Jordan Peterson and the Bible

Theos Team

Jordan Peterson and The Bible

Jordan Peterson’s rise to the West’s most popular public intellect means a number of things, including a renewed interest in the Bible.

Most of you are assuredly familiar with Jordan Peterson–a Canadian psychologist who has risen to popular fame via his best-selling books, sold-out national seminars, academic debates, and various media appearances. Generally, Dr. Peterson’s perspectives run conservative, and he rails frequently against woke, illiberal culture.

For purposes of this article, we consider the wrestlings of Jordan Peterson with the Bible, a matter of public viewing as of late. Does he approach the subject from a Christian perspective? Or is he simply treating scripture as narrative literature? Below, we will answer several questions such as:

Is Jordan Peterson a person of faith?
Does he believe the Bible is True or just of great psychological significance?
Should Christianity seek understanding from him?
What about the rest of humanity?
What is the right way to find meaning in a biblical narrative?
Should the Bible be read the same way as other texts?

At the end of the article, you should be more informed about some of Jordan Peterson's ideas. You will also hopefully be able to dig into Jordan Peterson's work and value it for the importance it contains.

Is Jordan Peterson a Christian?

Short answer: No. He is an agnostic psychologist. Because Jordan Peterson spends so much time talking about the Bible, the church, and Christianity, that many people wonder if he is a Christian. Shouldn't non-believers be opposed to and hate the written Word of God? Why then is he so sympathetic to Christianity as a religion?

Peterson's life is the story of an academic. He was born in 1962 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He received a Ph.D. as a clinical psychologist from McGill University in 1991. Dr. Peterson spent much of his time working to understand alcoholism and hyperactivity. I suspect this is where he began to understand, love, and support (oft-maligned) men and masculine traits. His support of men has been an interesting component of his story. He has supported them in many ways for his entire career. Women and men look to him for words of wisdom, of course, and he comments on culture more broadly, but there can be no denying that he champions men. He maintained a clientele as a clinical psychologist until 2018.

In 1993, he began teaching at Harvard University and has since taught at the University of Toronto, where he is a professor emeritus as of 2021. After nearly 30 years in the classroom and client room, it is no wonder that he is such a skilled communicator. Lecture after lecture, session after session–virtually all of this still available via Youtube–he has honed his thoughts, ideas, and abilities to make his points obvious to his listeners.

The last thing that bears mentioning is that after Dr. Peterson’s helping of many patients to recover their personal relationships with others and improve their general well-being, it is no wonder that he is such a proponent of the message of: hope. No doubt, he has aided many, many people through great personal suffering.

This is all common knowledge, so I won't bore you with a full bio. He rocketed to world fame in the 2010s as he posted his lectures to YouTube. Also of note is the public profession of the Christian Faith by his daughter Mikhaila Peterson.

Does Jordan Peterson Believe the Bible is True?

Basic philosophical questions that are perennially asked are: Is the Bible true? How do we know what is true? Is is different than other religious texts? Without resorting to an exploration down the winding paths of Truth, epistemology, meaning, and the history of philosophy, Peterson responds to the question by side-stepping it (but just kind of).

Most people refer to a famous 2022 interview with Joe Rogan when Peterson answers the question using his wording. Peterson makes the point that the Bible is the underlying book of all of our truth. Here is the quote from Jordan Peterson to Joe Rogan during his interview (Posted on YouTube):

“It isn’t that the Bible is true. It’s that the Bible is the precondition for the manifestation of truth, which makes it way more true than just true,” Peterson continued. “It’s a whole different kind of true. I think this is not only literally the case, but factually. I think it can’t be any other way. It’s the only way we can solve the problem of perception.”

Peterson wants to get out of the trap of subjective truth. Subjective truth is a plague on the world, and Jordan Peterson knows it. Relative truth undermines all meaning, faith, reality, other writings, church, history and questions the relationship between your local library and your life. Jordan Peterson tells Joe Rogan that all other texts depend upon the Bible as a precondition for any meaning.

Said differently, Western Culture would not be what it is without the Bible. Other religious texts depend on the collection of books (what he calls a library) we call the Bible. Not the other way around. The relationship between God as the origin of Truth is never questioned. In what sense did this "first book" contain meaning before the rest of culture was indebted to it for its truth? Joe Rogan is still wondering, and so does most of the world. In other words, our knowledge of what is true is based on the revelation of God. Not just because there exists (by contingency) a great underlying book like a wizard behind the curtain. The man behind the curtain is just a man. But God (the source of what is true) is the man behind the first book.

Jordan Peterson's Biblical Series

This leads us to Peterson's biblical series from 2017 (basically, it is his commentary on select biblical stories and their significance). He covers life, the creation of the world, Jesus Christ, and faith; There is a helpful collection of his links containing just about everything that he says about scripture here: Bible Series – Jordan Peterson | The C.S. Lewis Study Group (thecslewis-studygroup.org).

Biblical Stories

His biblical series contains the following videos:

Biblical Series I: Introduction to the Idea of God
Biblical Series II: Genesis 1: Chaos & Order
Biblical Series III: God and the Hierarchy of Authority
Biblical Series IV: Adam and Eve: Self-Consciousness, Evil, and Death
Biblical Series V: Cain and Abel: The Hostile Brothers
Biblical Series VI: The Psychology of the Flood
Biblical Series VII: Walking with God: Noah and the Flood (corrected)
Background to Lecture VIII: Abrahamic Stories, with Matthieu & Jonathan Pageau
Biblical Series VIII: The Phenomenology of the Divine
Biblical Series IX: The Call to Abraham
Biblical Series X: Abraham: Father of Nations
Biblical Series XI: Sodom and Gomorrah
Biblical Series XII: The Great Sacrifice: Abraham and Isaac
Biblical Series XIII: Jacob’s Ladder
Biblical Series XIV: Jacob: Wrestling with God
Biblical Series XV: Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors
The Death and Resurrection of Christ: A Commentary in Five Parts

Where is the Proof That God Exists?

In addition to providing biblical narrative comments, he also tackles the grand question of, "Is there a God?" Below are some of his strongest arguments for God. Admittedly he argues from a secular perspective rather than an explicitly Christian perspective, which is actually very refreshing:

Psychology, Sexuality, and the AI Revolution - Jordan Peterson on the Larry Arnn Show
Why Should You Go to Church?
Douglas Murray and Jonathan Pageau | EP 290
Meaning, Awe, and the Conceptualization of God (Part 1-3) | EP 202
Jordan Peterson, God, & Christianity | Kaczor & Petrusek | EP 212
Jordan Peterson's INCREDIBLE Journey To God | Heartbreaking Moments on His FAITH
A Conversation So Intense It Might Transcend Time and Space | John Vervaeke | EP 321
Beyond Order: Montreal Lecture | Jonathan Pageau | EP 262
Does God Exist? A Conversation with Tom Holland, Stephen Meyer, and Douglas Murray
Pharaoh vs. God - Who Will You Choose? Biblical Series: Exodus Episode 1

Should Christians Listen to Jordan Peterson?

Admittedly, Peterson has a lot of great comments on scripture that any Christian can get something out of. And although he doesn't take the typical historic-grammatical approach (Evangelical Christian perspective) to interpreting the Bible, he does provide a sense of biblical meaning for our life that is needed. It is uniquely refreshing in its admission of meaning being based on something rather than nothing. Many Christians advocate listening and learning from Peterson, even if he is an unbeliever.

Is There A Right Away to Study the Bible?

Is it okay to study the story of the Bible as simply meaningful in a general kind of way? Well, in one sense, yes. Many good applications should be made. The art and science of studying the Bible are called hermeneutics. Three general points need to be taught when it comes to studying the Bible. There is an author who wrote the words that meant something and that matters. Second, the text itself means something. And lastly, the reader has a part to play in making use of and bringing some meaning to the text.

When you get any of these three things out of balance (author, text, and reader) you are bound to run into major meaning problems. So, the right way to study the Bible leaves these three intact. Unfettered from authorial intent, textual meaning, and reader responsibility we are back to square one with a book that doesn't say anything.