In a new “intense interview”, John Rich, a country music singer from Canada, asked Jordan Peterson tough questions about his faith journey.
Rich read a quote from Peterson during a recent podcast conversation. In it, he explains his struggle to believe in Christianity while recognizing that there is an objective morality grounded in Biblical values.
“But I don’t know what to think of it. It’s too frightening a truth to believe.” Rich quoted Peterson as saying, “I don’t even know what you would do if you truly believed.”
Rich’s reaction: “What struck me is the ‘terrified” part. “Because I would think that it would be the best thing in the whole world if Jesus was who the Bible claims he is… then you should run straight to him because he controls Heaven or Hell.”
He loves you more than anyone else will. Rich continued, “He created you.”
The last thing that he wants is for you to go the wrong way and spend eternity apart from him. “I know this is your interview but I want to ask you what makes you so afraid that Jesus could be the man the Bible says he is?” He asked Peterson.
Peterson’s views on faith deepened while he researched the Biblical stories for his book “We Who Wrestle with God.”
He said that the “terrifying part” of faith was giving up your control and accepting God’s plan for your life.
“There is a fear in letting go of that, to say the least, and doing only… what the spirit of truth commands you to do, or invites you to do,” Peterson stated that the adventure is so much greater than what you could have gained.
He continued, “There is a terror to being subjugated even though it is a necessary submission.”
Rich challenged Peterson to decide which was worse: having your life transformed by God, or facing “eternal horror” in the Afterlife. He asked Peterson if he would be willing to turn his life over to Christ, something Peterson had already done.
Peterson, as he and the other man continued their debate about what it meant to “be saved,” said that “holy terror,” kept him on the “straight path.”
Rich responded that no one is good enough to be saved and that one day “every knee will bow before God”.
Peterson said he was “afraid” of talking in public about his personal views on faith because he did not want it to become a show.
Rich challenged him, “Reconsider.” Rich argued that Peterson can reach millions of people by telling them “the truth” regarding the Bible and eternal life.
He told Peterson, “You could become one of the strongest weapons that God has ever used.”
After the interview, the country singer commented on social media that the conversation about faith, life, and death was “intense to say the least.”
