Jordan Peterson

[Sketcher]

Most public figures are politicians or celebrities who have something to gain by claiming the name of Christ. For politicians, it makes them appear ethical and conceals or excuses transgressions. For celebrities, it makes them look less sinful, like they are trying to change from their evil ways. For musicians, it allows them access to the niche Christian music market.

To my understanding, Peterson has never been baptized.

I think the odds are 98% that Jordan Peterson does not believe the Gospel. Unfortunately, it is my understanding that intellectuals like Peterson conceal their personal beliefs frequently, and even consider them irrelevant to their discourse. They want to inspire people to think for themselves and not indoctrinate them with a belief system. When arguing with his detractors, Peterson has actually said "what I believe is irrelevant" multiple times. If you watch the transgender video above, the transpeople are confronting Peterson with beliefs and Peterson doesn't really have an answer for them.

My point is simply that Peterson has much to lose by publicly confessing faith in the Gospel, so we cannot be 100% certain of his private beliefs.

Being as he already released a commentary on Genesis Exodus and works with the Daily Wire, and retired from teaching at the University of Toronto, and he was given his CPO ruling for social media training already, I don't know what he has left to lose by a confession of faith. The left-wing haters hate him already, and he publicly associates with entities that they hate.

 

[linux.poet]

The left-wing haters hate him already, and he publicly associates with entities that they hate.

Assuming his motivations are entirely political is probably not a wise choice here. I don't think he is experiencing personal agony over what he thinks the left-wingers will do to him for said confession of faith. I think he's worried about alienating the "conservative, not Christian" portion of his fanbase, and also his intellectual friends, business partners, and colleagues.

The basis of his disagreements with left-wingers is intellectual. He did take that forward into his personal life because he believes that Christian ideas are more effective than left-wing ones.

 

[stevevw]

Yes, “Aww crikey!” Is well known in the United States. On the other hand very few Americans could translate Waltzing Matilda from its thick Aussie dialect into ordinary English, and most would likely assume it is about dancing with a girl named Matilda, perhaps by a fugitive, perhaps wanted by the police for illegal use of a drug called “billa” owing to the references to a “billa-bong.”

The actual meaning of the song is of course rather shockingly different and does not involve dancing in 3/4 time or a girl by the name of Matilda, and a billabong is in fact a watering hole.

By the way, the 1959 film On The Beach uses the song rather stirringly as it presents its story of Australia as (temporarily) the sole survivor of a nuclear apocalypse, before a cloud of radiation descends on it as well. It’s quite a good film, and a very romantic film also, despite the fact that everyone dies at the end (by which I mean literally everyone).

Strangly enough Tom Waites does a version of waltzing matilda but with different lyrics for the verses called Tom Traubert's Blues. It seems strange an old blues singer from the US would sing such a song but he does a pretty good job of it.

 

[The Liturgist]

Strangly enough Tom Waites does a version of waltzing matilda but with different lyrics for the verses called Tom Traubert's Blues. It seems strange an old blues singer from the US would sing such a song but he does a pretty good job of it.

Interesting.

 

[linux.poet]

Recently, I reached out to one of my Christian friends who has actually found Jordan Peterson's work to be helpful for her mental health at one point. I passed this discussion along over private communication, and since she has a rather unique writing style that is different from my own, I think I will let her words speak for themselves. I have her permission to pass this along to all of you.

I am finding this highly amusing for several reasons.

So far, there's a lot of talk about whether we should or should not listen to Jordan Peterson and almost none about how we should go about evangelizing Jordan Peterson and people like him.

J. P. has seen God, though he does not know it. He has seen God as few Christians have seen him, as the Standard by which good and evil are judged. This vision terrifies him, and rightly so. Should he fully accept the existence of an Intelligence behind this Standard, and an Interested Intelligence at that, he would have to admit something else. He knows that he is weak, that he does not measure up to the Standard. It's something that a lot of Christians ignore because they focus on God's love. J. P. looks at God and sees the glory displayed from Mt. Sinai.

What I don't think J. P. understands is that, if the Bible is history, that means something more. If Jesus is fully God and fully man, then He and only He could live up to His own Standard. If this is so, then the crucifixion takes on greater significance as the ultimate sacrifice. The Perfect One who did no wrong suffered in our place, and why? Because God loves you in particular, Jordan B. Peterson.

Honestly, the fact that Michael Knoweles and other Christians at the daily wire have not told him this is a great failing on their part.

If I had to guess, and I've already done a lot of guessing, I'd guess that Jordan is afraid of the glory of the law. He knows he does not measure up and feels that he has to be better before he goes before God. Knowing in the back of his mind that he can't be better is what keeps him from fully accepting the existence of God at all.

And this is a story that has been told before.

Well, that was delightful. I almost want to join that group that seems so keen to talk to Jordan Peterson. What do you think the odds are that they plan to pester him into conversion?

By the way, if you want to tell them what I've told you, feel free.

After reading this, I went to look into the situation with trying to contact Peterson to talk to him.

We could invite him to a handpicked private group on CF ?

That's a big maybe. The issue would be contacting him in a discreet enough way, and usher him into the private group without having him being harassed on his way to the group and on his way out. If the news leaks to anyone that isn't a part of the group, you have his fans joining the forum (like my friend) to defend him, you have him getting in contact with other members who may harass him and misrepresent Christianity to him, and so on with all of the problems.

As tempting as it would be to just ride the wave and accept the chaos, that's probably not feasible for the moderation team on CF to handle. They still have to enforce the forum rules, even if a bunch of people don't read them because they are excited to see Jordan Peterson and rush to make accounts. In addition, that's not financially feasible. Recently I was working with a forum webmaster client - income from a forum site like this one is somewhere between $300 and $500 a month, and some of that has to cover hosting, domain, and other subscription services that websites like these need to keep running. I can't imagine that @doughtz has enough money to cover a speaking fee for Jordan Peterson, for example.

An example fee to book Jordan Peterson is in the starting range of $75,000-$149,999.

If you have your heart set on this forum as a venue, even for a small group, the admins of this forum would need to reach out to Peterson on his website contact page: Contact – Jordan Peterson I don't think we have enough clout as individual forum members to do anything. This isn't our website.

However, when researching that, I found another opportunity that may be interesting: Peterson has posted his series' on Genesis and Exodus, as well as numerous other videos, on the Daily Wire. Perhaps partnering with them in a "Christians talk to Jordan Peterson" style video could be a deal that the Daily Wire would accept.

Another option is that some of us could pony up for a subscription to the Daily Wire and review those Genesis and Exodus series over here from a Christian perspective in order to get the attention of that media organization, and push it back at DW and Peterson through social media. We could review his social media videos on Christianity as well, as long as we include video descriptions in the first post. What's wrong with his perspective? What does Jordan Peterson get right? What biblical truths from church history apply?

Because while Peterson isn't claiming the name of Christ, he's talking about the Bible and he has a large audience. Challenging his media presence could generate a lot of interesting discussions here on CF. If we become part of the conversation that surrounds Jordan B. Peterson, I believe that is our best chance of landing the intended result of having a private group of members talk with the professor.

 

[Lukaris]

In CF similar threads I saw that in OBOB that Jordan Peterson’s wife, Tammy, has found the Lord in Catholic Christian faith.

Wife of Jordan Peterson to Become Catholic: Tammy Peterson's Journey Through the Power of the Rosary - EWTN Norge

Tammy Peterson, host of the “Tammy Peterson Podcast” and wife of Canadian psychologist and author Jordan Peterson, announced she entered RCIA. RCIA, or the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, is a process the Church uses to educate and aid adults who hope to be Confirmed. Peterson was...

www.ewtn.no

 

[Chesterton]

The actual meaning of the song is of course rather shockingly different and does not involve dancing in 3/4 time or a girl by the name of Matilda, and a billabong is in fact a watering hole.

I'm confused. The actual meaning is a guy finds something, which turns out to belong to someone else, and instead of returning it back to the owner, he commits suicide? This is a great patriotic song? I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, I really must be missing the actual meaning.

Edited to ask the esteemed Australian @Occams Barber if he can explain what I'm missing.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I'm confused. The actual meaning is a guy finds something, which turns out to belong to someone else, and instead of returning it back to the owner, he commits suicide? This is a great patriotic song? I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, I really must be missing the actual meaning.

The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one's belongings in a "matilda" (swag) slung over one's back. The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or "swagman", making a drink of billy tea at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat.

 

[Chesterton]

The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) with one's belongings in a "matilda" (swag) slung over one's back. The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker, or "swagman", making a drink of billy tea at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat.

Yes, I know what the words mean.

 

[The Liturgist]

I'm confused. The actual meaning is a guy finds something, which turns out to belong to someone else, and instead of returning it back to the owner, he commits suicide? This is a great patriotic song? I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, I really must be missing the actual meaning.

Well all I can say is at least its more colorful than, for example, the Soviet music of the Stalinist composer Alexandrov such as The Sacred War, March of the Defenders of Moscow, Invincible and Legendary and the Soviet national anthem…

 

[stevevw]

After checking out Jordan Petersons own words on belief in Christ and being a Christian I really think he is very close if not already a Christian. He more or less is saying that there is only one figure we can look to for salvation from sin which is Christ. I think he understands that this takes belief, a giving over of ones self to Christ and that this forms the basis for how he lives.

I think as a psychologist he just comes at this from a different perspective. He is not only explaining his own personal journey but also in the context of human psychology, the human condition of being fallen and needing something greater than ourselves to overcome our sinful nature.

In the video below Peterson speaks more or less Christs teachings, about living the truth, about shinning a light into the darkness of our hearts and by love and not malevolence. The truth and light ultimately being in Christ.

I think Peterson has faith in God and Christ, he just doesn't relate to belief being evidenced just by words but rather by actually living out Christs truths like they are real. That to me seems the greatest example of faith. For Peterson you can't claim you believe something and then not act like you believe it. So in that sense he is more genuine in his belief.

 

[Chesterton]

After editing post #207, I realized this is a Christian only sub-forum, so possibly @Occams Barber might be kind enough to respond to me via PM. I'm honestly curious.

 

[Reasonably Sane]

He claims he is a Christian and then he gets all emotional when people press him on if he believes in God (which is not even as big of a claim as believing in the resurrection of Christ). One time when he was on the Joe Rogan podcast he said he was agnostic about the resurrection and that's about as close as I have seen him get to saying he believes in the resurrection of Christ. Agnosticism does not save anyone. In fact, it's possible to believe in the resurrection and not be saved. Satan believes that, but he is described as the evil one.

I've never heard him claim to be a Christian. He reminds me of myself when I was young. I considered myself a "friend" of modern Christianity. I became more "committed" in 1981.

So I cut him slack. I see him as in a phase of his journey. Better to be the seed dropped on fertile soil than seed dropped on the rocks.

 

[Carl Emerson]

After checking out Jordan Petersons own words on belief in Christ and being a Christian I really think he is very close if not already a Christian. He more or less is saying that there is only one figure we can look to for salvation from sin which is Christ. I think he understands that this takes belief, a giving over of ones self to Christ and that this forms the basis for how he lives.

I think as a psychologist he just comes at this from a different perspective. He is not only explaining his own personal journey but also in the context of human psychology, the human condition of being fallen and needing something greater than ourselves to overcome our sinful nature.

In the video below Peterson speaks more or less Christs teachings, about living the truth, about shinning a light into the darkness of our hearts and by love and not malevolence. The truth and light ultimately being in Christ.

I think Peterson has faith in God and Christ, he just doesn't relate to belief being evidenced just by words but rather by actually living out Christs truths like they are real. That to me seems the greatest example of faith. For Peterson you can't claim you believe something and then not act like you believe it. So in that sense he is more genuine in his belief.

The rub is that action in itself does not save according to 1 Cor 13

 

[Lukaris]

I wonder if Jordan Peterson is coming to faith in a similar way C.S. Lewis may have? Certainly C.S. Lewis will always remain a great witness of faith. In: The Abolition of Man, I believe C.S. Lewis even detected the first signs of the breakdown of humanity. I believe someone like Jordan Peterson can pick up where C. S. Lewis left off.

 

[Reasonably Sane]

I wonder if Jordan Peterson is coming to faith in a similar way C.S. Lewis may have? Certainly C.S. Lewis will always remain a great witness of faith. In: The Abolition of Man, I believe C.S. Lewis even detected the first signs of the breakdown of humanity. I believe someone like Jordan Peterson can pick up where C. S. Lewis left off.

You pretty much state my position on this as well. I will say this: I'm 70 and went through 11 hours of open heart surgery 7 months ago. It changed my perspective considerably. I'm MUCH less likely to judge whether or not other people are Christian. I take their statements with a grain of salt. I certainly know that I have been less than articulate in my description of my own Christian walk from time to time. It is hard to get a good grasp of another's "Christianity" without having a personal Q&A with them.

These days I'm much more likely to just let others live their own life and follow their own journey and I hope to meet them on the other side.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I wonder if Jordan Peterson is coming to faith in a similar way C.S. Lewis may have? Certainly C.S. Lewis will always remain a great witness of faith. In: The Abolition of Man, I believe C.S. Lewis even detected the first signs of the breakdown of humanity. I believe someone like Jordan Peterson can pick up where C. S. Lewis left off.

Doubtless Christianity needs a voice...

Oh that it was a submitted soul that He can inhabit and speak through.

 

[Carl Emerson]

Doubtless Christianity needs a voice...

Oh that it was a submitted soul that He can inhabit and speak through.

Well folks - After listening to this from around 26.44 I am now more inclined to think He is indeed a believer - young in the faith but none the less a follower of The Way.

While his current priority is to address social ills - in time one would expect him to be more gospel orientated.

He talks in intellectual language of a Christianity that is personal and involves the indwelling Christ.

 

[Carl Emerson]

I wonder if Jordan Peterson is coming to faith in a similar way C.S. Lewis may have? Certainly C.S. Lewis will always remain a great witness of faith. In: The Abolition of Man, I believe C.S. Lewis even detected the first signs of the breakdown of humanity. I believe someone like Jordan Peterson can pick up where C. S. Lewis left off.

I was thinking that Francis Shaeffer was a similar voice...

 

[Jesse Dornfeld]

Well folks - After listening to this from around 26.44 I am now more inclined to think He is indeed a believer - young in the faith but none the less a follower of The Way.

While his current priority is to address social ills - in time one would expect him to be more gospel orientated.

He talks in intellectual language of a Christianity that is personal and involves the indwelling Christ.

Pay very close attention, Carl. Peterson says he is "religious" but he does not say he believes in God. He says it is "evidence" for God while also saying that belief in God is not just a set of propositions.