Finding clear lenses for seeing Scripture

WE WHO WRESTLE WITH GOD:
Perceptions of the Divine
By Jordan Peterson
Alan Lane. 544 pages. £30
ISBN 978 0 241 619 612

Reading books can be a complicated thing. Sometimes I am reading two books side by side; this turns into a three-way conversation. I had this experience reading Peterson’s We Who Wrestle With God and Kevin Vanhoozer’s Mere Christian Hermeneutics (ISBN 978 0 310 234 388).

Oddly, as it happens Christopher Watkins was also reading these two books and posted some videos with his reflections. Watkins notes the comparison between a passing reference to the Transfiguration of Jesus in Peterson and the use of that story as the organising centre of Vanhooser’s book. I was struck by Watkins’ reflection that moving from Vanhoozer’s book on reading Scripture to Peterson’s book was like leaving a gigantic grand glittering ballroom and stepping into a broom cupboard!

Peterson is viewed by some as an ally who defends some cultural Christianity without necessarily embracing the heart of Christianity itself. It is not entirely clear in this book whether he believes in the God of the Bible or not.

What is there to like about Peterson’s book?

Peterson has expended so much time and effort to reading and reflecting on Scripture (mainly Genesis and Exodus). He makes it plain that Scripture is worth reading and worth taking seriously. No reflection on Scripture is without merit.

What is there not to like?

1. Peterson looks at the little stories in the Bible as movements from chaos to order without seeing the links with the bigger overarching story of the Bible that is shaped by reading it within the framework of creation, fall, redemption and glorification.

2. Peterson sees the stories of the Old Testament as tales that provide a rallying call to man-up and embrace a life of authentic heroic integrity. At times the book appears to be more of a vehicle to express the author’s presuppositions than an honest attempt to listen to Scripture on its own terms.

3. Peterson observes the grit of Biblical characters without seeing the grace; he explores the flaws of Biblical characters without making connections with the gospel.

Tom Wright helpfully wrote that: “The Old Testament is a story looking for a conclusion.”

This conclusion to the narrative arc of the Scripture that is found in Christ and the gospel of transforming grace is missing in Peterson’s massive tome. It is a case of missing the wood for the trees.

If you want help to read Scripture, Vanhoozer’s is the better choice. Using the Transfiguration as his starting point he reads Scripture through a Christological lens, reading the little stories of Scripture within the context of the bigger story of the whole of Scripture.

We must choose our guides carefully. Reading Vanhoozer has been a joy that has sent me back to Scripture with clarity and delight. In the words of the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration, we are pointed to Christ and urged to “Listen to him”, otherwise we merely hear echoes of our own voices!