Proof that Jordan Peterson Doesn’t Understand the Bible
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Hi Nicholas,
I am wondering about a few loose strings for which you might provide clarity to complete your position:
– You posit marriage as the most important relationship that exists. I might suggest that the relationship between Christ & the Church is the central one, and marriage just a reflection of it, à la Ephesians 5:32. I don’t mean to downplay marriage by saying “just a reflection” — it is probably the only relationship that can capture the nature of covenant as you say. But could it be said that it serves/exists to show us how we as a body of believers relate to our Saviour?
– I didn’t look for the context of the Peterson quote, so I don’t know if he was implying biblical exposition, but if he wasn’t, then it may be harder to take the strong stance you did. However, you share your opinion that because he often does claim to explain the Bible, that’s enough cause for concern that listeners may take this as biblical truth too. That may be true, and a risk with any “preacher” who has their own opinions on things (eg. they may share their dietary practices or church decor as recommendations, but may or may not mean it to be taken as biblical).
– I am not sure you take his point as written — You take “most important” to mean “to be prioritized” rather than “most influential in the development of maturity”. And then what does he mean by “maturity” – responsibility? wisdom? selflessness? He could have used more precise words to express it, but I see him to mean the latter from the context. And we can’t build an argument off of what he doesn’t mean.
I don’t think his words necessarily say that children are to be the priority, ie. the relationship to be tended to at the cost of other relationships. I think he is saying that children are the relationship that most pushes you to maturity in the sense of selflessness. I don’t disagree with you that marriage does this too — and neither does Peterson. In some ways, though, a spouse can contribute to you more than your child can, and perhaps that’s why God also uses the analogy of children to express our relation to Him (in terms of our dependence and His graciousness).
Again, I’d suggest that our human relationships are imperfect reflections of our relationship to the Godhead, shadows of the reality in Christ. The only marriage in the resurrection is between Christ and His bride the Church.
I should add that I have neither spouse nor children, and have not gone on to be resurrected, so I’m not fully qualified to speak on these matters apart from what I see in Scripture. And I think you have a few years on me, so if I am misreading the Bible, I’d welcome your interpretations.
Hi Keziah, I’m sorry that I don’t have time at the moment to reply to you comment in full. But I will just say that I don’t disagree with your first //. Human marriage is the most important relationship this side of eternity but is, as John Piper expresses, a “parable of permanence”. I’m not sure why you would think that I don’t accord fully with Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 5 but I certainly do! All the best and thank you again for your time, Nick
Hi Nick! I would maintain that our relationship with God is the most important relationship this side of eternity – but I don’t think you’d disagree, and I don’t mean to get into semantics. I just do think it’s worth reemphasizing that any earthly relationship is primarily valuable in how it can show us something about God. If there is a part of our mind/heart in which marriage is equivalated to the relationship with God Himself (instead of compared), it is perhaps unwittingly becoming an idol. This should be a caveat in this sort of discussion.
Thank you for your follow-up here but, as with the first comment, I’m not sure where the crossed wires are occurring: in identifying that human marriage is merely a copy of the original (a parable of permanence, as I’ve said), and the priority within family life (which was my disagreement with JP’s claims) of course the most important relationship is with the LORD! For a case in point (especially as you’ve mentioned idolatry) please let me direct you to my recent work on I AM JEALOUS which explicitly covers this: https://firebrandnotes.com/i-am-jealous/ I do hope this clarifies! Nick