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Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity: The Search for a Meaningful Life

January 14, 2021

Few psychologists have garnered more attention in the past five years than Jordan Peterson, whose YouTube channel has amassed 4.4 million subscribers and social media feeds have attracted millions more. Petersons online personality courses have enrolled more than 40,000 students and his books have sold millions of copies across the globe. Among them is 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, which became a bestseller after being published in 2018 and has been translated into 45 languages.

In the new bookJordan Peterson, God, and Christianity: The Search for a Meaningful Life,Word on Fire FellowMatthew Petrusek, Ph.D., provides a systematic analysis, from a Christian perspective, of Petersons biblical series on YouTube and12 Rules for Life. The epilogue examens its sequel,Beyond Order.

Prof. Petrusek is an associate professor of theological ethics at Loyola Marymount University and co-authored the book with LMU philosophy professor Christopher Kaczor, Ph.D.

Jordan Peterson, God, and Christianity was recently published by the Word on Fire Institute.

IACS spoke to Prof. Petrusek about the book.

Why did you write this book?

Working with Dr. Chris Kaczor, I wanted to speak to two audiences at the same time. First, to committed Christians, I wanted to highlight how Petersons work has been wildly successful in making the biblical understanding of reality, humanity and morality attractive to a secularized, post-Christian culture. To Petersons many non-Christian followers, I wanted to show how orthodox Catholicism completes and fixes the areas in Petersons thought that, in my view, need more philosophical and theological development and refinement.

How do Jordan Peterson and his work fit into the search for a meaningful life?

Petersons lectures and books address many different topics. However, one unifying theme in all of them is that life is not only meaningful but also that meaning is objective. It is not merely an individual or social construct. It is embedded in reality. That is boilerplate philosophical and theological material for Catholics, but Peterson has made it sound revolutionarily liberating to secular ears.

Peterson is a controversial and divisive figure. How has that controversy shaped the public perception of his works and thought?

I dont think Petersons work is controversial and divisive two terms that have taken on almost entirely subjective meaning in the past few decades. To be sure, an influential cadre of media, business, and academic voices have spoken loudly and very negatively about Peterson. However, in my view, they have not seriously engaged his arguments and, even less, shown evidence why his positions are wrong. Rather, their hostility to Peterson seems to be ideologically driven. As a Catholic, I do not agree with everything Peterson has said or written; that is why, in great part, I co-wrote the book. However, also as a Catholic, I do not find his principal arguments to be controversial or divisive.

Do you think Peterson has been effective at re-introducing the Bible and God into secular culture and, if so, why?

Yes. I think many secularists are drawn to Peterson, first, because he is a man of science and science is one thing, perhaps the only thing, that many secularists take seriously. So if a scientist can find such great meaning in the Bible, maybe they can, too. Second, Peterson, like the podcaster Joe Rogan, is not afraid to follow the truth wherever it leads, or, at least, where he thinks it leads. He is intellectually curious but also profoundly concerned with finding a good answer to his questions (that is, not just curious for the sake of curiosity). That combination of authenticity, intellectual openness, and moral seriousness is a rarity and will draw many peoples attention. Third, although Catholicism has always read the Bible with an ear to all its levels of meaning, Peterson has opened the biblical text to meanings that secular audiences (and poorly catechized Christian audiences) were not previously aware of. In fact, one lesson I think the Peterson phenomenon teaches Catholics is what a poor job we, both laity and clergy, have done in communicating the moral and spiritual richness of scripture. Happily, there has been a Catholic intellectual renaissance blossoming the past several years that has been reintroducing the beauty and brilliance of the Bible to the culture. Bishop Robert Barrons Word on Fire apostolate has been at the forefront of this movement.

From your perspective, how have Petersons thoughts and attitude toward God changed over time?

It is very hard to say where Petersons explorations will take him. It seems the experience of his wifes sudden healing from cancer and her devotion to the rosary has had a significant effect on him. But, of course, conversion is only a decision between God and the individual. All the same, I think of him, sometimes, as a contemporary St. Augustine of Hippo who is gradually thinking his way into orthodox Catholicism, yet still privately saying for now, to paraphrase St. Augustine in the Confessions, Make me a believer Lordbut just not yet!

Editors Note: Follow Prof. Petrusek on Twitter @MattPetrusek.

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Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and...">Scholar Q&A: Matthew Petrusek, Ph.D. > Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC > USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and...