Posted on 02/06/2018 11:39:12 AM PST by pastorbillrandles
O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.(I Timothy 6:20-21)
As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.( I Timothy 1:3-4)
I love the internet because of the open exchange of viewpoints, and the democratization of knowledge that it affords. For the time being at least, the gatekeepers can no longer control and dominate the public square, enforcing their sneering, leftist orthodoxy as the proscribed ‘prevailing wisdom’ of the day.
In place of the Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Katy Couric types foisted upon us for decades by the Northeastern Liberal Media establishment, refreshing voices from a wide perspective of view are available.
The internet has it’s own ‘stars’; some of them were already well known, and some come seemingly out of nowhere; Matt Drudge, Stefan Molyneux, Ben Shapiro, Dennis Prager, Sultan Knish (Daniel Greenfield), Jim Robinson, David Horowitz, Milo Yiannopoulos, Ann Coulter, the late Andrew Beitbart, James O’Keefe, Laura Southern, are among them. They come from the right, the left, Libertarianism, and even Anarchist perspectives .
One of the latest popular internet personalities is Jordan Peterson, a Professor of psychology at the University of Toronto and popular author, his latests book is named, “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” (Jan 2018, Penguin Books).
Peterson is well known for his now classic book, “Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief”, which offers ,”a revolutionary take on the psychology of religion”. All of Peterson’s lectures on the subject are available on Peterson’s Youtube channel, which features 300 videos of his lectures, and has 550,000 subscribers, and 30 million views.
Peterson is an excellent communicator. Part of his popularity is that he takes on Political Correctness, to the point of running afoul of leftist groups on Campuses such as Antifa, who have rioted at campuses where Peterson was asked to speak.
According to the Guardian, in an article called “Jordan Peterson: The Pursuit of Happiness is a Pointless Goal”
Peterson, 55, is a psychology professor at the University of Toronto who shot into the headlines in 2016 after refusing to use gender-neutral pronouns at the university which new legislation, Bill C-16, compelled him legally to. Following this he was either hailed as a free-speech martyr or castigated as a transphobe. Demonstrations broke out on campus, and he has been the subject of a campaign of protest by trans activists. More controversy followed when he publicly defended James Damore, the sacked Google employee who suggested there were innate gender differences, as being no more than the scientific consensus.
Of interest to me, (and my readers) is that Peterson teaches about the Bible. Quite a bit about the Bible actually. He is very popular for his series on the Bible, Maps of Meaning , which features lectures on some of the more famous Bible Stories. This subject has turned out to be compelling in this postmodern environment, and at the Universities.
(Who knew that secularism doesn’t satisfy, and leaves a Nihilistic void? Hmmmmm!)
The problem is that Jordan is teaching the Bible from a Jungian perspective.
The Atheistic father of ‘psychology’ Sigmund Freud, once had a protege, named Carl Gustav Jung. They were the pioneers of the modern ‘science’ of psychology.Freud would develop Jung and they would develop this new knowledge.
The two eventually had a parting of the ways, because Freud was a materialist, and Jung was very spiritual in his outlook. This son of a Swiss Reformed Pastor, was raised in a home in which his mother believed ‘spirits’ visited her in the night, eventually having a nervous breakdown.
Jung believed that we (Humanity) all partake of a “collective consciousness”, a continuity of deep but repressed memories stretching back into the ‘millions of years” of human evolution.
Out of that consciousness come our various myths and religious stories, whose characters are called “archetypes”. These archetypes recur in our legends, stories, myths, literature, because they are spiritual realities, and they are universal because humanity all draws from the same well of repressed, distant memory.
The Archetypes consist of “the Hero”, “The Caregiver”,”The Ruler”,”Everyman”,”The Jester”, “Creator”, “Lover”, “the Explorer”,”The Magician”, “The Outlaw”, “Innocent”, and tree are yet others no doubt, which Jungians will ‘discover’. To Jung, (and his disciples such as Peterson) all of these figures are spiritual realities which reside in all of our subconsciousness.
In the Jungian model of the human psyche, any and all of these figures reside on our unconsciousness. This is bothersome to me as a Christian, because I believe in the biblical concept of Demonization and in some cases Demon Possession. Jungianism would give a ‘scientific ‘explanation, for the phenomenon, lending it respectability.
Is this persona a demon or an archetype?
According to Jungians, archetypes are why literature and ‘religion’ feature pretty much the same ‘stories’, which recur over centuries with different names and faces but the same basic features.
In Jungian thought, there are in literature, a thousand forms of the poem Odyssey, or the Iliad, Because man is always on a joinery into the unknown, and man can never return home. There will always be a self sacrificing hero, because ‘the Hero’ is merely an archetype, a figure who exists in our “collective unconsciousness” and constantly re-emerges in human experience.
Jordan Peterson is positive about Christianity. He believes that Judeo/ Christianity gave us western civilization, and he is an ardent opponent of Postmodernism. He even confesses to be a Christian, and his interest in the Bible, and opposition to the godless left, has made him quite popular with Christian young people.
But to Peterson the Bible is Myth, and the characters of the Bible are valuable archetypes, not historical figures. He considers it perhaps the greatest of all myths, but a myth nonetheless.
Christianity and Judaism (in the true sense) are historical religions. We believe that God entered into time/space history and intervened. The Resurrection is a historical event, and of historical consequence. There really was a tomb, as Christian apologist Josh MacDowell once said, “…if the stone that covered the mouth of the tomb had rolled over your foot, you would be in a cast!”
Our current mainstream churches are testament to what happens when one mythologizes Christianity. One hundred fifty years ago, had you showed up at nearly any Protestant Church, you were likely to hear some form of the gospel.
Now you are as likely to be greeted by a female Bishop, and could hear a sermon denying the resurrection, the teaching of Christ about marriage and gender, and calling for ‘social justice’,( whatever that is).
What happened? Liberal Theologians began saying, that it wouldn’t matter whether or not there was really a Paul or a Jesus, or a resurrection, (After all, how can we really believe in all of that in the day of the electric light bulb?) all that matters is the ideas and goodwill that they promoted.
I worry about the popularity of Jordan Peterson by many an unsuspecting millennial, as well as a good many other people. I see why he is popular, I celebrate his calls for free speech, and his standing up to the gay nazis and other forms of political correctness.
Jordan Peterson is not a teacher sent by God to expound on the Gospel, once and for all delivered, He doesn’t believe in it’a historicity, therefore in a tue biblical sense, he doesn’t believe at all!
Ping
Peterson speaks the truth and tries to maintain the truth while others hear only what they want to hear.
Is Peterson an ally against the SJW mafia? I say “Yes”. Without a doubt.
Peterson comes at it from an academic debate perspective that allows him to discuss it with nonbelievers in terms of ideas.
If he came from a belief perspective he would not be an academic, he would be an evangelist.
I realize that Peterson is no Evangelist, he doesn’t claim to be one, and I don’t accuse him of being one. He is an academic, and a Jungian. What I said is that this is what people interested in his Bible teaching should be mindful of. Is there anything wrong with that?I give Peterson a lot of credit for what he is...
I agree...
Hey! Our own Jim Robinson is mentioned in there
I do believe him to be a sincere man...but as I said, from the Christian perspective, the Bible is historical and not a myth, not even the best of myths...
I would say the Peterson is at least versed in the bible and as lease as much of a believer as the pope.
Kidding aside, you make some assertions as to Peterson beliefs but don’t provide any evidence of said beliefs.
God bless you Jim, I so appreciate what you have done’
I may end up doing so before this is over, but any listener to Peterson will see right away that he believes these things, and is open about them. Peterson is a self confessed Jungian who believes the Bible to be a very profound myth. There is little controversy about whether or not those are his views...
Thank you Bill Randles. Keep up the good work.
I heard him a couple of weeks ago on Brian Kilmeade’s radio show and once he said he studies Jung and Nietzsche I knew he was not a Christian.
that is the big T Truth that peterson will soon come to understand.
G-d will use him to destroy this PC madness and then convert his heart.
I’ve been listening to the bible a LOT on my three hour commute for the last three years and two months. I’m no longer a bible “worshiper”. I see it for what it is.
Regarding the NT, it is four accounts of the life, times and teachings of Jesus the Christ. It is one history book (Acts) that teaches us how the message filled the known world and was preached by his Apostles. It is quite a few letters to specific people and churches as well as “the church” in general. And there is a detailed dream/vision (The Revelation of John).
The bible is huge on teaching and wisdom. It is history, but it is also allegory, dreams, parables, etc. And it is not “the” word of God. Rather, it CONTAINS the word of God throughout.
So I believe the message of Christ. I believe he and his apostles really existed and wrote the things they wrote. But the key is not the bible. The key is Prayer and a personal relationship with Him. The bible merely enhances and solidifies.
If Jordan disagrees with me on some of that, that’s fine. I disagree with most churches on some things, and a few of them pretty major (I believe Mary had sex after Jesus was born. A lot of Christians don’t).
Jordan’s teaching that I’ve heard is rock solid and irrefutable. And it’s not just what he teaches. It is the foundational values and facts on which his teaching rests. But I’ve not been exposed to his entire body of work.
from your lips to G-d’s ears...
Thank you very much. God bless.
Thanks Mrs RobRoy...I appreciate the feedback. Are you saying you once were a “Bible Worshipper”? I am glad to hear that you believe the message of Christ, so do I. But how do you know what the actual message of Christ is, without the Bible?The way to look at the Bible is the Way Jesus did, He treated it as the written Word of God, saying things like, “Father...thy word is ruth” and “the scripture cannot be broken” and in his battle with Satan, He responded to the temptation with these words, “It is written...”. Why would He who is the incarnate Word of God, have to say “It is written...”? He is showing us that the Bible is the written word of God and that as a man, He puts himself under the authority of the Word of God, citing it, rather than his own personal feelings on the subject.
I guess there is nothing wrong with that. I was kinda thinking that was self evident.
I tend to think of Peterson as one who would introduce folks to the depth, logic, and beauty of the story of Christ. You go down that path and eventually come to realize “it is so perfect! It must be true!” getting them to the jumping off point for a kierkegaardian leap of faith as it were :-)
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