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Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity: The Search for a Meaningful Life
The person most responsible for reintroducing God and the Bible into mainstream secular culture today is not a pastor, a Scripture scholar, or a bishop—But a psychology professor with no church membership.
‘Jordan Peterson, God, and The Search for a Meaningful Life’ is an influential book and a structured analysis from the perspective of a Christian regarding Peterson's biblical YouTube series and his bestselling book ‘12 Rules for Life’, complete with an epilogue examining its sequel, ‘Beyond Order’.
Jordan Peterson’s lectures and writings on psychology, philosophy, and religion have been a cultural phenomenon—Attracting tens of thousands to arenas and millions to his social media sites and prompting many to leave behind secularism and reconsider Christianity.
Despite his great influence on modern popular culture, Peterson’s own thought is marked by a tensive suspension between archetype and reality—between the ideal of Christ and the God who acts in history. When asked if he himself is a believer, Peterson responds, “I try to live as if God exists.”
In the wake of recent tragedy and great personal suffering; Peterson’s wrestling with the figure of Christ and, in his own wording, the profoundly “sane” quality of Catholicism, has reached a kind of crescendo in both his life and work.
Christopher Kaczor and Matthew R. Petrusek draw readers into the depths of Peterson’s thoughts on Scripture, suffering, and meaning, exploring both the points of contact with Christianity and the ways in which faith fulfills Peterson’s project. Their writing provides meaning for devout Christians and his fans alike, encouraging them to think about and understand the significance of Peterson's phenomenon and what it means to believe.
‘Jordan Peterson, God, and The Search for a Meaningful Life’ is an influential book and a structured analysis from the perspective of a Christian regarding Peterson's biblical YouTube series and his bestselling book ‘12 Rules for Life’, complete with an epilogue examining its sequel, ‘Beyond Order’.
Jordan Peterson’s lectures and writings on psychology, philosophy, and religion have been a cultural phenomenon—Attracting tens of thousands to arenas and millions to his social media sites and prompting many to leave behind secularism and reconsider Christianity.
Despite his great influence on modern popular culture, Peterson’s own thought is marked by a tensive suspension between archetype and reality—between the ideal of Christ and the God who acts in history. When asked if he himself is a believer, Peterson responds, “I try to live as if God exists.”
In the wake of recent tragedy and great personal suffering; Peterson’s wrestling with the figure of Christ and, in his own wording, the profoundly “sane” quality of Catholicism, has reached a kind of crescendo in both his life and work.
Christopher Kaczor and Matthew R. Petrusek draw readers into the depths of Peterson’s thoughts on Scripture, suffering, and meaning, exploring both the points of contact with Christianity and the ways in which faith fulfills Peterson’s project. Their writing provides meaning for devout Christians and his fans alike, encouraging them to think about and understand the significance of Peterson's phenomenon and what it means to believe.
234 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 29, 2021
252 people are currently reading
946 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Kaczor
29 books34 followersDr. Christopher Kaczor (Born 1969 ) is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He graduated from the Honors Program of Boston College earned a Ph.D. four years later from the University of Notre Dame. He did post-doctoral work in Germany at the University of Cologne as an Alexander von Humbolt Foundation, Federal Chancellor Fellow and returned as a Fulbright Scholar.
Dr. Kaczor's research on issues of ethics, philosophy, and religion has been in The Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, and The Today Show.
Dr. Kaczor's research on issues of ethics, philosophy, and religion has been in The Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, National Review, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, and The Today Show.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 28, 2021
I found this to be a surprisingly great book. I say "surprisingly" because I don't think I've ever read a book like this. Mind you, I didn't expect it to be bad
(nothing that comes out of the Word on Fire Institute is less than excellent), but the cover tells us that, in brief, we’re going to read two philosophy and theology professors discussing someone else's work, namely Jordan Peterson, the wildly popular Canadian psychologist. His YouTube videos show an emotionally powerful, absurdly articulate man, but when it comes down to the substance, he is not always easy to pin down. For a catholic like me, there is still a distance between Peterson’s insights and Christian doctrine - even though he is clearly VERY close to it. We could say that he’s been expressing a mix of secular and traditional views.
This book is great because it takes the best work that Peterson has published - in particular, highlights from his YouTube series of lectures about the Old Testament (although not only that) - and, while keeping very honest to the original content, it reads it under the light of Christian doctrine. Or, more precisely, it draws a bridge between Peterson's thinking and Christian theology, and it asks very pertinent questions about the distance between the two positions.
The result is a book that benefits from Peterson's outstanding communication skills - each of his sentences is infused with extraordinary emotional power - while reviewing some of the most important Old Testament stories and concepts, especially from Genesis.
As a believer, you get the best of both worlds: Peterson's power of expression and the authors' accuracy and clarity when it comes to Christian theology.
I’ve seen some of Peterson’s videos and found a lot of wisdom in his ideas, especially in his efforts to contrast and balance some misguided contemporary ideologies, like modern hyper-feminism, anti-racism, intersectionality and all the other intellectually weak positions that gravitate around these. This sanity of thought led a certain part of the greater public to flag him as “alt-right”, as you would expect. But that’s a mistake (honest or dishonest), because Peterson’s message goes much deeper than politics.
What Peterson still lacks is a clear position in terms of Christianity, and religion in general. He's always been purposely and very carefully obscure about it (and the authors of this book acknowledge this), expressing on one hand his love for many christian concepts, and on the other his inability to believe in Jesus Christ as God.
The cynical part of me has always been thinking: "he doesn't want to take a clear position because that would hurt his media empire", because Peterson would alienate and draw away a significant part of his following if he came out saying that he has officially converted to Christianity.
Let's not forget that behind his name there is a multi-million $$ media business.
However, while there is no doubt that a portion of Peterson's audience would react negatively to his conversion, I think the truth is more complex than a simple marketing calculation on Peterson's part: after all, he has come to great prominence also for his trademark desperate honesty of thought and speech, and I don't think he is a “playing games” type of guy.
It's more likely that he understands all this, and while he is probably attracted by a life with Christ, he also feels compelled by a certain "personal mission" to lead all the people who are listening to him, and he is feeling this deep conflict within himself between maximizing his power as an "independent global self-development missionary" on one side, and giving his life to Christ on the other, which would mean taking a narrower path.
Or maybe the truth is a mix of these two views that I just described, the cynical one and the rosy one.
In any case: this is a wonderful, wonderful book. And very useful. I learned a lot from it, especially about the ancient biblical stories included in the book of Genesis.
I loved how precisely the authors laser into the main problem with Peterson’s worldview: his metaphysics present many philosophical inconsistencies and lack an objective center of gravity.
There is also in Peterson an existential darkness that is totally extraneous to “the gigantic secret” of Christians, as Chesterton called it: our profound joy in loving God and in living according to His word. We do the right thing not because it is our duty, but because, ultimately, it makes us happy to do it.
In the end, the difference between “acting as if God exists”, which Peterson says he does, and “believing in God and acting accordingly”, which Peterson says he is not ready to do, may seem inconsequential. Yet the difference between the two is as vast and relevant as the difference between reading a great love story and falling in love yourself. The right rules will certainly help you survive. But only love — both giving love and letting yourself be loved — will free you to live
(nothing that comes out of the Word on Fire Institute is less than excellent), but the cover tells us that, in brief, we’re going to read two philosophy and theology professors discussing someone else's work, namely Jordan Peterson, the wildly popular Canadian psychologist. His YouTube videos show an emotionally powerful, absurdly articulate man, but when it comes down to the substance, he is not always easy to pin down. For a catholic like me, there is still a distance between Peterson’s insights and Christian doctrine - even though he is clearly VERY close to it. We could say that he’s been expressing a mix of secular and traditional views.
This book is great because it takes the best work that Peterson has published - in particular, highlights from his YouTube series of lectures about the Old Testament (although not only that) - and, while keeping very honest to the original content, it reads it under the light of Christian doctrine. Or, more precisely, it draws a bridge between Peterson's thinking and Christian theology, and it asks very pertinent questions about the distance between the two positions.
The result is a book that benefits from Peterson's outstanding communication skills - each of his sentences is infused with extraordinary emotional power - while reviewing some of the most important Old Testament stories and concepts, especially from Genesis.
As a believer, you get the best of both worlds: Peterson's power of expression and the authors' accuracy and clarity when it comes to Christian theology.
I’ve seen some of Peterson’s videos and found a lot of wisdom in his ideas, especially in his efforts to contrast and balance some misguided contemporary ideologies, like modern hyper-feminism, anti-racism, intersectionality and all the other intellectually weak positions that gravitate around these. This sanity of thought led a certain part of the greater public to flag him as “alt-right”, as you would expect. But that’s a mistake (honest or dishonest), because Peterson’s message goes much deeper than politics.
What Peterson still lacks is a clear position in terms of Christianity, and religion in general. He's always been purposely and very carefully obscure about it (and the authors of this book acknowledge this), expressing on one hand his love for many christian concepts, and on the other his inability to believe in Jesus Christ as God.
The cynical part of me has always been thinking: "he doesn't want to take a clear position because that would hurt his media empire", because Peterson would alienate and draw away a significant part of his following if he came out saying that he has officially converted to Christianity.
Let's not forget that behind his name there is a multi-million $$ media business.
However, while there is no doubt that a portion of Peterson's audience would react negatively to his conversion, I think the truth is more complex than a simple marketing calculation on Peterson's part: after all, he has come to great prominence also for his trademark desperate honesty of thought and speech, and I don't think he is a “playing games” type of guy.
It's more likely that he understands all this, and while he is probably attracted by a life with Christ, he also feels compelled by a certain "personal mission" to lead all the people who are listening to him, and he is feeling this deep conflict within himself between maximizing his power as an "independent global self-development missionary" on one side, and giving his life to Christ on the other, which would mean taking a narrower path.
Or maybe the truth is a mix of these two views that I just described, the cynical one and the rosy one.
In any case: this is a wonderful, wonderful book. And very useful. I learned a lot from it, especially about the ancient biblical stories included in the book of Genesis.
I loved how precisely the authors laser into the main problem with Peterson’s worldview: his metaphysics present many philosophical inconsistencies and lack an objective center of gravity.
There is also in Peterson an existential darkness that is totally extraneous to “the gigantic secret” of Christians, as Chesterton called it: our profound joy in loving God and in living according to His word. We do the right thing not because it is our duty, but because, ultimately, it makes us happy to do it.
In the end, the difference between “acting as if God exists”, which Peterson says he does, and “believing in God and acting accordingly”, which Peterson says he is not ready to do, may seem inconsequential. Yet the difference between the two is as vast and relevant as the difference between reading a great love story and falling in love yourself. The right rules will certainly help you survive. But only love — both giving love and letting yourself be loved — will free you to live
May 5, 2022
A very kind blog reader sent me this as an Easter gift. Honestly the best thing about it was the really nice note that was included (I've only read it four or five times so far - hahaha).
I dipped into Jordan Peterson's video series a while back to see what all the fuss was about and found his reasoning very compelling. I was interested that a Jungian psychotherapist seemed to draw all the right conclusions from a close reading of the book of Genesis. Naturally, I've seen many references to Peterson and liked the idea that he has particularly caught the attention of young men who look to his insights for guidance in their lives. In our age of "diversity" this group has been almost deliberately overlooked.
Most of all I wondered how Peterson's conclusions stacked up against a Christian reading of the same scripture and traditions. I wasn't so interested in that question that I was going to watch all of his presentations though. That is why I was delighted when this book came out which does just that. It lived up to its promise in spades.
The authors go through Peterson's 12 rules of life from the book of the same name, look at his reasoning and conclusions, and then compare them to Christian thought. It is amazing how much Peterson gets right, showing that if one has a logical, well trained mind then scripture is not an archaic, impenetrable text as some critics allege. More than anything, I admire Peterson's dedication to following lines of thinking through to their logical conclusion, even when it leads to some hard truths. When his thinking goes astray, it is because he is not taking God into the equation, as the authors show time and again.
This makes for fascinating reading. Not only do we see the truths of Christianity from an outside view, but we see where Christianity provides the fullness of truth when God is included (as, indeed, he must be). The authors also take a look at Peterson's later book Beyond Order. Finally, there is a transcript of a 2019 conversation between Peterson and Bishop Robert Barron which makes a perfect ending.
Highly recommended.
I dipped into Jordan Peterson's video series a while back to see what all the fuss was about and found his reasoning very compelling. I was interested that a Jungian psychotherapist seemed to draw all the right conclusions from a close reading of the book of Genesis. Naturally, I've seen many references to Peterson and liked the idea that he has particularly caught the attention of young men who look to his insights for guidance in their lives. In our age of "diversity" this group has been almost deliberately overlooked.
Most of all I wondered how Peterson's conclusions stacked up against a Christian reading of the same scripture and traditions. I wasn't so interested in that question that I was going to watch all of his presentations though. That is why I was delighted when this book came out which does just that. It lived up to its promise in spades.
The authors go through Peterson's 12 rules of life from the book of the same name, look at his reasoning and conclusions, and then compare them to Christian thought. It is amazing how much Peterson gets right, showing that if one has a logical, well trained mind then scripture is not an archaic, impenetrable text as some critics allege. More than anything, I admire Peterson's dedication to following lines of thinking through to their logical conclusion, even when it leads to some hard truths. When his thinking goes astray, it is because he is not taking God into the equation, as the authors show time and again.
This makes for fascinating reading. Not only do we see the truths of Christianity from an outside view, but we see where Christianity provides the fullness of truth when God is included (as, indeed, he must be). The authors also take a look at Peterson's later book Beyond Order. Finally, there is a transcript of a 2019 conversation between Peterson and Bishop Robert Barron which makes a perfect ending.
Highly recommended.
September 2, 2021
Best book I have read in a long time
The calibre of the concepts kept me constantly examining myself. The authors challenged me to speak the truth without fear.
The calibre of the concepts kept me constantly examining myself. The authors challenged me to speak the truth without fear.
January 15, 2024
Najznámejším popularizátorom Biblie našich čias zrejme nie je kňaz, pastor ani teológ. Je ním Jordan Peterson, kanadský psychológ, ktorý nemá žiadne formálne teologické vzdelanie a nepatrí do žiadnej cirkvi.
Christopher Kaczor a Matthew R. Petrusek, odborní pracovníci evanjelizačného projektu Word on Fire a učitelia na Loyola Marymount University, sa teraz podujali napísať zhrnutie učenia populárneho psychológa, a čo je dôležitejšie, zhodnotiť ho z pohľadu katolíckej viery.
Filozof Kaczor sa v prvej časti knihy venuje cyklu Petersonových prednášok o archetypálnych významoch biblických príbehov, pričom poukazuje na to, ako Peterson v mnohom neúmyselne nadväzuje na tradíciu, ktorú po sebe zanechali veľkí západní teológovia ako Augustín či Tomáš Akvinský.
Kaczor nekladie Petersonov výklad a tradičnú kresťanskú interpretáciu do protikladu, no ukazuje, že kresťanský výklad Petersonovo čítanie Biblie obohacuje o mnohé vrstvy, ktoré nie sú v Petersonovom „racionalistickom“ výklade prítomné.
V druhej polovici knihy teologický etik Petrusek analyzuje Petersonove rady týkajúce sa zmyslu života a prebratia osobnej zodpovednosti, ktoré formuloval vo svojom bestselleri 12 pravidiel pre život. Postupuje pritom podobným spôsobom ako jeho kolega Kaczor, keď Petersonovo učenie obohacuje o významné kapitoly z dejín teológie a biblické príbehy.
Petrusek je už k Petersonovi trochu "drsnejší" ako Kaczor a poukazuje na to, že jeho učenie, zvlášť v oblasti metafyziky a etiky, bez "katolíckej nadstavby" dáva zmysel len obmedzene. (Petrusek porovnáva napríklad Petersonove využívanie pragmatickej teórie pravdy s v katolíckej tradícii tradične využívanou korešpondenčnou teóriou pravdy.)
Jordan Peterson, Boh a kresťanstvo podľa mňa dokáže upútať aj ľudí, ktorí poznajú Jordana Petersona, no nie sú až tak dobre oboznámení s učením Cirkvi, aj kresťanov, ktorí by chceli vedieť, kto je to ten kontroverzný kanadský psychológ.
Prvej menovanej skupine táto kniha môže ukázať, že kresťanská viera je logickým riešením mnohých problémov, ktoré Peterson vo svojom diele pomenováva, a je viac konzistentná a sebestačná ako jeho učenie. A pre druhú skupinu, kresťanov, podľa mňa môže byť Peterson inšpiratívny v tom, akým spôsobom efektívne využíva sociálne siete a moderné trendy na rozšírenie svojho posolstva.
Celá moja recenzia: https://nm.sk/internetovy-fenomen-jor...
Christopher Kaczor a Matthew R. Petrusek, odborní pracovníci evanjelizačného projektu Word on Fire a učitelia na Loyola Marymount University, sa teraz podujali napísať zhrnutie učenia populárneho psychológa, a čo je dôležitejšie, zhodnotiť ho z pohľadu katolíckej viery.
Filozof Kaczor sa v prvej časti knihy venuje cyklu Petersonových prednášok o archetypálnych významoch biblických príbehov, pričom poukazuje na to, ako Peterson v mnohom neúmyselne nadväzuje na tradíciu, ktorú po sebe zanechali veľkí západní teológovia ako Augustín či Tomáš Akvinský.
Kaczor nekladie Petersonov výklad a tradičnú kresťanskú interpretáciu do protikladu, no ukazuje, že kresťanský výklad Petersonovo čítanie Biblie obohacuje o mnohé vrstvy, ktoré nie sú v Petersonovom „racionalistickom“ výklade prítomné.
V druhej polovici knihy teologický etik Petrusek analyzuje Petersonove rady týkajúce sa zmyslu života a prebratia osobnej zodpovednosti, ktoré formuloval vo svojom bestselleri 12 pravidiel pre život. Postupuje pritom podobným spôsobom ako jeho kolega Kaczor, keď Petersonovo učenie obohacuje o významné kapitoly z dejín teológie a biblické príbehy.
Petrusek je už k Petersonovi trochu "drsnejší" ako Kaczor a poukazuje na to, že jeho učenie, zvlášť v oblasti metafyziky a etiky, bez "katolíckej nadstavby" dáva zmysel len obmedzene. (Petrusek porovnáva napríklad Petersonove využívanie pragmatickej teórie pravdy s v katolíckej tradícii tradične využívanou korešpondenčnou teóriou pravdy.)
Jordan Peterson, Boh a kresťanstvo podľa mňa dokáže upútať aj ľudí, ktorí poznajú Jordana Petersona, no nie sú až tak dobre oboznámení s učením Cirkvi, aj kresťanov, ktorí by chceli vedieť, kto je to ten kontroverzný kanadský psychológ.
Prvej menovanej skupine táto kniha môže ukázať, že kresťanská viera je logickým riešením mnohých problémov, ktoré Peterson vo svojom diele pomenováva, a je viac konzistentná a sebestačná ako jeho učenie. A pre druhú skupinu, kresťanov, podľa mňa môže byť Peterson inšpiratívny v tom, akým spôsobom efektívne využíva sociálne siete a moderné trendy na rozšírenie svojho posolstva.
Celá moja recenzia: https://nm.sk/internetovy-fenomen-jor...
Want to read
February 28, 2022Related conversation (with some Harry Potter thrown in).
January 1, 2023
I was excited to read this book after watching Jordan Peterson’s lectures on Genesis, and reading all 24 rules for life.
The first part of the book connecting Christianity to Peterson’s lectures on Genesis was engaging and enjoyable.
The second half of the book was painful. It was written by a different author who had a lot to say, but the majority of it was redundant and poorly written. It definitely ruined the book for me.
If you’re interested in reading this I’d stick to the first 64 pages.
The first part of the book connecting Christianity to Peterson’s lectures on Genesis was engaging and enjoyable.
The second half of the book was painful. It was written by a different author who had a lot to say, but the majority of it was redundant and poorly written. It definitely ruined the book for me.
If you’re interested in reading this I’d stick to the first 64 pages.
February 29, 2024
I will not cover every chapter of the book. It consists of 3 parts - notes to the biblical series of J.B. Peterson, notes on the 12 rules for life and a comparison with the church fathers, and finally an interview with Peterson with Father Barron. The book urges that faith is not above reason and is not antagonistic to science, but the logical consequences of the scientific view are in contradiction. I will discuss these in the notes below for the first two chapters. It is a modern work of evangelization, which, at least compared to the atheism of the antagonistic works of believers, sounds inviting. But for me, the arguments are unconvincing and I remain cold towards the Christian faith, even though I agree with the need to search for meaning and the path of self-improvement.
Notes:
In the preface, the author laments on the one hand how for every convert there are 6 apostates, but at the same time, Peterson's lectures on the Bible are watched by millions of people... However, according to the author, Peterson's interpretation is psychological-philosophical and supposedly gnostic - since gnosticism is a stressful term for various heretical movements in Christianity whose frequent motif was that the God of the Old Testament is evil and false, and at the same time it is a word meaning "knowledge" (deep - intimate) is a little preface itself more significant than Peterson's work.
I. Part - Genesis
The author leans on Peterson's side and that the Bible was not written as a science in the sense of describing physical reality, but as a practical guide. But that is precisely the simplified argument of new atheists like Dawkins, which is hidden in the text - we can also get moral lessons from Aesop's fable. But we don't hang these stories above others on the basis of the argument of Divine inspiration, and we certainly don't go out to kill ourselves because of them, as in the case of religious fanatics. Peterson's argument - the Bible does not describe what happened. But what should be? - it is nice, but the Bible contains cosmogenesis and it contradicts our knowledge. Yes, this part is less important for believers (Catholics), but it seems to me like mental gymnastics. But the author makes a good note that to interpret any statement/text you need to know the context for its correct interpretation and Peterson does not do that - instead, he uses the prism of archetypes and modern philosophy.
Part II - Creation of the world
Peterson is not entirely antipathetic to context and frames the creation of the world using the Enuma Elish. He compares the division of truths (chaos) by God to the dismemberment of the dead body of the goddess Tiamat (who also represents chaos).
But I would like to stop here with a personal note - I assume that Peterson got this comparison from the comparative religionist Mirce Eliada (since I read his books on the history of religious thought and Peterson quotes him in his Maps of Meaning, I am quite sure of this). It was a popular theory among biblical scholars in the 60s. 20 cent. where, based on the similarity of the words Tiamat and tahnut (thnt - depth, watery; which God divides), parallels were sought between these stories. However, in John Day's work - Yahweh: Gods and Goddesses of Canaan; you can read that modern historical-critical biblical scholars abandoned this interpretation - after linguistic analysis - and came to the conclusion that this coincidence is purely accidental... If we want to compare biblical texts, we find greater similarities in the texts of the Canaanites and the ancient texts of the Levant. These similarities are mostly hidden in the Psalms. God fights with the sea creature - Leviathan. God the creator among the Canaanites fights with lvtn (it is a Semitic language - just like the Jews, so they don't write down consonants). The difference, however, is that the Jews were monotheists, while the Canaanites recognized the god Baal, who defeated the monster representing death and emerged from its mouth after 3 days... Opaa... And e.g. Psalm 82 probably contains the common past of these two religions - I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Yeah, that is, unless you are Catholic, in which case it is a vision of the future when we are all sons of God thanks to Christ...
The author, on the other hand, describes these 2 "supervisions" of mythology as a creation from nothing (God) and a creation from a dead goddess - matter (Marduk). And at the same time, he notes that it should be "moral". Because thus it becomes the intention of a moral divine being and love. And the creation of matter is amoral. Ok.. "The Bible itself speaks to us about the origin and formation of the universe, not to provide us with a scientific explanation, but to describe the proper relationship of man to God and the universe." - The fact? Too bad the church didn't think of it during the time of Galileo and Copernicus...
Evolution and faith - The author says that evolution is not in conflict with beliefs in a good God, and at the same time that materialism is not the same as science. Here, however, I am alluding to the problem of theological evil that is not caused by sin and does not have to be committed on people as a punishment for original sin, as some apologists try to twist out of this problem. Consider a calf that is about to be born only to be pulled out of its mother's womb and torn alive by wolves. The calf may not be equally capable of self-awareness, but based on the knowledge of affective neuroscience, we know that it is equipped with a fear center and definitely has sensory endings for pain. Unless, according to some Christian authors, animals do not have an eternal soul, in such a case it is impossible to argue about eternity spent in bliss in heaven. Simply God, the supreme good and the perfect engineer, created a creature capable of experiencing pain so that in the first moments of its life it would experience tearing alive and permanent death. Another example from Fry - is a worm that can reproduce only by attacking the host, gouging out his eyes, and blinding him while causing incredible torment... Is this pain and suffering the work of a perfectly good God? The argument of theological evil is so serious that one does not need to understand science or evolution in order for a person to fall away from the faith - a well-known example is the new testament biblical scholar Bart Ehrman. Ehrman himself notes in his book God's Problem how not finding an answer to this question in the Bible drove him to atheism. But this theological evil is logical from an evolutionary materialist point of view and explainable - there is natural selection which is a meat grinder for all living beings - a mechanism that is imperfect and not controlled by anyone and not a perfect good God...
Notes:
In the preface, the author laments on the one hand how for every convert there are 6 apostates, but at the same time, Peterson's lectures on the Bible are watched by millions of people... However, according to the author, Peterson's interpretation is psychological-philosophical and supposedly gnostic - since gnosticism is a stressful term for various heretical movements in Christianity whose frequent motif was that the God of the Old Testament is evil and false, and at the same time it is a word meaning "knowledge" (deep - intimate) is a little preface itself more significant than Peterson's work.
I. Part - Genesis
The author leans on Peterson's side and that the Bible was not written as a science in the sense of describing physical reality, but as a practical guide. But that is precisely the simplified argument of new atheists like Dawkins, which is hidden in the text - we can also get moral lessons from Aesop's fable. But we don't hang these stories above others on the basis of the argument of Divine inspiration, and we certainly don't go out to kill ourselves because of them, as in the case of religious fanatics. Peterson's argument - the Bible does not describe what happened. But what should be? - it is nice, but the Bible contains cosmogenesis and it contradicts our knowledge. Yes, this part is less important for believers (Catholics), but it seems to me like mental gymnastics. But the author makes a good note that to interpret any statement/text you need to know the context for its correct interpretation and Peterson does not do that - instead, he uses the prism of archetypes and modern philosophy.
Part II - Creation of the world
Peterson is not entirely antipathetic to context and frames the creation of the world using the Enuma Elish. He compares the division of truths (chaos) by God to the dismemberment of the dead body of the goddess Tiamat (who also represents chaos).
But I would like to stop here with a personal note - I assume that Peterson got this comparison from the comparative religionist Mirce Eliada (since I read his books on the history of religious thought and Peterson quotes him in his Maps of Meaning, I am quite sure of this). It was a popular theory among biblical scholars in the 60s. 20 cent. where, based on the similarity of the words Tiamat and tahnut (thnt - depth, watery; which God divides), parallels were sought between these stories. However, in John Day's work - Yahweh: Gods and Goddesses of Canaan; you can read that modern historical-critical biblical scholars abandoned this interpretation - after linguistic analysis - and came to the conclusion that this coincidence is purely accidental... If we want to compare biblical texts, we find greater similarities in the texts of the Canaanites and the ancient texts of the Levant. These similarities are mostly hidden in the Psalms. God fights with the sea creature - Leviathan. God the creator among the Canaanites fights with lvtn (it is a Semitic language - just like the Jews, so they don't write down consonants). The difference, however, is that the Jews were monotheists, while the Canaanites recognized the god Baal, who defeated the monster representing death and emerged from its mouth after 3 days... Opaa... And e.g. Psalm 82 probably contains the common past of these two religions - I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” Yeah, that is, unless you are Catholic, in which case it is a vision of the future when we are all sons of God thanks to Christ...
The author, on the other hand, describes these 2 "supervisions" of mythology as a creation from nothing (God) and a creation from a dead goddess - matter (Marduk). And at the same time, he notes that it should be "moral". Because thus it becomes the intention of a moral divine being and love. And the creation of matter is amoral. Ok.. "The Bible itself speaks to us about the origin and formation of the universe, not to provide us with a scientific explanation, but to describe the proper relationship of man to God and the universe." - The fact? Too bad the church didn't think of it during the time of Galileo and Copernicus...
Evolution and faith - The author says that evolution is not in conflict with beliefs in a good God, and at the same time that materialism is not the same as science. Here, however, I am alluding to the problem of theological evil that is not caused by sin and does not have to be committed on people as a punishment for original sin, as some apologists try to twist out of this problem. Consider a calf that is about to be born only to be pulled out of its mother's womb and torn alive by wolves. The calf may not be equally capable of self-awareness, but based on the knowledge of affective neuroscience, we know that it is equipped with a fear center and definitely has sensory endings for pain. Unless, according to some Christian authors, animals do not have an eternal soul, in such a case it is impossible to argue about eternity spent in bliss in heaven. Simply God, the supreme good and the perfect engineer, created a creature capable of experiencing pain so that in the first moments of its life it would experience tearing alive and permanent death. Another example from Fry - is a worm that can reproduce only by attacking the host, gouging out his eyes, and blinding him while causing incredible torment... Is this pain and suffering the work of a perfectly good God? The argument of theological evil is so serious that one does not need to understand science or evolution in order for a person to fall away from the faith - a well-known example is the new testament biblical scholar Bart Ehrman. Ehrman himself notes in his book God's Problem how not finding an answer to this question in the Bible drove him to atheism. But this theological evil is logical from an evolutionary materialist point of view and explainable - there is natural selection which is a meat grinder for all living beings - a mechanism that is imperfect and not controlled by anyone and not a perfect good God...
January 27, 2022
An enlightening appraisal of Peterson’s ethos
This should rank as the most insightful critique of the works of the brilliant psychologist, yet. While Peterson generally integrates different domains to explain his ideas, the authors of this book mostly focus on his thoughts on Religion, Being, and Meaning while drawing complementaries and objections from Catholicism.
The epilogue, really, is the core of the book, drawing from Peterson's personal (temporal) misfortunes to examine his attitude towards God.
It isn’t quite clear, despite the nods to areas where Petersonism and Christianity agree, if the authors intend to discredit the substance of his work or to further the conversations around the ideas he has so compellingly and brilliantly unearthed.
Most importantly, this treatise is a charge on the fact that the church needs to take Peterson seriously, not only intellectually but phenomenally on how to engage, via social media, a world that increasingly yearns for meaning.
And the clarity of the writing thoroughly helps convey the profundity of the subject matter.
An enjoyable book from two lovers of God and lovers of the intellectual and spiritual challenge.
This should rank as the most insightful critique of the works of the brilliant psychologist, yet. While Peterson generally integrates different domains to explain his ideas, the authors of this book mostly focus on his thoughts on Religion, Being, and Meaning while drawing complementaries and objections from Catholicism.
The epilogue, really, is the core of the book, drawing from Peterson's personal (temporal) misfortunes to examine his attitude towards God.
It isn’t quite clear, despite the nods to areas where Petersonism and Christianity agree, if the authors intend to discredit the substance of his work or to further the conversations around the ideas he has so compellingly and brilliantly unearthed.
Most importantly, this treatise is a charge on the fact that the church needs to take Peterson seriously, not only intellectually but phenomenally on how to engage, via social media, a world that increasingly yearns for meaning.
And the clarity of the writing thoroughly helps convey the profundity of the subject matter.
An enjoyable book from two lovers of God and lovers of the intellectual and spiritual challenge.
September 20, 2021
Not a long book but packed with philosophy, theology, and critical thinking. The book unpacks Peterson's YouTube Bible Series and 12 Rules for Life in the context of God and Christianity with great reasoning and great references to Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Bishop Barron, and a host of other great thinkers and writers. I love that Kaczor continually points the conversation back to Christ and, though we are never certain where Peterson finally stands relative to belief in God, highlights the necessity of Christocentric thinking to support many of Peterson's rules.
This was my first pass on a book that requires a highlighter, a notebook, and time to digest many of its arguments - I anticipate a follow up to dig deeper on numerous points. For those who follow Bishop Robert Barron, Jordan Peterson, or are seeking to engage more deeply with their Christian faith, this will be a challenging and meaningful read.
This was my first pass on a book that requires a highlighter, a notebook, and time to digest many of its arguments - I anticipate a follow up to dig deeper on numerous points. For those who follow Bishop Robert Barron, Jordan Peterson, or are seeking to engage more deeply with their Christian faith, this will be a challenging and meaningful read.
June 25, 2023
The authors are both definitely Jordan Peterson fans, though not uncritically so. They do a great job of filling in some of the gaps that Peterson leaves open. Honestly, they did a better job of making a lot of Peterson's points in fewer words. They at least addressed some of the issues I had with Peterson (though not always to my satisfaction).
It seems their primary audience is Jordan Peterson fans, so at times it feels they're not taking their critiques far enough and giving Peterson too much credit. They draw a lot on Augustine, Aquinas, and others like Alastair MacIntyre who make similar arguments to Peterson but with much more grounding. I do think they've achieved their objective though, of taking Peterson's worldview and infusing it with more grounded Christian perspective that will be accessible to Jordan Peterson fans.
It seems their primary audience is Jordan Peterson fans, so at times it feels they're not taking their critiques far enough and giving Peterson too much credit. They draw a lot on Augustine, Aquinas, and others like Alastair MacIntyre who make similar arguments to Peterson but with much more grounding. I do think they've achieved their objective though, of taking Peterson's worldview and infusing it with more grounded Christian perspective that will be accessible to Jordan Peterson fans.
April 28, 2025
A very different read for me. I typically do not read books about faith even though it is a pivotal part of my life; but this book was gifted to me from my dad so I thought I would try it. I've listened to some of Jordan Peterson's podcast episodes, but to have two Catholic theologians responding to some of his points was really eye opening. This book taught me so much more about the root of certain Catholic beliefs and why some of Jordan Peterson's beliefs are not grounded in Catholicism. This book honestly strengthened my faith; it made me feel how God's love is all around and can give us so much purpose. It took me a while to get through because I found myself annotating, highlighting and rereading passages over and over to fully grasp what I was reading. I've found myself bringing it up in conversation constantly while reading it and after finishing it. Highly recommend!
May 7, 2023
Si desea leer un libro que tiene todo lo que no se debe hacer como autor, este es el mejor ejemplo. El autor se contradice muchas veces, no leyó al autor que tanto crítica ni los libros que basan los planteamientos de Peterson. Trata de unir el magisterio De la Iglesia como fuente para su critica pero queda mal ya que la intension era manchar la imagen de Peterson. Inclusive el libro lo salva la entrevista con el Obispo Baron como apéndice, pero demuestra las contradicciones. Creo que antes de escribir o publicar, hay que leer y ser responsable.
January 17, 2024
I thought this was an amazing book explaining the biblical aspects of Jordan Peterson's philosophy, psychology and theology (in the broadest sense of the term). I enjoyed his lectures on Genesis but there were times I thought to myself, "what's the biblical response to that?" And this book did a fairly great job at articulating the thoughts I had because I couldn't watch them and form my own thoughts at the same time. I thought this was a great book explaining where Peterson falls short and offers a better explanation of things.
July 3, 2022
3 stars primarily because I feel like there was minimal discussion of Peterson himself and his views. The majority of the book discusses Christian viewpoints. I expected more of a mix between the two. I wanted to know more about Peterson, but don’t feel like I know much after reading this. Perhaps I had a misconception when I bought it. That being said, the insight to the Christian worldview given by the authors is great, but that wasn’t what I anticipated.
September 15, 2024
I've read a lot of Jordan Peterson’s books, including 12 Rules for Life, and never really saw them as connected to Christianity (apart from beyond order). So, Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity took me by surprise. The highlight for me was definitely the debate between Peterson and Bishop Barron at the end of the book—I loved the back and forth conversation and it brought a whole new perspective to his work that I hadn’t considered before. It really tied everything together in a super interesting way.
October 20, 2021
I've been wanting to read a critique of Jordan Peterson's lectures from a Christian perspective and I think Kaczor did a pretty good job of it. I received quite a few insights into how thoughtful Christians might view Peterson's ideas. I was still left a little hungry. I would like to know what Christians think might be missing from Peterson's analysis of the Fall in Genesis 3.
September 8, 2021
Really captivating.An in depth christian analysis of Jordan Peterson’s biblical lectures and books. The authors are very well read and researched and add depths of insight to the works they review. If you like Jordan Peterson or are interested in Christianity this is the book for you.
February 1, 2022
Best part was the interview between Bishop Barron and Peterson at the end of the book. I enjoyed the discussion about Dante’s The Inferno and the need to descend to the lowest place before ascending and why it is a mistake telling young people that they are okay as they are.
June 5, 2022
Deep Dive
Although the biblical stories series were profound, this book explain further. Rather than acting as if God exist, it is better to believe God exist and acting accordingly.
I will definitely recommend.
Although the biblical stories series were profound, this book explain further. Rather than acting as if God exist, it is better to believe God exist and acting accordingly.
I will definitely recommend.
September 7, 2021
A wonderful analysis of Jordan Peterson and how he is bringing young people back to faith.
January 2, 2022
Very thought provoking and a good Christian analysis of his teachings regarding Genesis by the authors.
Well worth the read.
Well worth the read.
December 15, 2022
Finally finished this book. It was a chore.
December 24, 2022
Awesome! I was really pumped about some of the Augustine proper loves stuff.
April 7, 2024
This book had some great insight over biblical knowledge and about Jordan Peterson’s views. It did not flow very well.
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