Last evening I attended Professor Jordan Peterson’s We Who Wrestle With God Tour lecture at DAR Constitution Hall.

It was an incredible lecture. He started talking about the story of Jonah, and his response to God’s directive to straighten out the Ninevites, the storm, the whale, the descent into Hell, and Jonah’s eventual capitulation to doing what he knows to be the right thing.

He also spoke about the apparitions at Jesus Christ’s transfiguration on the mount: Moses and Elijah. Moses makes sense, since he was the pivotal prophet in the Old Testament, but why Elijah? His role lay in bringing the Jews back to God’s path, but he first had to overcome King Ahab, Jezebel, and the rest of the Baal worshipers, none of whom were pleased with the message Elijah brought, and as a result sought Elijah’s death. Yet Elijah answered the call and went ahead with challenging Ahab, Jezebel, and the other Baal worshipers.

The key points he made are:

1. Always speak truth as it is revealed via the quiet inner voice known as your conscience, because once you do, the outcome is the best of all possible outcomes, since it did not require you to surrender any part of your being.

2. Your destiny lies in trying to fix those things that bother you. This necessarily requires you confront those things which you might be or are unwilling to confront.

He also told a hilarious story from when he spoke in Berlin several years ago. For some reason, the venue chosen was in a part of Berlin where communists dominate the local population. When the commies heard he was speaking in their area, a few hundred protested against his lecture. So, he videotaped them doing so. He then observed he used some of that footage in an advertisement, noting “I love monetizing communists.”

If you can, see him lecture. He is articulate, brilliant, and witty.

I await delivery of the book.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:
For some reason, the venue chosen was in a part of Berlin where communists dominate the local population.

Perhaps somewhere in the eastern half of the city...?

I saw him in Detroit a few months ago, absolutely enjoyed the experience.

According to him he chooses what he is going to talk about 45 minutes before each lecture.

I saw him 2 weeks ago on the same tour and he did not speak about any of that.
I enjoyed it though he spoke more generally than I was expecting.
My understanding is that his book is some analytical/detailed breakdowns of stories from the Old Testament.
While he spoke some about the Old Testament I expected much more of a deep dive into them.

Your post just made my mind wander on the topic of the transfiguration.

My view is that Moses was there because just as Moses (the Law giver) brought the Israelites out of slavery from Egypt, it was Joshua (Jesus) who brought them into the Promised Land. Elijah was there because he's the herald of the Messiah. That's why there's an Elijah's cup in every Passover Seder in anticipation of that prophecy.

I'm midway through "12 Rules for Life". The guy is an absolute wizard that is being persecuted for his brilliance. Damn liberals.