{"id":2249283,"date":"2024-05-21T08:04:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-21T12:04:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/behind-jordan-petersons-biblical-teaching-is-his-own-humanistic-agenda\/"},"modified":"2024-05-21T08:14:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-21T12:14:38","slug":"behind-jordan-petersons-biblical-teaching-is-his-own-humanistic-agenda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/behind-jordan-petersons-biblical-teaching-is-his-own-humanistic-agenda\/","title":{"rendered":"Jordan Peterson&#8217;s Teaching Blends Humanism with Biblical Wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fbehind-jordan-petersons-biblical-teaching-is-his-own-humanistic-agenda%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2249283&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In a debate \u200bbetween David Berlinski and Christopher \u200dHitchens, \u200cHitchens exposed Berlinski&#8217;s vague \u200ddeity defense as hypocrisy. Similarly, Peterson&#8217;s\u200d theological stance lacks\u200c foundation, \u200cleading \u200dto <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/understanding-jordan-petersons-connections-to-prophetic-christian-truth\/\" title=\"Understanding Jordan Peterson\u2019s Connections To Prophetic Christian Truth\">theological errors<\/a>. Peterson&#8217;s self-improvement\u200c focus misses core Christian\u2063 beliefs. Acknowledging Ayaan Hirsi Ali&#8217;s humble Christian conversion contrasts Peterson&#8217;s spiritual ambiguity. Peterson&#8217;s\u200d theology centers \u2063on \u200cself-actualization, diverging from biblical truth.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>I don\u2019t, as a rule, listen to podcasts. Not because I am uninterested or have nothing to learn from others, it\u2019s just that in a crowded marketplace where originality is so rare and the theft of intellectual property is, even unwittingly, so common, I find the easiest way to avoid echoing others is to avoid the echo-chamber. As such, academic psychologist-turned-social commentator Jordan Peterson was late to appear on my radar. I had, of course, heard of the Canadian, and as a Bible-believing evangelical Christian, what I saw of him, usually a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-unanimously-passes-measure-to-directly-address-fettermans-inappropriate-conduct\/\" title=\"Senate Passes Measure to Address Fetterman's Misconduct\">social media post featuring<\/a> him skewering the woke mob, I liked.<\/p>\n<p>Then I discovered my youngest son Zachary was a Peterson fan.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-1518346253\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d6c74128c105001a19683b4d9af944c4 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-d6c74128c105001a19683b4d9af944c4\"><\/div>\n<p>\u201cYou would like him, Dad,\u201d Zachary said. \u201cHe\u2019s gaining popularity with young men of my generation [Gen Z] because he\u2019s exposing the woke garbage for what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>My middle son, Christopher, a seminary graduate and pastor, had a different take: \u201cHmm. I think you <em>won\u2019t<\/em> like him \u2014 his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-most-disturbing-poll-in-recent-memory\/\" title=\"Disturbing Poll Shakes Recent Memory\">core philosophy<\/a>, anyway. Zachary sees that you two are birds of a feather in your dislike of radical ideologies. But you can identify why you don\u2019t like them. Peterson can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was about this time last year when we began recording the first episodes of the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@IdeasHaveConsequences\">Ideas Have Consequences<\/a>\u201d podcast, and a few members of the staff were urging me to have Peterson on the show \u2014 some because they liked him, others because they wanted me to debate him. All of this was a glimpse of Peterson\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n<p>In 2 Corinthians 10:5, the Apostle Paul says, \u201cWe destroy arguments and every lofty pretention that sets itself up against the knowledge of God\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6703a490564c0f68af641d5e98e9e587 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-6703a490564c0f68af641d5e98e9e587\"><\/div>\n<p>That verse has formed a part of my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/klaus-schwab-the-world-economic-forum-and-the-atheists-paving-the-road-to-absolute-power\/\" title=\"Klaus Schwab, The World Economic Forum, And The Atheists Paving The Road To Absolute Power\">personal mission statement<\/a>. To that end, I have crossed swords with the late atheist-journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Faith-Christopher-Hitchens-Restless-Notorious\/dp\/0718022173\/ref=sr_1_1?crid=34FCWQB07BDL6&#038;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.w3KqS0kVjHNhIocX8KvBDA0f5I9V2n0yAdXfHCaW8huDry9nUo2egkpNiqvGTURtxgd-d4DTg2STIF0BJlVKZO3ofpSuJDXNIYqyb-R6xQmZhvjqOIhmzBMkGJeIwWUG2whRP1Xk2nNlnG4XexX4pWF0_UERV-qEUjm3sqW4Pkbj1vAjvirHtMAJBxtCNO4zfHcmZsr1zZI-OIE5rUpPK63TSdmM-mXg-CkkX1Z3wFA.Y5lfqS4WmdjCqEynHKP2j17WbLx2sDn4DIl1obiOY1w&#038;dib_tag=se&#038;keywords=the+faith+of+christopher+hitchens+book&#038;qid=1715014045&#038;sprefix=the+faith+of+christopher+hitchens%2Caps%2C119&#038;sr=8-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Christopher Hitchens<\/a>, Oxford atheist <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Ig1pkeT4NDM?si=yNH-c4cgZ4tk8JZa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Richard Dawkins<\/a>, Tufts cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett (who died last month), Skeptic Magazine Editor <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/3S4x3gtkubY?si=FjW1CrBq_Z5DmvU8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Michael Shermer<\/a>, and a cohort of Muslim apologists on CNN International, Al Jazeera, and, where the true Muslim believers gather, in Hyde Park, London.<\/p>\n<p>But debate Peterson?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>A Bible Teacher and Spiritual Leader<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The idea of debating Peterson seemed strange given his reputation with conservatives. In these days of child mutilation and a surging globalist tyranny, one finds unexpected allies. Who knew Elon Musk would be a de facto Trump supporter or that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.today.com\/popculture\/shakira-barbie-sons-controversy-rcna145864\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shakira would be a champion<\/a> of traditional (binary!) sex roles? Peterson is far more ideologically aligned with a biblical worldview than either of these and frequently voices his appreciation for the Bible even if he has not become a Christian himself. If they are not against us, they are for us, right?<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what Jesus said in Mark 9:40 of those doing Christian ministry, and that\u2019s what ultimately got my attention with Peterson. <em>He began doing Christian ministry<\/em>. Not actual Christian ministry, but the appearance of it as a kind of deist pastor-at-large teaching the Jordan B. Peterson Biblical Series. Then, after his move to The Daily Wire, Peterson\u2019s already ascendant popularity soared still higher, and with no demographic was he more popular than with Christians. Peterson, for his own part, rewarded them with a book: <em>We Who Wrestle with God.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f7db5ecdc2ab6653466f756919bfadca fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-f7db5ecdc2ab6653466f756919bfadca\"><\/div>\n<p>This struck me as more than a little odd given the fact that Peterson, by his own admission, is not a Christian.<\/p>\n<p>That might come as a surprise to Peterson\u2019s Christian fans, who are legion, because he speaks favorably of Jesus (though he can\u2019t seem to decide if he thinks he was real); \u201cthe idea of god,\u201d as he puts it; religion in general (he described himself as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/world\/this-unholy-axis-of-iranian-thugs-and-marxist-psychopaths-is-an-enemy-of-muslims-too\/ar-AA1iiW7u\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">pro-Muslim<\/a>\u201d); and the Bible. But when asked on repeated occasions if he believes in God or if he is a Christian, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CKlWLpbycuQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Peterson, who is otherwise precise, is ambiguous<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t like that question,\u201d he <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=CKlWLpbycuQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">says<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s none of your damn business.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like it or not, Peterson doesn\u2019t seem to realize that it became a fair line of questioning the moment he deviated from his field of expertise to pontificate in others where he has none, teaching the Bible, giving spiritual counsel, writing a book about God, and even <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/e7ytLpO7mj0?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">offering his advice to churches<\/a>. I wonder, would Peterson be similarly annoyed if someone asked him if he believed in psychology, a field he teaches and in which he is eminently qualified? I doubt it.<\/p>\n<p>Peterson\u2019s \u201cstock\u201d response to the question is to reduce it to a lecture about the question itself. One comes away with the feeling that he\u2019s listening to Ketanji Brown Jackson\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=BWtGzJxiONU\">response<\/a> to Sen. Marsha Blackburn\u2019s question: \u201cCan you provide a definition for the word \u2018woman\u2019?\u201d But never do you come away with a clear answer.<\/p>\n<p>There is no small measure of irony in this. Peterson catapulted to fame, not as a religious teacher where he is utterly lost, but as one who offered a biting critique of a Western culture that has come off the rails and practical advice to young men who desperately needed it. To the delight of sensible people everywhere, he is mocked mercilessly. <\/p>\n<p>But that is what Peterson does when it comes to the God of the Bible. Worse, he contorts historic biblical meaning to fit his own humanistic agenda. In a recent interview on the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=g6VNAM58a_U\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Impact Theory<\/a>\u201d podcast, Peterson says of Oxford University atheist Richard Dawkins:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Dawkins believes in the redeeming power of the communicated truth. Well, there\u2019s no difference between that and worshipping the Word, the Divine Word. <em>It\u2019s the same thing<\/em>. \u2026 Dawkins, though he doesn\u2019t know it, is mostly a Christian.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>One might think that what Peterson means is that Dawkins \u201cis mostly a Christian\u201d insofar as his own intellectual assumptions rest on Christian foundations, <a href=\"https:\/\/spectator.org\/richard-dawkins-transgender-tweet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">an assertion that I have made many times<\/a>. But that\u2019s not his meaning. \u201cDivine Word\u201d is a reference to John 1:1: \u201cIn the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.\u201d Peterson tosses 2,000 years of Christian biblical theology and redefines what it means to be a Christian as mere truth-seeking \u2014 no repentance, no regeneration, no profession of faith, and it seems not even a conscious decision to become a follower of Jesus Christ. This Christ-less Christianity is so cut-rate as to make what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called \u201ccheap grace\u201d look downright expensive.<\/p>\n<p>One of many astute listeners tweeted Peterson a clear definition of what it means to be a Christian:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>There was no snark. Jayda Fransen\u2019s tweet offered a historic Christian definition with scripture reference. Peterson, instead of clarifying that he wasn\u2019t talking about salvation, ridiculed her:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>But Fransen wasn\u2019t alone in her understanding of Peterson\u2019s meaning. Dawkins, who clearly understood Peterson to be speaking of more than his intellectual suppositions, offered this terse correction:<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>In so doing, Dawkins demonstrated that he has a better understanding of what it means to be a Christian than Peterson does. Dawkins isn\u2019t a Christian, and he knows it. He also knows that believing the Bible isn\u2019t optional for Christians.<\/p>\n<p>Richard Dawkins is instructive here. When <a href=\"https:\/\/byfaithonline.com\/richard-dawkins-the-atheist-evangelist\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I first made my way to the professional atheist\u2019s Oxford home in the summer of 2006<\/a> beginning a decade-long odyssey, I was prepared to be overwhelmed by his anti-Christian arguments. If I thought this was going to be a test of my own belief, and I think I did, then I was disappointed. While articulate and interesting, Dawkins\u2019 arguments were simply repackaged objections of skeptics centuries, no, <em>millennia<\/em>, past.<\/p>\n<p>This is post-atheist (but definitely pre-Christian) Peterson. Interesting and profound within the confines of his expertise, he\u2019s out of his depth when it comes to God. Christian Theology 101 is fascinating when he who teaches it has mastery of the subject well beyond the level he elucidates. By contrast, Peterson\u2019s musings are elementary or just plain wrong because the subject surpasses his (current) understanding. To listen to him on Christianity is to listen to the stream of consciousness of a man who is trying to figure it out \u2014 <em>but hasn\u2019t<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>Atheists are helpful to us in this discussion because their tests of authentic Christian belief are, sadly, more stringent than those of Peterson\u2019s Christian defenders. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_eWDiaDOX0E\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">British atheist podcaster Alex O\u2019Connor<\/a> thinks Peterson\u2019s popularity can be attributed to the fact that he punts on the truth of the Bible and speaks instead of the models it provides. That resonates with the experience of Michael Shermer who couldn\u2019t pin Peterson down on the question of the virgin birth.<\/p>\n<p>Dawkins, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=zF5bPI92-5o\">who has debated Bible-believing Christians<\/a> and knows what they sound like, senses Peterson <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/_eWDiaDOX0E?feature=shared\">is a fraud<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s bullsh-t. When he talks religion, he doesn\u2019t make any sense at all. \u2026 People think, \u2018Oh, it must be terribly profound because I can\u2019t understand.\u2019\u201d He knows that Peterson\u2019s belief is of the Jeffersonian \u00e0 la carte variety: <em>I\u2019ll take some Jesus as a teacher of ethics and exemplar of self-sacrifice, hold the creation story and resurrection<\/em>. Smelling blood in the water, Dawkins trolled him: \u201cI\u2019m still waiting for the in-person conversation Peterson keeps talking about\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve seen this movie before. Indeed, I moderated it. It was a debate between mathematician and writer David Berlinski, a self-described \u201csecular Jew,\u201d and atheist journalist Christopher Hitchens. Berlinski is as close to a Renaissance man as I have ever met. Brilliant. But Hitchens made short work of him in debate for the simple reason that Berlinski was defending a vague deity in whom he didn\u2019t really believe. Hitchens saw this for what it was: hypocrisy. So, he proceeded to heap scorn on his opponent, going so far as to try to get me to debate him since Berlinski would not. (<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mrOXeXgbMhE?feature=shared\">A month later, I did<\/a>.) Hitchens had, in effect, exposed Berlinski as a covert atheist.<\/p>\n<p>If Peterson proposes to take such a position in a discussion with Dawkins, you can expect a similar outcome because it\u2019s not just Jesus who spits out the lukewarm (Revelation 3:16). Hitchens did it, and Dawkins will too.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Peterson\u2019s <\/strong>\u2018<strong>Cracked and Crooked Foundation<\/strong>\u2018<\/h2>\n<p>This is because Peterson\u2019s theology, as well-known pastor and theologian Doug Wilson put it, sits on a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=z6NeuuAkIS8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cracked and crooked foundation<\/a>.\u201d Like me, Wilson appreciates much of what Peterson has to say. He also knows a thing or two about celebrities who flirt with Christian conversion and readily recognizes that the whole trajectory of Peterson\u2019s God-talk hits wide of the mark because he rejects the central premise of Christianity: the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Peterson says he finds the possibility of a historic Jesus who was God in the flesh \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/mZvjZoqhiuw?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">too terrifying a reality to really believe<\/a>.\u201d As a result, the theological errors begin early and often.<\/p>\n<p>Take, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CKlWLpbycuQ?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">this lecture<\/a> in which Peterson says that to call oneself a Christian is to make \u201ca claim to moral virtue.\u201d It is one of his stock responses to those who ask if he\u2019s a Christian. Peterson has made a habit of shaming those who dare call themselves Christians. Does he not know that it is a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=acts%2011:26&#038;version=NIV\">biblical designation<\/a>? As if doing so is a supreme act of self-righteousness. But that is precisely what being a Christian <em>is not<\/em> as every child who paid attention in vacation Bible school knows. It is the recognition that we are fallen, broken, and incapable of any good or of saving ourselves apart from the redeeming power of Jesus Christ. \u201cApart from me,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=john+15&#038;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jesus told the disciples<\/a>, \u201cyou can do nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>Again, Peterson\u2019s Christian defenders will say he is early in his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bear-grylls-celebrates-baptism-in-jordan-river-offers-most-important-survival-tip-stay-close-to-jesus\/\" title=\"Bear Grylls celebrates baptism in Jordan River, emphasizes key survival tip: 'Stay near Jesus'.\">personal spiritual journey<\/a> or he is seeking the truth and therefore deserves our unswerving support. Perhaps. But this is not what a fledgling faith looks like. That looks more like Ayaan Hirsi Ali.<\/p>\n<p>Less than a year ago, the Somali-born activist, politician, and writer <a href=\"https:\/\/unherd.com\/2023\/11\/why-i-am-now-a-christian\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced her conversion to the Christian faith<\/a>. This was no small thing given the fact that she had fled Islam at age 23 and joined the ranks of prominent Western atheists to denounce not only that religion, but <em>all<\/em> religions. No doubt to Peterson\u2019s horror, she isn\u2019t reluctant to call herself a Christian. Nor, to my knowledge, is Hirsi Ali offering a lecture series on the Bible or Christian theology. (Perhaps when her faith matures, she will.) Her declarations about her new faith are measured, modest: \u201cI still have a great deal to learn about Christianity. I discover a little more at church each Sunday.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That one statement, humble and self-aware, bears no resemblance to anything we are seeing from Jordan Peterson.<\/p>\n<p>Peterson isn\u2019t on a private <em>Quest for God<\/em>, to borrow the title of the late historian Paul Johnson\u2019s memoir about his journey to faith, a book written once the author had arrived at the right spiritual destination. Peterson is wandering in his own spiritual wilderness while teaching the Jordan B. Peterson Biblical Series and hawking a book about the God in whom he has yet to really believe and doesn\u2019t understand.<\/p>\n<p>To put it another way, would Peterson think it odd if I rejected the main tenets of psychology but nonetheless offered the Larry A. Taunton Psychology Series and wrote a book titled, <em>We Who Wrestle with Psychologists<\/em>? I think he would. He\u2019s like one standing on the \u201cField of Dreams\u201d who can\u2019t see the players who practice there but is sure he has much wisdom to impart to those of us who can see them. It\u2019s the Dunning-Kruger Effect. Having achieved command in one field (behavioral psychology), Peterson seems to think that qualifies him to pronounce authoritatively in other fields (biblical theology). As one Christian friend put it, \u201cSeekers should be listeners, not teachers.\u201d Someone should tell Peterson that.<\/p>\n<p>To make sure I wasn\u2019t behind on Peterson\u2019s evolution on God, a frequent claim of his fans, I listened to this <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/oQpFHQRbqcw?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">just-released interview with Shawn Ryan<\/a>. It was more of the same.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGod isn\u2019t a thing you believe in,\u201d Peterson declared with misplaced self-assurance. \u201cTo believe in God is to commit your life. It isn\u2019t the statement, \u2018I believe in God.\u2019 \u2026 It is commitment to a pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While there are many vague cultural meanings attached to the word Christian, in this essay we are only interested in the biblical one, and that book is very clear where Peterson is not. Romans 10:9-10 says:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>If you declare\u00a0with your mouth, \u2018Jesus is Lord,\u2019\u00a0and believe\u00a0in your heart that God raised him from the dead,\u00a0you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>It turns out that it is a statement, a profession from the heart but verbalized with the mouth, of belief in the resurrected Jesus. And lest there be any misunderstanding, Jesus is a person, God made flesh, not \u201ca pattern.\u201d On yet other occasions, Peterson offers another one of his stock responses to the question about his own personal belief in God by saying, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/x6_ESSfyiYE?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">I decided to act as if God exists long ago<\/a>.\u201d To which the Bible responds: \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=james+2%3A19&#038;version=ESV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe \u2014 and shudder!<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Bible According to Jordan Peterson<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Peterson\u2019s theological landscape crumbles whenever the Bible is brought to bear, and the Bible is, according to Peterson in an <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Vt9K6kmpx44?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">interview with Joe Rogan<\/a>, \u201cway more true than just true.\u201d That\u2019s a curious statement when one considers Peterson\u2019s penchant for ignoring biblical meaning whenever it suits him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, here\u2019s an example,\u201d he tells Ryan. \u201cThis is very complicated, but here\u2019s an example. \u2026 God for Abraham was the spirit of adventure. The call to adventure. This is a definition. This is very much worth knowing. People have no idea what to do with the concept of God. God is the call to adventure. <em>That\u2019s a definition<\/em> [Peterson\u2019s emphasis]\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Whose definition?<\/p>\n<p>Well, Peterson\u2019s, of course, because it\u2019s certainly not the biblical definition. \u201cWhen Christ calls a man,\u201d wrote Bonhoeffer famously, \u201che bids him come and die.\u201d But this is typical of Peterson who sees everything through the lens of self-improvement. In his telling of the biblical story, it\u2019s always about us, our development, our potential, our yearnings, our sacrifice, our growth, and not about God. And that goes far to explain Peterson\u2019s appeal. At bottom, Peterson is a self-help guru.<\/p>\n<p>Compare Peterson\u2019s claim that there is a \u201cspark of divinity\u201d within each of us waiting to unleash our potential with Indian-American self-help guru Deepak Chopra\u2019s tweet to Michael Shermer and me on the eve of our Seattle debate in 2015: \u201cIn every being sleeps a God in embryo; it\u2019s only desire is to be born.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For Peterson, God is self-actualization. This has more in common with Eastern meditation than it does with Christianity. Among those themes the Bible reiterates time and again, that there is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=romans+3%3A10-12&#038;version=ESV\">nothing good or divine within us is certainly one of them<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>There is more of the postmodern about Peterson\u2019s philosophy than one might imagine. This was my son Christopher\u2019s meaning when he said Peterson\u2019s objections to the woke mob are absent an anchor in the absolute. As a consequence, he\u2019s all sail, at times sounding like a Stoic philosopher, a New Age spiritualist, or a hippie on an acid trip, but never like someone who should be giving lectures on the Bible.<\/p>\n<p>Consider his ramblings about the Bible <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Vt9K6kmpx44\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in the same interview with Rogan<\/a>. If the view count is any indication, some have understood this to be a profound monologue. It\u2019s nothing of the sort. For several minutes Peterson casts about trying to explain the importance of the Bible in our culture, but he never lands at the right place: The Bible is the Word of God. It is the absolute, eternal truth that he can\u2019t seem to find. Instead, he has adopted a God of his own making, syncretic and benign who just wants to help us be better people. What exactly is the point of the cross in Peterson\u2019s theology? That, too, is ambiguous, but it seems to represent a model of self-sacrifice rather than a real space-time propitiatory act to redeem a lost world.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps nothing reveals Peterson\u2019s ignorance of the Bible so much as his assumption that Christians, Jews, and Muslims are all worshipers of the same God and just need to get along. This, of course, is nonsense given the fact that each says very different things about who God is. According to Christianity, Jesus is God made flesh who died for the sins of those who believe in Him and His bodily resurrection. In Judaism, Jesus was a crackpot who was executed for blasphemy. Islamic tradition says Jesus was a prophet who did not die on the cross at all. These differences are irreconcilable.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><\/figure>\n<p>In perhaps his most revealing lecture, Peterson said tearfully:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Who would have the audacity to claim that they believed in God if they examined the way they lived. Who would dare say that? To have the audacity to claim that means you live it out fully. That\u2019s an unbearable task, in some sense, to live that out\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He is only partially correct: It is an unbearable task. It was the purpose of the Law, the Decalogue, to drive this point home. What Peterson describes is how anyone who considers the Law should feel because, if he\u2019s honest with himself, he will know that he has violated God\u2019s Law in totol. But Peterson stops short of the Gospel undoubtedly because he doesn\u2019t know it: Christ has fulfilled the demands of the Law.<\/p>\n<p>Romans 8:1-4 reads:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of\u00a0the Spirit of life\u00a0has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For\u00a0God has done what the law,\u00a0weakened by the flesh,\u00a0could not do.\u00a0By sending his own Son\u00a0in the likeness of sinful flesh and\u00a0for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that\u00a0the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us,\u00a0who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>And this brings us to the heart of what Peterson fails to understand: grace. In this, he is no different than any atheist with whom I have ever argued: Dawkins, Dennett, Ehrman, Hitchens, Shermer \u2014 any of them. For Peterson, Christianity is a system, \u201ca pattern,\u201d a code of ethics, a myth, and the Bible is the ultimate guide to self-improvement. They are none of the above. Christianity pivots on one person (Jesus Christ) and one event (the resurrection), and the Bible is our means of knowing and understanding both.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">We Who Wrestle with Jordan Peterson<\/h2>\n<p>It has not been my intention in this essay to denigrate Jordan Peterson the man nor even Jordan Peterson the cultural commentator. Far be it from me to think I am better than anyone. If grace has taught me anything, it is that I need no less of it than anyone else. No, I want Jordan Peterson to fully commit.<\/p>\n<p>I hope to accomplish one of two things: to see him come to authentic faith in Jesus Christ or to push him back into the secular lane where this iteration of Peterson belongs. There he can hold forth on subjects in which he is genuinely an expert as, say, the late social critic Neil Postman once did, and who among us didn\u2019t benefit from Postman\u2019s superb books <em>Amusing Ourselves to Death <\/em>and <em>Technopoly<\/em>? <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20031202113958\/http:\/www.rememberingneilpostman.com\/000072.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Postman\u2019s eulogy<\/a>, delivered by his son Andrew, is possibly the greatest of all time.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps Peterson will convert. We can hope. But to date, he has not, and coupling that with the fact that <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/sfI2se3O80Q?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">he has had the Gospel explained to him in very clear terms<\/a> is a sign of nothing good. In using the \u201cwrestle with God\u201d motif <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Genesis+32%3A+22-31&#038;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">in a manner that is inconsistent with the Bible story from which it is derived<\/a>, it feels like Peterson is engaging in a kind of fashionable, handwringing intellectual exercise in which he endlessly rides the fence. He speaks incessantly of how \u201ccomplicated\u201d it all is, hedging theological assertions with \u201cin a sense,\u201d thus leaving the backdoor open should there be an attempt to corner him. In Peterson\u2019s conception of Him, God waits patiently while Jordan Peterson decides what he thinks about Him. He brings to mind the Apostle Paul\u2019s warning about those who are \u201calways learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Of course, I don\u2019t question Peterson\u2019s right to do any of these things. I question the thinking of Christians who see him as a source of profound spiritual and biblical insight. It is a sad commentary on biblical literacy. So desperate are evangelicals for intellectual heroes the world respects that they often rush to elevate someone like Jordan Peterson to a status he has not actually attained.<\/p>\n<p>In Galatians 2, the Apostle Paul confronts the Apostle Peter \u201cto his face\u201d because, in the latter\u2019s behavior, he had obscured the path of salvation. Since it was not a matter of private sin but of de facto public teaching, the confrontation was public too. So it is with Peterson, who maintains a vast public platform that attracts millions of people, young men in particular. How many of them come away thinking they are Christians by virtue of their truth-seeking when, in fact, they remain as lost as Peterson is? More than a few, I suspect. There is a reason why the Bible warns us of the beguiling nature of philosophy.<\/p>\n<p>The late medieval historian Etienne Gilson seems to have had this very thing in mind when he wrote, \u201cNo matter how high science may be, it is only too clear that Jesus Christ did not come to save men by science or philosophy; he came to save all men \u2014 even philosophers and scientists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed. Let us pray for Jordan Peterson.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cd3bdd97f94f3184db2b93f8e8b371f4 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-cd3bdd97f94f3184db2b93f8e8b371f4\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I typically avoid podcasts not due to disinterest or a lack of curiosity but in a saturated space where originality is scarce and unintentional intellectual property theft rampant, I steer clear to maintain authenticity and avoid echoing others<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2736,"featured_media":2249284,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/41117584600_df864d91b0_k.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2249283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/41117584600_df864d91b0_k.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2736"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2249283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2249283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2249284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2249283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2249283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2249283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}