Clinical psychologist, lecturer, and author Dr. Jordan Peterson provides insightful analysis of the Bible in his latest book.
In We Who Wrestle with God: Perceptions of the Divine, released November 19th, he argues that the stories written in scripture can guide everyone's life, regardless of their religious viewpoint. I am doing it.
“If you can't see wisdom [in the Bible]you're not contemplating your own misery…That's what you have to understand: the book is about you,” he said The Post's Ricky Schrott spoke in an exclusive interview.
Here he takes guidance from religious texts to explain how young people can create order from the chaos of modern life.
This is an impressive book. How long did it take you to write it?
That's hard to say. In a way, I probably started working on it when I was 13 years old. So how long is that, 50 years?
Now, when did I put pen to paper? As for this book, it was after the last book was published. [in 2021]But I wrote three at the same time.
A significant portion was the result of touring and lectures. Because I used lectures to develop ideas, sometimes recording them, and using the transcripts as templates for chapters. The lectures and the book were completely different, so they were extensively rewritten, but it took three years.
You have an uncanny ability to excite young people with seemingly unsexy things like making your bed. How can we encourage young people with topics such as: serious As a religion?
Our culture has an identity crisis. It is clear that the culture war is an identity crisis. And this is a book about identity.
It is about the identity of God and His relationship with men, women, and culture.
I say “make your bed” because you probably can. Maybe your life is as chaotic and hellish as the Israelites in the desert, and you don't know where to start. Well, you can also organize your sock drawer and make your bed. It is a symbolic morning offering.
I know this sounds silly, but it's still true. This is a reenactment of the opening scene in Genesis, where God creates order out of chaos. You are called to do this because you were created in the image of God. Create order from chaos.
I argue in this book that the most adventurous path forward, and the most meaningful path forward, is the one that involves voluntarily assuming the greatest amount of responsibility. By the way, it is the symbol of the cross.
There is no adventure without responsibility. There's nothing dangerous. And there's no point if there's nothing wrong with it. In other words, this is an invitation to adventure.
It is also a call to the deepest layers of memory. Plato and Socrates believed that all learning is memory. Well, there's some truth to that. It's about remembering who you are.
You are Abraham. you are moses You are Sarah. you are adam You are Noah. Who else are those stories about?
I believe that if you lived your life, you too would be all of these characters. All of those things will happen to you because everyone is going through stormy times, everyone is living in the Tower of Babel, and everyone is guilty of pride.
Everyone has a call to adventure right now. Everyone should stand up against oppression and slavery. I'm explaining it to you because it's all part of the human experience.
Do you think part of the reason for the prevalence of anxiety and depression in our society is a lack of a spiritual foundation?
It's all a lack of spiritual basis. It's like people have been fooled by arrogant engineers. [in Silicon Valley] —That's exactly what happens at the Tower of Babel. In that story everyone procrastinates and no one can communicate.
Well, obviously we can't even agree on what a man or a woman is. Words have lost their reference. That is one sign that you are at the Tower of Babel. Will it cause misfortune? absolutely.
What is the exit? Well, we've talked about that. You need to know the story. They orient you. Because if we say, in Nietzsche's terms, that “God is dead,” the unified spirit collapses and the world becomes meaningless. What happens is that the world becomes hell, and hell is characterized by suffering.
Now, what is the antidote to deadly suffering? That's a great question. That's what the Bible story is about.
The young man is depressed and the young woman is seduced by the garden path. The way out of their self-conscious misery is to take responsibility.
Without that responsibility, there would be no adventure. There's nothing dangerous. And there's no point if there's nothing wrong with it.
We can descend into childish complacency, but it would be very pathetic if we were catering to each individual's needs. Like, who are you? You are just a bottomless pit of consumption.
Well, no wonder you get fat and miserable. You know, it's scary. It's a terrifying sight.
How would you like a religious skeptic, agnostic, or atheist to approach your book?
You see, when you're reading a book, you're trying to separate the wheat from the chaff. That's what critical readers do. Critical readers don't throw away a book because they find something bothering them.
Reading is research. That's how you approach the text. Collect what is relevant and useful, discard the rest and make a critical judgment. If you're smart, you're doing well because you're aiming high and want to learn.
You are all characters in a story. That's what you have to understand: the book is about you.
But even if we take the opposite proposition, it's not about you. Well, then who are we talking about? Even if you're an atheist, let's just say this book was written by a human. Well, that's about us. I mean, it's about you.
That's a pretty daunting realization.
