Jordan Peterson On God

One of the reason people don't believe in creation is because they can't bring themselves to believe in God.
Jordan Peterson is a professor of psychology and he has taught at Harvard and the University of Toronto.
He also wrote a book called "12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos" rated very highly.

If you have listened to him speak, he is highly intelligent, this short clip on his perspective of God is worth watching.
In essence he is saying everybody should start out as agnostic and then figure it out from there.



I have watched other clips of him as well, I don't think he is into religion institutions but more into the spiritual aspect.

If you can dare to believe in the possibility of God, then the possibility of creation is sure to follow.
After listening to him on various subjects it becomes very clear to those with true intellectual honesty this perspective is worth hearing, but of coarse you will reach your on conclusions.
I guess a person can be agnostic towards the creation account even though they believe in God.

His lecture series on the psychological significance of the Bible was absolutely outstanding, in my opinion. He recontextualizes the Bible with a gift that awes me.

I also have appreciated everything else of his that I have listened to. I think he’s a prophetic voice in the chaos that reigns at the moment.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

The OP's video is actually an edited excerpt of a much longer video (see below).

The source appears to be from a interview with Margaret Hoover who is the host of PBS's Firing Line. (also see below)

Haven't watched the video yet, thanks for posting it though BJ...

Below is a partial transcript for those unable to watch the video:

In a recent interview on the PBS show "Firing Line with Margaret Hoover," Peterson was asked a question, the gist of which he's received many times before.

"I want to ask you about your personal faith. Christians who watch you have listened closely, over the last two years, about whether you self-identify as a Christian or not. ... Why not take on this question of the existence of God?"

That is precisely the question that many Christians (and atheists for that matter) would like Peterson to give a concrete answer to. But his response, though not as clear-cut as they'd like, has been consistent for a very long time. And in the "Firing Line" interview, he gave a slightly amplified version.

"It isn't obvious what belief means. People think that what they believe is what they say they believe. I don't believe that. I believe that what people believe is what they act out. And so I said, 'I act as if God exists.' That's a sufficient statement as far as I'm concerned. You know, what's the old saying? 'By their fruits, ye shall know them.' Same idea, right? It's a matter of action and a matter of commitment. It's not a matter of me parading out my explicit statements about a metaphysical reality that's virtually impossible to comprehend. You risk when you reduce, and I'm not willing to do that. And I'm not interested in providing people with easy answers." (emphasis mine)

Immediately before giving that answer, Jordan said, "It's not something to reduce to a sound bite, fundamentally." I think there is a lot of truth to that. But that's exactly what we often desire. We want the simple sound bite. The 240 character or less, tweetable proposition. Whether you're a Christian or not, we like everything boiled down to broth, when in reality, these meaty issues require something far more substantial.

Like it or not, Jordan Peterson's answer is quite good: "I act as if God exists." I took note of it the first time I heard him say it, and it has been stuck in my mind ever since.

Calvary Chapel | Act as if God Exists

From 2008 to 2012, Hoover was a Fox News contributor where she appeared on Bill O'Reilly's top-rated show The O'Reilly Factor. In the branded segment "Culture Warrior", she jousted with O'Reilly on a range of topics from entertainment news, to popular culture, to Hollywood and politics. Since 2012, she has been a political contributor for CNN.[26] In April 2018 it was announced she will host the PBS show Firing Line.

She has been a frequent guest on Bill Maher's Real Time on HBO, and has appeared on NBC's Today, CBS's The Early Show, ABC's Good Morning America, at MSNBC, Fox News, C-SPAN, and C-SPAN Book TV. In 2014, she hosted the Toyota Solutions Studio at the Women In The World conference held at Lincoln Center where Hoover interviewed several participants including comedian Sarah Silverman and her sister rabbi Susan Silverman, the Peruvian poet Senna, Ambassador Fatuma Ndangiza, and United Nations Under-Secretary General Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.

Margaret Hoover is the host of Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, a relaunch of National Review founder William F. Buckley Jr.'s public affairs television show, Firing Line that aired on PBS for 33 years, the longest-running public affairs show in television history with a single host.

en.wikipedia.org...

www.pbs.org...
www.pbs.org...

a reply to: Murgatroid

Yes I know but this was the most relevant part, some people won't click on 25 minute video but they will a 2 minute one.
But if you have the time the whole interview is very interesting.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

Understand, I just posted it just in case anyone wanted to dig a little deeper.

Watching the short version as we speak, liking it so far...

Never heard of the guy in the interview, but this quote is the part that really stands out:

People think that what they believe is what they say they believe. I don't believe that. I believe that what people believe is what they act out. And so I said, 'I act as if God exists.'

To me that is a VERY powerful statement, I might just watch the whole video now...

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

I agree with a lot of what I've heard from Peterson, but I disagree on this one.

It seems to me that most people start out, or are raised as one sort of religious or other, then later become agnostic when those religions prove to be nothing but hollow words of hypocrites, scammers and people frightened by their own mortality.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

He seems to be spreading himself thin, I wonder if he is narcissistic...the signs are there.

Dr. Peterson had a practice for many years as well as a professorship; I'd venture to guess he's qualified to speak in general terms about what most people think about faith because I'm sure it's come up in discussions with his patients.

I think there is currently nobody in public media that speaks with the considered thought and articulation exhibited by Dr. Peterson. He takes the time to choose words that are very precise to support his opinions. The only other person that even comes close is Ben Shapiro.

Who doesn't want to believe an old man hurling thunder bolts at a giant snake monster that resulted in the speration of the land, sea and the sky.

Anyone who doesn't crazy.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

His specialty is how to manipulate the masses with propaganda. This guy is the ultimate snake!

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

A couple of criticisms of JP:



And this one:

I've heard a lot of Jordan Peterson, he is smart, but his stance on god is pretty fuzzy. He doesn't have your typical definition of god. He seems to see "god" as a social construct that has been embedded into our psyche via religious morality over thousands of years. I get what he's saying, but he very often goes off on pseudo-intellectual tangents when asked direct questions about god. It very often ends up in word pasta. I honestly do not think he believes in a personal god, but he's very dodgy about that because most of his followers are religious right folks.

Also Matt Dillahunty completely destroyed Peterson in their debate and exposed him big time. Watch this debate if you are really interested in seeing Peterson's views met with hard skepticism and logic. It's very long, but very interesting.




I don't disagree with everything Peterson says, but when it comes to god, I think he needs to take a step back. He's qualified in psychology, but that's pretty much it. He is no authority on science, religion or god, only on what some folks believe about it and how the brain can process such beliefs.

originally posted by: Specimen
Who doesn't want to believe an old man hurling thunder bolts at a giant snake monster that resulted in the speration of the land, sea and the sky.

Anyone who doesn't crazy.

That sounds like a Greek myth to me. Not sure what that is, but if you are suggesting that is taught or a belief of Christianity, you're wrong.

originally posted by: all2human
He's a closet Christian
The metaphysical and the religious co-occur and Miracles happen with regards to the resurrection"

I'm not sure he's a Christian. I think what he says is art-work. He's an expert in propaganda and knows exactly what to say to make himself popular.

a reply to: Blue_Jay33

There are many, many Christians who don't take the account of the creation in Genesis to mean that the earth was created in a literal 7 day period. (I am assuming this is what you mean when you say "believe in creation").

There are Christians who believe in the theory of evolution, with the caveat that God provided those first building blocks of life that started the whole process. They are usually referred to as "theistic evolutionists."

Then there are the Christians who believe that the 7 days described in the Genesis creation account refer to "days" but are really ages or very, very long periods of time (not literal days).

There are Christians who believe that the account of creation in Genesis is more of a literary construction or form, and isn't meant to be taken literally, but that it describes the general process of God creating order and function out of chaos.

And there are Christians who believe that the creation account described in Genesis is to be taken literally. 😕

a reply to: Barcs

I agree. He's a master debater. He's really a brilliant Jedi propagandist. He uses Judo word salad to beat whoever it is he is arguing with.

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: Blue_Jay33

I agree with a lot of what I've heard from Peterson, but I disagree on this one.

It seems to me that most people start out, or are raised as one sort of religious or other, then later become agnostic when those religions prove to be nothing but hollow words of hypocrites, scammers and people frightened by their own mortality.

"Most people?" That is a pretty gross generalization. Where do you live? Because for instance, you'll find that "most people" in Kansas, say, or Oklahoma, start out as Christians and stay Christians.

Ask around in Seattle, say, or San Francisco, and you may find more people who fall into your category. But it's definitely not "most people." In fact, I've run into many, many people, in my adult life, who were raised with zero religion, zero teaching or belief in God.

Then you have people like me, who were raised Christian (fundamentalist non-denominational) who then left the church and rejected the teachings in adulthood, drifted through other faiths and systems of belief such as New Age, agnosticism, Gnosticism, and even athiesm (I tried, anyway; could never really believe in no God/Higher Power/Source), and then returned to Christianity. I had some events happen several years ago that got me thinking about Jesus again, and things lined up and evolved and I found some really good answers to things that had always bothered me about God and the bible. I'm now a Jesus lover. If you would have known me several years ago, you would laugh in my
face now to hear me say that. And the more I research the bible, the more I absolutely convinced in its truth and its sovereignty.

So. There are people out here like me too.

a reply to: dfnj2015

Wow triggered by mentioning the name Jordan Peterson, that’s interesting and then a nobody on YouTube criticising Dr Peterson
Wow
You have issues

a reply to: KansasGirl

It’s from Babylonian mythology, and actually is referenced in the Old Testament. It’s not spelled out, but it’s there 100%.

ETA- not the “old man in the sky”, but the gist of what was referenced.