Peterson, Stories, and Wrestling with God

More thoughts on the latest Peterson volume:

We all have our own stories, and every single story does entail God, atheist protests notwithstanding. Whatever our lives are like, and whatever we are going through, God is a part of those stories. Let me explain: The biblical story is really like a love story. The latter can simply be described as a three-part play: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy regains girl.

And that is the biblical storyline as well: God creates man; man rebels against God; God seeks to woo fallen man back through Christ. Or to use three theological terms: creation, fall, redemption. Every single one of us are part of this much larger story, whether we know it or not; whether we like it or not.

Jesus of course regularly told stories when he walked the earth. Those stories were part of the bigger story as made manifest by his life, mission and teaching. His was – and is – the big story, not just of the Gospels but of the entire Bible – and all of life.

That big story is the grand narrative of everything. It is a metanarrative. But postmodernists today do not believe that there is any grand story, just millions of individual stories. And each person’s story is as good and as true as anyone else’s.

But the biblical worldview affirms the one grand story that makes sense of and gives proper orientation to all our individual stories. Our lives and our stories make sense only in light of the Christian metanarrative. The stories beginning in Genesis and running through to Revelation all tie in with the one grand story that culminates in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is where Jordan Peterson and his new book comes in: We Who Wrestle with God (Portfolio, 2024). The other day I discussed him and the book, looking at the spiritual journey Peterson is on: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2024/11/21/on-jordan-peterson-and-god-again/

The title of his book of course comes from the story of Jacob wrestling with God (see Genesis 32:22-32). Later on, God renamed him Israel (Gen. 35). So the story of Israel, just like the story of our lives, is that of wrestling with God.

One main theme of Peterson’s book is that life is an adventure, albeit a risky one, and living by and for truth, regardless of any negative consequences, is the path we must follow. Taking responsibility for our actions, and remaining steadfast in our higher pursuits, is vital. And Peterson finds these themes throughout these biblical stories.

One could say quite simply that in general, this book attempts to wed psychology with theology. Or more specifically, it attempts to wed the thoughts of Carl Jung and others with some famous stories from the Hebrew Bible. Readers will have to determine just how successful his endeavour has been.

Just by way of introduction, let me mention what is covered in the book. As mentioned, they are only stories from the Old Testament. Whether he will one day do a follow-up volume, looking at the greatest story ever told as presented in the Gospels and the New Testament remains to be seen.

The famous stories covered here include that of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and Jonah. This is certainly not a biblical commentary, nor a devotional work. As mentioned, it looks for meaning and value in these stories from the perspective of where Peterson is now at.

Thus those who are familiar with his podcasts, writings and talks will find various well-known themes of his featured here. Given that so much of what he has to say can be of value and help to others, one expects that many folks will find more of the same here. The biblical Christian however will find it to be a mixed bag.

He has at least become quite familiar with the biblical material, with numerous biblical passages featured here – perhaps several hundred all up in this 550-page book. And these include some New Testament references, along with various mentions of Jesus Christ. But it is the Old Testament stories that predominate here.

I mentioned above the PoMo rejection of metanarratives. Peterson is clearly not in that camp, but neither does he seem to be in the biblical Christian camp – at least not yet. That he can bring many useful bits of commentary, insight and discussion from the biblical stories is evident. He likes to get to ‘the moral of the story.’

But is that sufficient? Let me mention just two examples of the sort of thing he is running with here. What he says about the Tower of Babel episode IS in fact the sort of thing one would find in a good biblical commentary – at least the portion that I quote here:

Although the first builders of cities are the descendants of Cain, tradition has it that the city of Babylon, specifically, is founded by Nimrod, who does so in an act of God-defying hubris. Nimrod is a direct descendant of Noah’s son Ham, who reveled in the site of his father’s nakedness and whose descendants were consequently cursed with failure and slavery (Genesis 9:20-27). Babylon is, therefore, not only the city of arrogant empire but also the prototypical dwelling place of the son who lacks respect for his father and who therefore places himself in a position of unearned moral superiority. Nimrod is described in the biblical text in terms reminiscent or indicative of those who seek power for power’s sake, as “the first on earth to be a mighty man” (Genesis 10:8 English Standard Version), “the first powerful man on earth” (Holman Christian Standard Bible), or “the world’s first great conqueror” (Good News Translation). Thus, the idea of overweening pride, might, and the lust for conquest is linked through the metaphor of his ancestry to the city-building/technological enterprise, and more precisely to the founding of the city Babylon.

 

The story of the Tower of Babel is in its essence another retelling of the ever-present temptations and dangers of hubris—a warning against humanity’s marked proclivity to arrogance and misguided ambition. It cautions against the temptations of the Luciferian intellect: the desire, manifest not least in Eve, Adam, and Cain, to exceed the proper human place, define good and evil themselves, and attain the heights—and by means other than identification with God and subordination to the intrinsic, preestablished and eternal moral order. In building a tower that “reaches to the heavens,” the engineers and technicians of Babel, or Babylon, and their associated rulers and states aimed to make a name not for God but for themselves…. (p. 195)

All that is true and helpful. One can ask however, as Peterson examines the moral of the story in this and other Old Testament narratives, whether or not he thinks they are actual historical events that do indeed contain moral and spiritual truths, or simply stories or myths that contain much to inspire and guide us.

As for a second story, his chapter on Abraham again shows helpful insights and many thought-provoking ideas, but it also shows us a less-than-ideal biblical understanding of the story and what it really points to. As to the call of Abram, Peterson describes it as follows:

“God, in the story of Abram, is the spirit that calls to the privileged and sheltered to leave the comforts of home and to undertake the adventures of their life. Do you abide by that spirit?” (p. 262) Hmm, sounds like a description of Bilbo and Frodo as given to us by Tolkien. Sure, there is some truth here, but there is much more going on.

Yes, Peterson looks at other aspects of Abraham’s life, but too often they are found wanting, biblically speaking. Consider the great story of him binding and offering up his son Isaac as found in Genesis 22 (the Akedah). The Christian sees this as one of the great types of Christ, as the Father is willing to offer up his own son as a sacrifice – in this case, for the sins of the world.

True, both Jung and Peterson would speak of Abraham (and other biblical characters discussed in this book) as being archetypes. So maybe he is in the biblical ballpark to an extent. But Peterson speaks of the need to forego things for God, even one’s family. Yes, true enough. And he goes on to say this:

Both sides of the story can hardly be dramatized emphatically enough: it is a terrible thing to offer son or daughter to God, but it is a positively hellish thing, an offering to the darkest abyss, to fail to do so. The parent who, for example, protects his or her child at all costs – thereby maintaining past its due date an increasingly corrupt and counterproductive infantilism – is simultaneously and often purposefully compromising that child’s soul, dooming him or her to an everlasting insecurity, anxiety, hopelessness, and most bitter resentment and self-hatred….

 

The spirit that is God in the Abraham story is not only the still, small voice that calls to adventure. It is also the same unitary spirit requiring those who welcome its presence to go all in, to risk everything. Optimal adaptation requires that no light is left languishing under a bushel; that nothing within is held in abeyance; that all potential strength is mustered for the fight; that all resources are brought to bear on the problems at hand… (p. 313)

Once again, on one level all that is true and helpful, and a welcome antidote to so much of the prevailing mindset that ails us today. But it clearly is not the full biblical story, and it is not the sum and substance of the Akedah story either. Without clearly seeing it in the light of the binding and offering of Jesus, and the work he did to redeem mankind, it remains inspiring but incomplete.

Those who know a bit about biblical hermeneutics know that some early church fathers went overboard in their allegorical methods of interpretation – Origen and the Alexandrian School being a clear case in point. Peterson is good at digging out many helpful ‘morals to the story’ which perhaps non-Christians especially might find more useful, since they are not being committed to embracing the entirety of the biblical revelation, including questions of historicity and the like.

But the Christian will know that Bible reading and study entails much more than learning neat moral and spiritual lessons found in the text, but seeing the bigger story, the metanarrative, of God’s purposes in the world. And they all centre on Christ and his work.

Closing thoughts

Peterson has long been helping people, especially young men. So whatever task he sets himself to, whatever things he writes about or speaks about, will be of some value. But one wishes he would go all the way. Whether utilising the thought of Jung or others, there is much that can be gleamed from such folks. But they ARE limited in the help they can offer us.

Of interest, I am just now again reading through the book of Romans. This is the closest thing we have in the New Testament to being a systematic theology, and it is likely the most detailed and finely-argued theological account of the entire gospel story.

In sum, if the seeker, or the believer, is looking for a clear presentation of the biblical gospel in this book, he or she will be disappointed. If the reader is simply looking for what are often quite helpful and well-thought through insights and lessons as gleaned from these OT stories, they will find that.

But as I keep saying, all stories, including all the Old Testament stories, are simply a part of the grand story revolving around the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and they can only properly be made sense of in that light. Only that mega-story helps explain all other stories – including all of our individual, personal stories.

And as I say so often, I pray every day for Peterson. Whether he is, or soon will be, a blood-bought child of God through Christ is not fully clear. I hope he does go all the way in this glorious story of stories.

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