Interview with JBP by a Christian college on essentials of the Christian faith.

My review of an interview of Jordan B. Peterson by a prominent Christian college in the U.S. discussing some of the very essentials of the Christian faith. 


I AM TRULY AMAZED at the phenomenal “success” of world renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson, particularly at the overall acceptance of his religious views by even born-again Christians. Most of them are mesmerized by his rich philosophical 'verbalism' which, to many of them, can be translated into being “born-again in his own way”.

Peterson is a great psychologist and philosopher -- probably more so than any of the great ones of history past because he has studied them all, or most of them all, and quotes them as answers to his own 'rhetoric' (the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the use of figures of speech and other compositional techniques (Oxford).

The question from many born-again Christians is, “Is Jordan Peterson a born-again Christian?”

My answer to the above question is “I don't think so”, unless it happened in recent days – and here's why, especially based on a recent interview by a Christian scholar from a Christian college where I actually wrote out what he was specifically saying.

And this interview is typical of all such other interviews by Christians where no one seems to make out the ultimate psychology of the conversations taking place.

Here's what he says:

1)_On Christ's sacrifice and the rest of the Word of God:
Peterson sees all of this as a philosophical allegory. He says the ultimate of Christ's sacrifice is that you have to sacrifice your lower self to your higher self in order for you to proceed in healthy manner to be resilient but also for you to participate in the covenant that would make for a united society...”

2)_On the cross:
Here he quotes Churchill as saying, “you must nail your life to a cross of thought or action...”

3)_On Peterson's belief of the Gospel:
“...what I learned about salvation I learned from Jung...”. He goes on to express his deep thoughts of this that salvation/redemption is an individual enterprise, which is why, he says, he is a psychologist and not a politician because he believes that to be true (!).

He contimues, “I think that hell is kept at bay one person at a time and I do believe that people have a divine destiny and one of the proper elements of our divine destiny is to keep hell at bay...” And he says, “you do that as a consequence of your choices as an individual...” And then he goes on to say, “I also believe that every single individual is in that up to their necks.”

Then he quotes some other philosopher of sort which I can't make out the name, who said that every man is responsible not only for everything he does but for what every one else does... to which he comments that to be insane. But continues with “... and I think there's something true in that we each have an archetypal destiny and the faith of the world rests on each person's shoulders...”

Without interruption, his thought moves on to “... when I'm travelling around the world talking to people, I'm trying to tell them that – it's like – no, you don't understand this is up to you... now I don't understand how it can be up to you because it's also up to me and I don't exactly see how it can be equally and finally up to both of us but that's ok there's lots of things about the world that I don't understand and I suppose being – what would you say – touched by a spark of divinity which is, I suppose, what characterizes us, each of us bares an infinite responsibility, and people need to know that and this is no game.”

(His words were typed verbatim as much as I could make out from the interview).

Then he continues... “Your sake is indistinctable from the sake of the totality. See, the Bhudda figured this out, right, because Bhudda, what would you say, he achieved enlightenment under the (inaudible)... he was in nirvana, he was in paradise and he could stay there, that was on the table, and that's a hell of an offer to be able to stay in Paradise and he rejected it and the reason he rejected it was because in his estimation any paradise that didn't include everyone wasn't the real paradise and so he left nirvana to come back to earth, so to speak, to serve as a teacher to drag anyone else along on the road to nirvana and that's correct in that in the final analysis there is no distinction between you and someone else – it's a terrible thing to contemplate – they're the same thing, that's why you're supposed to love your enemy, I suppose, and what does that mean to love your enemy?”

The thought continues uninterruptedly , “... well first of all, it might mean to begin with the hope that he wouldn't have to be an enemy, cause why not have a friend? But it's even ,more than that, to the degree that it's possible, your actions even in the presence of your enemy should be devoted towards the redemption of your enemy. That would be better for you and for them.

The interviewer interjects here with a comment and a question...

(My side note: All his (Jordan Peterson's) conversations typically spin around and around getting nowhere Biblically.)

He believes in hell – metaphysically that is. He sees hell as a place of ultimate darkness and atrocities within the realm of our physical realities and/or mysticism.

After Peterson wraps up his teaching to the world that he calls a “secular religious practice” , the interviewer asks him, “How are you gonna save the world?”

His answer is, “One person at a time.” He goes on, “That's always how it's happened. You know the leftist's mancha: The long march through the institutions. Well, how do you combat that? Well, through the longer march through the individuals. Right. The rest of it is an illusion in a way. They are individuals. That's where the rubber hits the road. Individuals suffer....”

“...Individuals bear responsibility. Right. One of the gifts, I suppose, that the biblical corpus gave to the U.K, the U.K. transformed into political wisdom and transmitted to the U.S. Was the proposition that the individual is the proper unit of analysis, the fundamental unit analysis and I believe that's the case, which is why I'm a psychologist as I said and not a sociologist or a political operative – it's always been the case that the route to heaven and the way from hell is the route of the individual soul and I believe that's theologically true, it's meta-physically true, philosophically true, I also believe that it's materially true, right, in so far as that sort of truth can be instantiated material – it's true in every level simultaneously.”

(My note: “Theologically true” ???)

And next I was very surprised by the final comments of the Christian scholar from the Christian college interviewing the famous psychologist. I think he politely didn't want to be unfavourably antonymous – as all the others.

He (the interviewer) wraps up with this: “In agreeing with that, I will say, all of the greatest philosophers, political philosophers and all of the greatest statesmen thoughts precisely that. The purpose of the nation or the regime is the happiness of its people and they come together to help make it, but each has to make his own. And that, I think is a beautiful way -- that's how America organized the country. My own view is: beautiful things cannot abidingly lose their lustre. And I will say that in our time, and this is a desperate time, your success and influence is one of the key sign -- and I'm right about that.”

(And I am sorry to say that I'm surprised about the Christian scholar "agreeing" with all of this -- just saying!)

Now I ask you, is he a born-again Christian? Compare his talks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and/or the delivery of the Gospel from a genuine preacher of the Gospel. You be the judge.

DMH

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matthew 16:2,3 --“When it is evening, you say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather today: for the sky is red and lowering... ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

John 5:39 --”You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”

Matthew 11:25 -- “At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes.”

Acts 17:11 -- “These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”

John, chapter 3, verses 1 to 7,
King James Version:

"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."


Watch for more of my reviews coming up....