Why the Bible Just Won’t Die (Part 2)
“Why won’t the Bible simply go away?” was answered at a metanarrative level in Part 1.
In this post, I want to come down a notch and share a micronarrative for the Bible’s current cultural relevance by zooming in on a cultural voice—Jordan Peterson.
The Surprising “Gateway Drug” to the Bible?
Jordan Peterson is a Canadian psychologist and professor best known for his work “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos.” He exploded on the cultural scene after his resistance to political correctness in academic institutions and has become a modern philosophical voice to many. To give perspective on his reach, he currently has almost 9 million followers on YouTube.
While it would not be true (yet) to say that Peterson is a Jesus follower who affirms a historically orthodox view of Jesus, it would be true to say that he has held multiple sold-out lectures commenting on the Bible.
Peterson’s primary interpretative lens for the Bible is psychological, not grammatical-redemptive-historical. For example, he applies strong Jungian language of value hierarchy when explaining Biblical concepts. Yet he also believes “the biblical texts are foundational.” His lectures consisted of two hours (or more!), mostly to young men, on the relevance of the Biblical texts to modern life.
While these lectures did not lead to mass conversions, some believe they level-set the culture’s view of the Bible, shifting the view from an antiquated book full of silly ghost stories for the brainless (view of the New Atheists), to a genuine source of wisdom that helps us make sense of the hollowness of modernity.
Justin Brierley, in his book “The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God,” writes about how Peterson is credited by individuals such as YouTube host Dave Rubin and Reddit threads with titles like “Atheist here, on the edge of conversion to Christianity” for changing their views on the Christian faith.
Brierley writes, “Wherever the psychologist may personally find himself on the faith spectrum, he has been described as a “gateway drug” to orthodox Christian faith for others, and it’s easy to see why. Indeed, his own wife Tammy and daughter Mikhaila Peterson have gone on record as having “found God” and an unprecedented peace through prayer and Bible reading.”
The Unsurprising Willingness of God to Use All Things
I have not dug much into Peterson’s work, but I can’t help but wonder if the current trend of young men attending church is the downstream effect of how God may have used Jordan Peterson to elevate a generation’s view of the Bible.
I may be wrong to connect these dots, but if I were right, would it surprise us to think of God working that way?
Didn’t God use a donkey to speak sense into a false prophet? (Numbers 22:21-39) Didn’t God then use that very false prophet to pronounce blessings (and not curses) upon His people? (Numbers 23-25) What about the time when God used a Jewish high priest hostile to the work of Jesus to prophecy about the very saving work Jesus would accomplish? (John 11:45-53)
God has used all kinds of people, animals, and even inanimate objects (Think printing press and the Reformation) to accomplish His purposes. Certainly, God could use the cultural philosophers of our day to help turn the tide toward belief in God.
I am not advising you should start reading Jordan Peterson’s material. We should test everything and never absorb something wholesale. But I do believe God can use all kinds of men, mechanisms, moments, and movements. I’m grateful Peterson has (arguably) made more people curious about the Bible than most pastors combined.
Peterson didn’t “save” the Bible from irrelevancy, but he is a reminder to us that God will cause His Word to prevail no matter what cultural obstacles may come our way.
