RPT’s quick note: Peterson’s “air-typing” aside…. what he explains is the worldview that shaped and allowed free thought/speech, the scientific revolution, as close as you can get to a free body politic — etc.
“Worldview:” “People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By “presuppositions” we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic worldview, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. People’s presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for their decisions. ‘As a man thinketh, so he is,’ is really profound. An individual is not just the product of the forces around him. He has a mind, an inner world. Then, having thought, a person can bring forth actions into the external world and thus influence it. People are apt to look at the outer theater of action, forgetting the actor who “lives in the mind” and who therefore is the true actor in the external world. The inner thought world determines the outward action. Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles. But people with more understanding realize that their presuppositions should be chosen after a careful consideration of what worldview is true. When all is done, when all the alternatives have been explored, ‘not many men are in the room’ — that is, although worldviews have many variations, there are not many basic worldviews or presuppositions.”
Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1976), 19-20.
Many of you may have heard about the recent episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast where he interviewed the renowned Jordan Peterson, and at a number of points in their conversation, the subject turned to Peterson’s views on Christianity, which included a profound explanation of the role of the Bible in the formation of Western Civilization. Rogan sat rather spellbound as Peterson detailed what the Bible actually is and its significance for cultivating the world as we know it. What I found so fascinating about Peterson’s explanation was how well it resonated with what cultural anthropologists have been observing about the inherently religious foundations of all civilizations around the world, and why our current secular world is beginning to implode. So what I want to do is play you Peterson’s explanation of the Bible, and then I’m going to compare it to what cultural anthropologists are saying to help us better appreciate why secular liberalism is waning and why a new post-secular age is rising.
Jordan Peterson Teaches Joe Rogan about the Cross!
Dr Steve Turley’s bio: He formerly served as faculty member at Tall Oaks Classical School in Bear, DE, where he taught Theology and Rhetoric, and Professor of Fine Arts at Eastern University. In May of 2021, he decided to quit his professor job and work full-time to promote his organization which promotes right-wing populism and Christian conservatism.
Turley lectures at universities, conferences, and churches throughout the U.S. and abroad. His research and writings have appeared in such journals as Christianity and Literature, Calvin Theological Journal, First Things, Touchstone, and The Chesterton Review.
Turley earned his PhD at Durham University.