I suspect Jordan Peterson finds himself in a bit of a quandary today in matters of faith, religion and particularly Christianity. By his own admission, he feels boxed in when asked what he believes about God. It sounds like he is still up in the air and not yet ready to come down on one side or the other.

In a world where ideas continually flow like waves in the ocean, renowned psychologist Jordan Peterson dives into the depths everyday in search of hidden treasure. He has carefully studied human nature for decades and often opines upon various fads, facts, myths, beliefs, religions, and self-help methodologies. I addressed his careful approach to life in a previous article entitled, “Transcending Jordan Peterson’s 12 Rules for Life: Turning Water into Wine.”

Perhaps the deepest mystery Peterson seems destined to grapple with is how the Bible and Christianity apply across the board. That is to say, “Do the truth claims of Jesus apply not only to Christians, but also to those who reject the Messiah’s claims and refuse to repent of their sins and receive Christ’s free gift of salvation?”

In his first book, “Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief,” Peterson wrote, “Nobody knows what is finally true, by definition, but honest people make the best possible use of their experience.”

Do you see the logical inconsistency in this truth claim? In order to reject the notion of absolute truth, you have to state your own absolute position in the process. It becomes self-contradictory.

Therefore, I suspect Jordan Peterson finds himself in a bit of a quandary today in matters of faith, religion and particularly Christianity. By his own admission, he feels boxed in when asked what he believes about God. It sounds like he is still up in the air and not yet ready to come down on one side or the other. Fair enough. These things cannot be rushed or forced upon anyone, especially if it’s going to result in a genuine profession of faith.

In addition, there is often a high cost if you dare to be countercultural and hitch your wagon to the truth claims of Jesus. It’s no wonder so many people prefer to keep Christ at arm’s length. The message of the cross is offensive to modern ears on multiple levels, just has it has been for the past two millennia.

Jordan Peterson appears to be wandering and pondering around the periphery of Christianity while trying to figure out how he might be able to wrap his mind around the essence of it. And where this brilliant psychologist goes from here is anyone’s guess. I suppose it will depend in large part on whether or not he comes to accept the fact that absolute truth exists not only in the natural world, but also in spiritual matters and the unseen world.

In an interview last year, Peterson commented on the claim Christ made in John 14:6: “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Peterson said, “The truth He was talking about wasn’t an objective truth.” Peterson’s assertion here stands in stark contrast to the Savior’s actual words and to Christianity itself. Christians have always understood Jesus to mean exactly what He said, namely, that He is objectively and definitely the source of ultimate truth whether you receive Him as your Savior or not.

Peterson went on to say, “To me there are two kinds of truth.” And he defined one of those as “objective fact truths.” Interestingly, Peterson feels that Christ’s truth claim in John 14:6 is not an objective fact truth. He seems to think the claim Christ made about being the only way to heaven may not objectively apply to all people everywhere.

You run into a problem, however, if you start dividing the truth claims of Christ into objective truth and subjective truth. You end up playing fast and loose with the truth claims of all religious prophets over the centuries. Rather than objectively identifying false prophets and true prophets, you settle for a vague and innocuous position such as this: “The prophet in question may provide the truth for those who choose to believe in him and follow his teaching, but his message is not necessarily the truth for those who choose a different path and a different prophet.”

This progressive spin waters down objective truth claims to the point where every religious person is said to “have their own truth,” in spite of the fact that the major religions of the world have contradictory creeds and conflicting paths to Paradise. These discrepancies are a huge deal whether you realize it or not.

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