my years of practice and over the history of medicine, I realize that many substances given over the years worked not through any physiological action they may have had, but through

the placebo effect.”

Definition of Placebo Effect

“The placebo effect is part of the human potential to react positively to a healer. A patient's distress may be relieved by something for which there is no medical basis.” Comment: Hence, the placebo effect is faith healing.

It's just a placebo effect!

Comment: I cringe when I hear someone say “it's just a placebo effect.” In fact, the placebo effect/aka faith healing is yet the greatest healing power in the world. Until quite recently, medical doctors depended on it to cure the sick; and in many cases they do so today. Further, all new drugs and vaccines are tested against the efficacy of the placebo effect/aka faith healing—even the new Covid-19 vaccines!

Harvard Medical School, 9 Aug. 2019:

“The idea that your brain can convince your body a fake treatment is the real thing — the so-called placebo effect — and thus stimulate healing has been around for millennia. Now science has found that under the right circumstances, a placebo can be just as effective as traditional treatments.”

Comment: Healing by faith is by no means “fake treatment.” Why not? A placebo is quite often “just as effective as traditional treatments.”

Faith and Religion

Comment: Faith is complete trust and confidence in someone or something; whereas, religion is merely an established system of belief. Faith heals the sick, religion does not. Quite contrary to common belief, the superb teachings of Jesus and the established Christian church are by no means one and the same. Indeed, there is a very wide gulf between them. A so-called Christian church without charity and regular healing

services is quite meaningless. Such places ought to be shunned and taxed to the full extent of the law.

Medical Doctors & Faith Healing/aka Placebo Effect

Comment: Most medical doctors know quite well that the placebo effect is faith healing. However, while profiting greatly by faith healing/aka placebo effect, doctors often treat faith healing as an unwanted stepchild. The reason for this pernicious state of affairs is their misguided wish to distance themselves from the fact that faith healing is rooted in the acts and teaching of Jesus and the early Christian church.

Further, the term “placebo effect” was adopted by science and the medical profession to mask the documented fact that the so-called placebo effect and faith healing are one and the same—healing by faith. “Placebo effect,” instead of “faith healing,” follows the deceptive practice of writing prescriptions in Latin.

Comment: Concerning the established Christian church and faith healing, I hasten to add that faith alone is the key to healing, no matter one's background, race, or religion. Steadfast faith in God and an excellent doctor is best; however, do not select a doctor who does not understand the placebo effect/aka faith healing and its power to heal. Untold millions cannot afford the added comfort of a medical doctor and are healed by faith alone. Those who vainly imagine that faith does not heal the sick are the same ignorant liars who deny medical care to the poor.

Los Angeles Times: If Mind Is a True Believer, Placebo Effect Can Work Wonders.

Comment: Call it what you wish, whether faith healing, divine healing, or placebo effect, faith has been, and is yet, the most powerful force for good health.

The Royal Society Publishing:

Spirituality: an overlooked predictor of placebo effects?

Empirical evidence suggests that spirituality may under certain conditions be a

predictor of placebo response and effects.

A Placebo for a Pandemic:

“At one point researchers had to account for upwards of 30% for the placebo effect of a proposed drug. A drug candidate had to surpass that threshold in order to be approved for use. Now, in some treatment trials the placebo effect is considered to be 50% and, in some cases, up to 72% of a treatment success.”

“Did Jesus Really Heal People Or Was It The Placebo Effect?”

Comment: Such questions spring from abysmal ignorance. The so-called placebo effect and faith healing are one and the same—healing by faith.

Yes, indeed, Jesus healed the sick in mind and body.

Further, Jesus undoubtedly knew about the placebo effect/aka faith healing, understood it, and used it perfectly. Jesus' words in the gospels of Luke and Matthew make this quite clear.

Evidence that Jesus healed by faith:

Comment: In the following passage from Matthew 9:28-29, Jesus' question is revealing: “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” Whether in a great cathedral, a doctor's office, or kneeling in the shadows of eternity, faith alone is the key to healing.

Luke 8:48:

And he [Jesus] said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: THY FAITH hath made thee whole.

Matthew 9:28-29:

After Jesus had entered the house, the blind men came to Him. “DO YOU BELIEVE THAT I AM ABLE TO DO THIS?” He asked. “Yes,

Lord,” they answered. Then He touched their eyes and said, ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH so be it unto you.

Matthew 15:28:

Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is YOUR FAITH! BE IT DONE FOR YOU AS YOU DESIRE.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Fake, unbelieving, faith healers:

And what of the fake, unbelieving, faith healers that constantly beg for money? They are ravenous wolves in sheep's clothing. From such turn away.

Concerning this important matter, follow the words of Jesus to his disciples:

Luke 9:2-3:

And he [Jesus] sent them [his twelve disciples] to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick.

And he said unto them, Take nothing for your journey, neither staves, nor scrip, neither bread, NEITHER MONEY, neither have two coats apiece.

Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti's Important Experiment

Fabrizio Benedetti is professor of physiology and neuroscience at the University of Turin Medical School in Turin, Italy and a researcher in the field of placebo studies.

Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti's important experiment provides needed insight into how the innate gift of healing works: “It was not the subjects’ minds in and of

themselves that blunted the pain when the saline was administered, it was what the mind made the body do.”

[Comment: Dr. Benedetti's famous experiment is highly important. Imagine thought transformed into chemical compounds that destroy pain and heal the sick!]

In the following experiment by Dr. Fabrizio Benedetti, volunteers “were subjected to pain induced by the tightening of a blood-pressure arm-cuff. As the cuff tightened, pain increased, and the subjects’ observable stress-responses to the pain were measured and noted.

The subjects were then given morphine and subjected to pain induced as the blood pressure cuff was tightened. This time, they were calm and free of pain, as expected. Next, the volunteers were injected with saline (which has no

pain-reducing effect), thinking they were getting morphine, and subjected to pain induced by the blood pressure cuff. None of the volunteers experienced pain, something Benedetti did not expect. He theorized that the subjects’ bodies had learned to produce their own morphine-like drugs, known as endorphins.

To prove his theory, Benedetti then injected the subjects with Naloxone (a drug that inhibits endorphins), instead of saline. He then subjected the

volunteers to pain, and they did experience pain. It was not the subjects’ minds in and of themselves that blunted the pain when the saline was administered, it was what the mind made the body do–they had learned to produce their own pain-relieving chemicals. When the body’s ability to blunt the pain was neutralized, the subjects experienced pain.” Endorphins are chemicals produced naturally by the nervous system to cope with pain or stress. They are often called “feel-good” chemicals because they can act as a pain reliever and happiness booster. Naloxone (also known as Narcan®) is a medication called an “opioid antagonist” used to counter the effects of opioid

overdose, for example morphine and heroin overdose.”

According to Margaret Talbot, writing in The New York Times Magazine (January 9, 2000), “the placebo effect benefits between 35 and 75 percent of the patients taking dummy pills in studies of new drugs. She reports on

a small study in which patients who received fake arthroscopic surgery on their knees for arthritic pain experienced reduced discomfort. A Seattle cardiologist tested a common procedure for angina that involved opening the chest and tying knots in two arteries. He compared the normal results – 90 percent of the patients reported benefits – with fake surgery; the placebo operation was just as successful.

Up until the 20th century, doctors really relied on the placebo effect to generate cures. Placebos do not have to be pills or injections. Belief is very powerful and, as careful studies have shown, is remarkably effective.”

A New Kind of Medicine:

“A most dramatic placebo effect has been reported by Dr. Bruno Klopfer, a researcher involved in the testing of the drug Krebiozen. In

1950, Krebiozen had received sensational national publicity as a 'cure' for cancer and was being tested by the American Medical Association (AMA) and the US Food and drug administration (FDA).

One of Dr. Klopfer's patients had lymphosarcoma, a generalized far-advanced malignancy involving the lymph nodes. The patient had huge tumor masses throughout his body and was in such desperate physical condition that he frequently had to take oxygen by mask, and fluid had to be removed from his chest every two days. When the patient discovered that Dr. Klopfer was involved in research on Krebiozen, he begged to be given Krebiozen treatments. Dr Klopfer did so, and the patient’s recovery was startling. Within a short time the tumors had shrunk dramatically and the patient was able to resume a normal life, including flying a private plane.

Then as AMA and FDA reports of the negative results of Krebiozen started being publicized, the patient took a dramatic turn to the worse. Thinking the circumstances extreme enough to justify unusual measures, Klopfer, told his patient that he obtained a new, super-refined, double-strength Krebiozen, that would produce better results. Actually, the

injections Klopfer gave were simply sterile water.. Yet the patient’s recovery was even more remarkable. Once again the tumor masses melted, chest fluid vanished, and he became ambulatory and went back to flying. The patient remained symptoms-free for two months. The patient’s belief alone, independent of the value of the medication, produced his recovery.

Then further stories of the AMA and FDA's tests appeared in press: 'Nationwide tests show Krebiozen to be worthless drug treatment of cancer.' Within a few days the patient was dead.”

Psychology Wikipedia -Faith Healing:

“Skeptics of faith healing offer primarily two explanations for anecdotes of cures or improvements, relieving any need to appeal to the supernatural. The first is post hoc ergo propter hoc, meaning that a

genuine improvement or spontaneous remission may have been experienced coincidental with but independent from anything the faith healer or [the] patient did or said. These patients would have improved just as well even had they done nothing. The second is the placebo effect,

through which a person may experience genuine pain relief and other symptomatic alleviation. In this case, the patient genuinely has been helped by the faith healer or faith-based remedy, not through any mysterious or numinous function, but by the power of their own belief that they would be healed. In both cases the patient may experience a real reduction in symptoms, though in neither case has anything miraculous or inexplicable occurred. Both cases, however, are strictly limited to the body's natural abilities.”

Comment: The Wikipedia writer admits that the placebo effect is faith healing, but hastens to add that nothing “miraculous or inexplicable occurred.” Nonsense, it is always miraculous and inexplicable when people are healed by faith. Perhaps the writer will tell us how faith alone is transformed into a cure that from day to day and year to year relieves

the pain and suffering of millions who cannot afford a medical doctor

and his drugs!

Comment: Faith and healing are gifts from our ancient past. Rediscovered from time to time throughout the ages, faith healing/aka placebo effect is as old as mankind.

Comment: Concerning the true nature of the Kingdom of God, the following passages from the gospels of Thomas and Luke are revealing.

Gospel of Thomas, saying 113: His disciples said to him, "When will the kingdom come?" Jesus said, "It will not come by waiting for it. It will not be a matter of saying 'Here it is' or 'There it is'. Rather, the kingdom of the father is spread out upon the earth, and people do not see it.

Luke 12:20-21: Once, Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, and he answered, "The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or 'There it

is!'. For in fact, the kingdom of God is among you.

Gospel of Thomas, saying 3: The Kingdom is inside you, and outside you. When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize it is you who are the sons of the living Father.

Comment: Concerning the power of faith and the deadly effect of unbelief, the following story about Jesus is revealing.

Jesus marvelled because of their unbelief and could do no mighty works:

Mark 6: 1-6:

And he [Jesus] went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples followed him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this

the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda,

and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief.

EMBO reports, F. Benedetti, 17 March 2014:

Drugs and placebos: what’s the difference? Understanding the molecular basis of the placebo effect could help clinicians to better use it in clinical practice.

The variability of the effectiveness of a drug is also much lower than that of a placebo; the effectiveness of drugs is fairly consistent, while the effectiveness of placebo ranges widely across patients. However, when a

placebo is effective, the magnitude of that effect matches that of a drug.

Comment: The variability of effectiveness of placebo depends entirely on the degree of belief and unbelief of the patient.

Christian ritual of healing the mind and the body:

James 5:14-16:

Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed.

Science and Society:

“It seems that for the placebo effect to work, patients need to believe in the treatment.”

Nocebo: Placebo’s evil twin:

The power of suggestion is a double-edged sword. If you expect a treatment to help you, it may be more likely to do so. And if you expect a treatment will be harmful, you are more likely to experience negative effects. That phenomenon is called the “nocebo effect” (from the Latin “I shall harm”). For example, if you tell a person that a headache is a common side effect of a particular medication, that person is more likely to report headaches even if they are actually taking a placebo. The power of expectation is formidable and probably plays a significant role in the benefits and the side effects of commonly prescribed medications.

BBC News:

Most of the debilitating effects of statins are not caused by the drug, but by people believing it will make them sick, a UK study suggests. The phenomenon is known as the "nocebo effect" and may account for 90% of the ill health associated with the

cholesterol-lowering drugs. The British Heart Foundation said the results were undeniable..The Imperial College London researchers hope the findings will help more people stay on statins. The drugs are one of the most prescribed in the UK. Nearly eight million people taken them to lower their cholesterol and in turn reduce the risk of heart attacks and stroke.

Psychology Today:

Placebos follow the same dose-response curve as real medicines. Two pills give more relief than one, and a larger capsule is better than a smaller one.

Comment: Injections are better than pills, etc. It all depends on what you believe about the doctor, the treatment, and the power of faith to heal the sick.

EMBO 2007, pp. 125-128

Science and Society:

“In general practice, however, doctors widely prescribe placebos and are quite happy to acknowledge this anonymously. In 2004, a study of 89 Israeli physicians found that 60% had used placebos, most commonly to deflect requests for unsuitable medications or in the hope of alleviating undiagnosed but clearly mild conditions (Nitzen & Lichtenberg, 2004). Of those using the placebo, 68% told the

patient that he or she was receiving real medicine, and 17% said nothing at all. The remainder either identified the placebo as such (4%) or told the patient that he or she was receiving a non-specific medicine (11%). This raises the ethical dilemma of whether it is appropriate to lie to patients—either tacitly or explicitly—about the nature of their treatment. It seems that for the placebo effect to work, patients need to believe in the treatment.”

Perusing the deeper concept of the ancient healing gods, we find it focuses upon the idea of a body-mind relationship. Hippocrates believed that body and mind are a unity, and to

affect one is to affect the other. Modern medicine has taken more of the viewpoint of isolating the "one cause" and prescribing a specific remedy that will bring the solution. Interestingly, although Pasteur originally held strongly onto the effect of the microbe in medicine, his dying words were, "the microbe is nothing, the terrain is everything."

Comment: Concerning a body/mind relationship and disease, there is ample evidence that treating the body and mind simultaneously is best. Further, it is never appropriate to lie. Moreover, concerning the placebo effect, it is not necessary. All should fully understand the wonder-working power of the placebo effect/aka faith healing. Hence, this note.

This note is for study only and may not be sold.

The Psyche

(Mind, Soul, Spirit)

Its Peculiar Faculties

Samuel J. Hardman

2020.

There are these peculiar faculties of the psyche—that it is not entirely confined to space and time. You can have dreams or visions of the future. You can see around corners and such things. Only ignorance deny these facts. It is quite evident that they do exist and have existed always (Jung).

An original portrait of C. G. Jung and a biographical note appear at the end of this work.

Three States of Mind

The three states of mind are conscious, personal unconscious, and collective unconscious. The different states of mind communicate with each other.

The Conscious Mind

It is not an established fact that the brain creates consciousness. If the brain does not create consciousness, then what? In any case, if it is accepted that the collective unconscious is innate, it is plausible that the conscious mind is also

innate.

Baby's First Dreams: Sleep Cycles of the Fetus, American Institute of Physics, 2009: The brain of the developing embryo appears to cycle every 20 to 40 minutes between REM sleep, in which brain activity rivals that of

consciousness, and non-REM sleep, in which the brain rests.

Since the unborn cycle between REM sleep (dreaming) and non-REM sleep (resting) every 20 to 40 minutes, it appears that dreaming is quite beneficial.

Concerning this matter, readers naturally wish to know what the unborn

dream about. Knowing exactly what the unborn dream about is beyond

human knowledge.

However, if dreams are a manifestation of the innate, collective unconscious and the unborn in fact dream, the origin and content of the dreams of the unborn must be the collective unconscious. If this is indeed the case, the elements (or seed) of consciousness must be present and therefore innate.

Personal Unconscious Mind

The personal unconscious consists of the suppressed details of your life only.

VOCATUS ATQUE NON VOCATUS DEUS ADERIT

INVITED OR NOT,

GOD IS PRESENT.

The Collective Unconscious Mind

Here we are dealing with phenomena at the psychic level that are quite inexplicable by natural laws. The collective unconscious consists of ideas, instincts, memories, impulses, and primordial images (archetypes) from our ancestral and evolutionary past that are shared by all mankind. The collective unconscious is not acquired; it is innate--and is the fountainhead of all transcendental wisdom and spiritual experience. Indeed, God communicates with man through dreams, visions, and other spiritual manifestation via the

collective unconscious.

“This is certainly not to say that what we call the unconscious is identical with God or is set up in his place. It is the medium from which the religious experience seems to flow. As to what the further cause of such an experience may be, the answer to this lies beyond the range of human knowledge”(Jung).

William Blake: The Soul Hovering Over The Body.

A Practical Continuation of Life

(Psyche: Mind, Soul, Spirit)

Death of the body and the life of the psyche:

Jung: “Yes, if it [the death of the body] is an end. And there we are not quite certain about this end because we know that there are these peculiar faculties of the psyche – that it isn’t entirely confined to space and time. You can have dreams or visions of the future. You can see around corners and such things. Only ignorance deny these facts. It’s quite evident that they do exist and have existed always. Now these facts show that the psyche – in part, at least – is not

dependent on these confinements. And then what? When the psyche is not under that obligation to live in time and space alone – and obviously, it

doesn’t – then to that extent, the psyche is not submitted to those laws and

that means a practical continuation of life of a sort of psychical existence beyond time and space.”

Newsweek, 10 Feb. 2018:

“Parnia's research has shown that people who survive medical death frequently report experiences that share similar themes: bright lights; benevolent guiding figures; relief from physical pain and a deeply felt sensation of peace. Because those experiences are subjective, it's possible to chalk them up to hallucinations. Where that explanation fails, though, is among the patients who have died on an operating table or crash cart and reported watching—from a corner of the room, from above—as doctors tried to save them, accounts subsequently verified by the (very perplexed) doctors themselves.”

Bioethics News:

“Consciousness after clinical death. The biggest ever scientific study published. Whether it [consciousness] fades away afterwards, we do not know. The results revealed that 40% of those who survived a cardiac arrest were aware during the time that they were clinically dead and before their hearts were restarted. Dr. Parnia, in the interview stated: 'The evidence thus far suggests that in the first few minutes after death, consciousness is not annihilated.'”

Science has yet to prove that the human brain creates consciousness.

It is quite wonderful that William Blake visualized that the soul does not leave the body immediately after “death.”

George Richmond gives the following account of Blake's death in a letter to Samuel Palmer: “He died... in a most glorious manner. He said he was going to that country he had all his life wished to see & expressed himself happy, hoping for salvation through Jesus Christ– Just before he died his countenance became fair. His eyes brighten'd and he burst out singing of the things he saw in heaven."

What one needs is a life-changing spiritual experience.

“That religious experiences exist no longer needs proof. But it will always remain doubtful whether what metaphysics and theology call God and the gods is the real ground of these experiences. The question is idle, actually, and answers itself by reason of the subjectively overwhelming luminosity of the [spiritual] experience. Anyone who has had it is seized by it and therefore not in a position to indulge in fruitless metaphysical or epistemological speculations.”

Absolute certainty brings its own evidence and has no need of anthropomorphic proofs. In view of the general ignorance of and bias against psychology, it must be accounted a misfortune that the one experience which makes sense of individual existence should seem to have its origin in a medium that is certain to catch everybody's prejudices. Once more the doubt is heard: “What good can come out of Nazareth?”

The unconscious, if not regarded outright as a sort of refuse bin underneath the conscious mind, is at any rate supposed to be of “merely animal nature.” In reality, however, and by definition it is of uncertain extent and constitution, so that overvaluation or undervaluation of it is groundless and can be dismissed as mere prejudice”(Jung).

The psyche is the totality of the human mind, soul, and spirit, conscious and unconscious.

To know God, one must search inside. God is there. God is not acquired. God is innate in all. God is an inherent fact of the human psyche and human capacity to know God is real is innate and cannot be be diminished.

Hence, one need not follow the teachings of established religion to know God. God has nothing whatever to do with race or religion. Religion is a pernicious invention. That a certain race or religion is favored by God, or that God is the property of a race, religion, or government is a lie. God is innate in all and favors none. Indeed, conventional proverbs,

precepts, and dogmas of religion depict God as an idiot. In doing so, religion mirrors itself. Realize God yourself. When you do so, you will no longer need to believe—you will know.

Luke:

Jesus said: Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Illustrations:

Carl Gustav Jung (26 July 1875– 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. Jung's work was influential in the fields of psychiatry, anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, and religious studies.

Original pen and ink portrait of Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) by Carl E. Pickhardt, Jr. (1908-2004). This work dates to 1936/1937, when Jung was

visiting the United States. Indeed, it was very likely done when Jung was at Harvard University in 1936. Pickhardt was a Harvard man and lived near Boston.

C. G. Jung at Harvard University in 1936.