Jordan Peterson—A Closer Look at a Culture Warrior

He speaks boldly about the dangers of leftist ideology. He refuses to play the pick-your-pronoun game with the LGBTQ community. He directs people to seriously consider the value of a Judeo-Christian worldview, reflects upon biblical imagery to understand humanity, and encourages individuals to be responsible for their own actions. He confronts people and ideas that stand as enemies of Christianity and corrupters of Western culture. If you are a conservative Christian, he probably sounds like a culture warrior you would eagerly follow.

But is the enemy of your enemy really your friend?

More Than 15 Minutes

Photo JAKE STANGEL

Dr. Jordan Peterson

In 2016, Dr. Jordan Peterson, a clinical psychologist and professor, appeared on the scene in dramatic fashion. Defying a prevailing liberal culture, he stood up for free speech in the face of a Canadian Human Rights Act amendment which sought, in part, to criminalize a refusal to use an individual’s preferred pronouns. Peterson’s videos, interviews, and legal testimony received praise from those who saw the progressive amendment as a threat to both free speech and the Judeo-Christian heritage of our Western culture. He began appearing in high-profile programs, deftly and calmly dissecting the flawed thinking of his hostile hosts or opponents.

Peterson’s ideas have brought him much more than the proverbial 15 minutes of fame. Christians have taken notice, with many seeking to align themselves with his views. But as followers of Christ, we must consider more of Peterson’s views before yoking ourselves to his ideals.

Using the Bible Unbiblically

If you have listened to Peterson speak or read his books, you have surely encountered his frequent biblical quotations and allusions. In his best-selling book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, he opens the chapter titled “Rule 7: Pursue What Is Meaningful (Not What Is Expedient)” by looking to Genesis. He points out that Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the garden teaches us that life is full of suffering. Rather than suggesting his readers live for their own pleasure to avoid suffering, Peterson calls for delayed gratification. (So far so good, right?)

But it soon becomes clear that although he mentions Adam and Eve, Peterson doesn’t believe in the historical reality of Genesis. He reminds his readers that they are still “chimps in a troupe, or wolves in a pack” playing out the “predictable routines and patterns of behavior” that have “evolved over great expanses of time.”

He says, “The information that was first only embedded in our behavior became represented in our stories. . . . The biblical narrative of Paradise and the Fall is one such story, fabricated by our collective imagination, working over centuries.” The Bible, he claims, arose as the best “myth” we can use to structure society.

He extends this idea back to our ancestor the lobster, with whom we share a common brain biochemistry and “dominance hierarchy.”

All that matters, from a Darwinian perspective, is permanence—and the dominance hierarchy, however social or cultural it might appear, has been around for some half a billion years. It’s permanent. It’s real. . . . It is instead a near-eternal aspect of the environment, and much of what is blamed on these more ephemeral manifestations is a consequence of its unchanging existence. We (the sovereign we, the we that has been around since the beginning of life) have lived in a dominance hierarchy for a long, long time. We were struggling for position before we had skin, or hands, or lungs, or bones.

Peterson asserts that Darwinian evolution, though it may be incomplete or have certain weaknesses, is the only way to explain our physical existence and the psychological factors that make us human. The stories we tell about our purpose and existence are an evolutionary appendage to our humanity that Darwinian processes permanently fixed in an “exceptionally ancient and fundamental” portion of the brain. Any reference Peterson makes to the image of God refers to this Darwinian appendage, not to an aspect endowed upon us by God as his special creations. By embracing Darwinian evolution, Peterson shuns the account of God creating. Rather than honoring the triune God who has revealed himself through the Bible, he borrows the Bible for his own purpose.

Followers on an Easy Path

Peterson regards Genesis as a myth, not actual history revealed by God in his kindness toward us. He supports walking the line between chaos and order in our world while referring to Genesis on one page and evoking the Taoist yin/yang concept on the next. All the while, he uses the language of the straight and narrow path Jesus referred to as the balance between good and evil. His view is pragmatic: whatever has benefitted humanity must be true. The various religious texts and traditions all contain part of the truth—or so Peterson would have you believe.

Peterson can prescribe the best way to act and think because his demands are not rooted in an absolute authority but rather in a shared human experience and a blend of religious and secular ideals and traditions. If he were to ground his assertions firmly in the authority of the Bible and the person of Jesus Christ as the only source of truth and meaning, he would be shunned by the masses, not adored. Sadly, many people will tolerate the Bible as a myth from which to glean some truth, but unbelievers will reject the entire Bible and Jesus as the source of absolute and authoritative truth (1 Corinthians 2). Peterson is a guide to those on the easy path that leads to destruction on the other side of the wide gate (Matthew 7:13–14).

The Gospel According to Peterson

Perhaps the most significant reason that Christians should take pause before unequivocally binding themselves to Peterson’s message is his lack of belief in the gospel. In an extended speech on his personal belief in God, Peterson offers his listeners the exact opposite of what Jesus offers.

Peterson expects his hearers, whom he apparently views as advanced lobsters and tribal primates, to diligently prove that their beliefs have value and provide meaning. Only through actions can your beliefs be evaluated. That sounds biblical. Jesus said that our actions and words flow out of the heart—the place where beliefs reside (Luke 6:43–45). But Peterson denies any supernatural empowerment—the Holy Spirit working in believers—to bear that good fruit.

The “good news” in Peterson’s lectures is actually an anti-gospel. “When people ask me, I’m not going to say something virtuous like ‘I am a believer,’” he says, “because there’s plenty wrong with me that needs to be fixed before I would dare utter words like that.”1 This is a gospel of works, not a gospel of grace.

Though it’s pleasing to align ourselves with those who say things we want to hear, we must discern whether they base their arguments on God’s Word .

But we don’t have to clean ourselves up before going to God for reconciliation. We need only to acknowledge our sin and look to God in repentance and faith (Acts 20:21). When we do so, we are granted pardon by a loving and just Father whose Son took our penalty and whose Spirit empowers us to grow in holiness (1 John 1:8–9). Our actions won’t always match our beliefs, but we can affirm our belief in God and trust that our actions will be conformed more and more to God’s standard of obedience and living.

Peterson’s erroneous views of human origins and his promotion of secular evolutionary psychology present a clear danger to the church. While we can be thankful he opposes the insanity of gender fluidity, Marxism, and compelled speech in our Western culture, we must not put our hope in reforming the culture. We put our hope in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Though it’s pleasing to align ourselves with those who say things we want to hear, we must discern whether they base their arguments on God’s Word and whether we can truly call them friends as we work to exalt the name of Christ and proclaim the true gospel.

We can only bring hope to others by relying on the Holy Spirit dwelling in us—not by looking to our inner lobster.