Many know the name Jordan Peterson, the professor of psychology from the University of Toronto who made the headlines for his political stance a number of years ago. Though he is an agnostic, he has always been favourable towards Christianity. As such, many Christians have been rooting and praying for him to follow Christ. In a recent episode of his podcast, Peterson is seen to be much closer to Christianity than we might have expected. Why the attraction to Christ? In today’s edition of the AC Podcast, Andy and Steve sat down together to share their reaction.
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Peterson is now embracing Christianity because he is suffering so much with illness that he is desperate to try anything that will make him feel better. He’s stuck though, because Christian belief (and in fact any religious belief) is aggressively antirational, and Peterson has always presented himself as a rational empiricist and a man of Science.
He actually uses the irrationality of his belief as a defense of its validity. He goes on about the confluence of objective and mythical narratives, and then he tells us that, because his belief is so strong despite his understanding that it is preposterous on a rational level, the story of Jesus of Nazareth must have a reality that cannot be explained by rational analysis. Which sounds like sophistry to me.
To clarify: I am not a Christian because to me the most likely explanation of the supernatural elements in the Gospels is that they are fictions. That’s what Peterson has always understood too, but now he has to square the circle of his need to believe with the grounds for his prior disbelief.
Ian,
Respectfully, fiction is not the most likely explanation. Examine the Gospels again from the perspective of a literary critic. The authors include far too much detail, sometimes irrelevant details and also names of witnesses, all of which would only occur with either retelling of actual events or modern genres of historical fiction or ‘faction.’ The genre of historical fiction was not developed for another 1800 years!
Mythical literature like the Iliad are written with glaring differences.
So the possibilities are: they truly believed what they were writing, or the multiple authors were all millennia ahead of their time! If they truly believed what they wrote but were hallucinating, why did they include names of numerous other witnesses who could have contradicted their accounts? Rather than contradicting, the accounts of the Jewish historian Josephus overlap descriptions of people, including the governors, John the Baptist and Jesus Christ himself.
“the story of Jesus of Nazareth must have a reality that cannot be explained by rational analysis.”
There are things we cannot put into a bottle or rationally explain, yet they are real. Often our entire education system is based upon faith. Faith is real and not necessarily rational. Example, I have no way of competently testing and personally verifying with confidence that Covid-19 is a real threat to humanity. The death rates do not substantiate it beyond being slightly more virulent than the common flu. However, we have faith in the science and we have faith in the government being diligent verifying risk to reward for vaccination. Faith is not often rational because it cannot be always analysed, yet faith is real, and can be very practical.
That’s right. Being a Christian is irrational. Because faith requires you to be sure of the things you hope for and certain of the things you cannot see. It is irrational for a sinless man to obey even unto death on a cross, bearing the sins of the world, so that those who believe would have eternal salvation. It is irrational to think that 2000 years ago my saviour bore my sin and guilt and shame to save me. When you have faith and you experience the love and Mercy of Jesus Christ, it is irrational to deny His existence. I love Yeshua because He first loved me with the most irrational love you could ever imagine. I am a C. I am a C.H. I am a C.H.R.I.S.T.I.A.N. Yeehaw!
And I have CHRIST in my HEART and I will LIVE ETERNALLY
Me too! And thankful for Gods grace and free gift of salvation everyday. 🙏❤️
Hey Ian,
I think you misunderstand his point. He isn’t saying its irrational, he is saying the non physical and the physical come together and the ultimate example of that is Christ. He uses morality as his example and how Christ is the embodiment of both worlds brought together. Also, I don’t think that christianity is irrational and I don’t think that he is using an irrational argument but an incredibly rational understanding of this topic and seeing the rational end to the existence of people and the world that surrounds them.
Becoming a Christian isn’t difficult and doesn’t have to be figured out with our human rationale. It’s a simple step of faith. Once we get past that first seemingly difficult step the rest is easy. It causes us to overcome the need to be in control and restores our relationship with God by recognizing that we’re sinners (if we weren’t we would be perfect and lead perfect lives) and confessing our sin. We then ask Jesus to come in to our lives and give us new direction. When Jesus left this earth He gave us the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, to live within us and be with us as we go through each day. How close we walk with the Lord is determined by a commitment to how close we want to walk with Him. He’s always there for us. There is a sense of peace and new freedom that cannot be explained. It’s a personal choice. We either believe it or we don’t. This is based on the truths found in the Bible.
Well said Kerstin, you are right, your time on this earth is basically decision time. God gave you a life span of time on this earth to make this important decision on if you are for him and his Saviour or the devil. There is no gray area as much as people think there is. So what’s it going be!!!
I feel it’s a no brainer but wow I amazed on what I see!!
Dear Dr. Peterson,
The Wisdom of Christ is foolishness to those who are perishing as St Paul says. Ask yourself if you can ever atone for your own sins. Ask yourself what the glorious creation shouts about God. See the evil and suffering of this world as further proof of the narrative of the Bible but not to be compared to the glory to come. Cry out to God, “I believe help my unbelief” or as Peter the apostle said, “Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life” Can He chase you further than he has? Throw away your pride like rubbish and run to him Lord save me. Lord have mercy. Grab His robe. Fall at His feet. We were created to worship. You don’t have to understand everything in the infinite to know you are lacking? Is there anyone else beside Christ you would throw your lot with? I’ll never be good enough, many non-believers have their life together better than I. I’m undisciplined, sickly, I have trouble getting along with people, but He loves me. Really loves me. If my mind, intellect, body and will collapse He is faithful. Who do I desire besides the oh God