One Map to Rule Them All
Every week, as we begin class, Dr. Clark gives our cohort the coffee table test: “If a person saw the book that we all read this week on your coffee table, and asked what it was about, what would you tell them?”.
This week we read Jordan Peterson’s Maps of Meaning: The Architecture of Belief, and if I were to describe it in a short sentence, I’d say something like, “it’s as if Jordan Peterson took Joseph Campbell’s A Hero With A Thousand Faces and wrote a sequel to it 50 years later but added in some neuropsychology”.
Ok, that’s not only a short description, but it shortchanges a book that, while it clearly shares elements with Campbell’s masterpiece, also makes its own contribution. To explain a bit, Maps of Meaning, much like A Hero With a Thousand Faces, also relies on Jungian Psychology, and engages philosophy, history, mythology/archetypes, and religion. And Peterson, like Campbell, also expresses the essential importance of meaning for human beings.
But Peterson’s unique contribution seems to be his assessment that the stories and symbols embedded across cultures create the very maps that help people navigate life with meaning and purpose and direction. And he is more interested in how belief systems emerged than simply pointing out the overlap between those various belief systems.
His writing was academic and dense (something I complained felt missing with Campbell in my post about his book), and it was full of captivating trails that would be worthy to follow. For instance, I could write about how he approaches the balance between order and chaos. Or I could do a deeper dive into his thoughts about individual responsibility (and particularly how that has positively influenced younger men I know who are reading Peterson). Or I could have fun tracking down his thoughts on religious symbols and stories. But what I couldn’t stop thinking about while inspecting this book, and what I want to spend the remainder of this post on, was simple: Maps.
Because order and chaos, or individual responsibility, or religious identity, or archetype and symbol, all play into his bigger theme which is that people must understand and navigate reality by using “maps of meaning” that provide structures to help them make sense of the world and their experiences in the world, so they can make informed choices about how to think and act.
Peterson claims that the overlap of various maps (social, religious, psychological, historical, etc.) helps humans organize their various experiences in ways that help them interpret who they are, how they think, why they behave a certain way, and where they fit into the world.
And all of that reminded me of Dr. Clark’s first lecture in Cape Town about maps; this idea was eye-opening and fascinating to me (possibly the first of many threshold moments in this program), that the overlap of various maps help us to understand who we are and where we belong. Without maps, we can easily get lost.
And in the end, when thinking about the different maps in our lives, I also couldn’t stop thinking about Scripture as the supreme map by which all other maps must be aligned. Because if a person is going to use multiple overlapping maps, they need to know that they are starting with a foundational map that is reliable, to measure the rest of the maps against. The subsequent maps may very well add new perspective or information, but there needs to be a standard.
In other words, If I am wanting to look at an economic map overlaying a political map overlaying a cultural map of Los Angeles, I’d better have an accurate geographical map of Los Angeles the other maps can align with.
The primary challenge I had with this book (and with the YouTube series) was that Peterson seems to think the Bible is full of great narratives, archetypes, symbols, and allegories to help humans make maps of meaning of our lives, but he doesn’t seem to see the Bible as a trustworthy ultimate, foundational map.
Peterson seemed like a lapsed Christian trying hard to reconcile his past fundamental beliefs with an ideology and worldview that can’t quite accept the full implication of a supernatural and transcendent God, or a Scripture that is a divinely inspired and uniquely reliable map for humanity.
It’s like he wanted to use the Bible as a good map, but not recognize it as the map that provided a necessary foundation.
I’m indebted to Peterson for his important maps-of-meaning metaphor, but I want to teach those I shepherd not to engage the Bible as “a” map among many, but instead to see it as “the” map to align the rest of the life-maps to, to keep us from getting lost.
About the Author
Tim Clark
I'm on a lifelong journey of discovering the person God has created me to be and aligning that with the purpose God has created me for. I've been pressing hard after Jesus for 40 years, and I currently serve Him as the lead pastor of vision and voice at The Church On The Way in Los Angeles. I live with my wife and 3 kids in Burbank California.16 responses to “One Map to Rule Them All”
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Hi Tim,
You wrote, “I’m indebted to Peterson for his important maps-of-meaning metaphor, but I want to teach those I shepherd not to engage the Bible as “a” map among many, but instead to see it as “the” map to align the rest of the life-maps to, to keep us from getting lost.”
Yes, and Yes again.
As we plummeted the depths of our unconscious biases last week (something I am still digesting). I find myself almost cultureless in the contemporary Pacific/Asian/islander sense (A category still found on most surveys).
Drinking from the wrong fountains (while in the Army) I found a map at age 33. It redefined me and continues to challenge me to grow and become more Christlike. (Wow how does one get an “A” in that endeavor?)
Living overseas for 30 years, this map (which you so ably describe) is one that I could share with so many individuals, in many churches, in so many countries. I shared a Christ identity that transcended shape, color or smell! We were all following the same map!
I have to confess, that I have found some of the “feeling”, “microagressions” issues of late a bit (no a lot) dripping with self centeredness.
Christ was anything but! He was all about others. About us.
I depend on people like you and Jenn to post early so that I can begin framing my own thoughts. (That is what weak students do!)
Thanks and thanks again.
Shalom….
Russell, you are not a weak student! You have valuable insights and an amazing contribution.
Something you said was really helpful to unpack how I think about the “foundational” map. If, for instance, the gospel is our primary map, then all of us may have other maps that are the same or different that we lay on top of that first map, but we still share that most important piece. And we can gather around that.
If however we all come with different primary maps, it’s nearly impossible to truly come together. I think that’s what has happened in church in the last 5 years. Everyone is starting from a different map than the gospel and mad at each other for not agreeing with their political or social or cultural map. I’m fine with the disagreements but let’s learn to keep the main thing the main thing. Yes?
YES! Let’s keep the main thing, the main thing.
I was (wrongly) caught up with the Pro-Putin Anti Ukraine stance of several of our GoodSports Slovak and Hungary staff. More than saddened, I burned with unrighteous anger.
It’s been a year and now I have come to a different place…”turn the other cheek” and let others live out their political map”
However, our connection, our original map has been “loving God and loving kids” if we can stick with the biblical mandate for orphans, widows and the alien amongst us then then our primary map will continue to connect us.
Sadly, I am rebuilding personal bridges – but such is life. Getting focused on the map that connects has brought relational sanity back into my life.
Shalom…
Hi, Tim,
Great post.
You mentioned: “It’s like he wanted to use the Bible as a good map, but not recognize it as the map that provided a necessary foundation.” I was trying to say the same thing, but you articulated it better. It seemed to be one map among many other maps. I do enjoy the philosophical insight Peterson has and the idea of overlaying maps of meaning, however, this verse comes to mind::
“The One who comes from above is head and shoulders over other messengers from God. The earthborn is earthbound and speaks earth language; the heavenborn is in a league of his own. He sets out the evidence of what he saw and heard in heaven. No one wants to deal with these facts. But anyone who examines this evidence will come to stake his life on this: that God himself is the truth.” (John 3:31-33 – The Message)
Wow, what a GREAT verse to add to this conversation.
By the way, I understand as a not-believer that Peterson may very well respect the Bible as a parallel map to other maps. That isn’t really my issue.
My issue is believers who would buy what Peterson is saying “hook line and sinker” without considering where his worldview is coming from.
I also noticed that Peterson seemed to be unwilling to acknowledge that there is an “ultimate” map that, as you say “provides the necessary foundation.” When you overlay the meaning that Peterson gives us about himself, I become increasingly curious about where his maps are taking him. I am curious, do you see his work influencing many in your circles? If so, what impact do you see, and how does his views of Christianity play into that influence?
I do see him influencing some. Mostly about 4 or 5 years ago a group of teenager and young adult guys as well as one of our youth pastors in my church were really into him. While I saw the attraction I had to point out some biblical and christological fallacies in his thinking as his work was leading them down what I saw as pretty ungracious and prideful pathways.
This is a money quote from you Tim: “I’m indebted to Peterson for his important maps-of-meaning metaphor, but I want to teach those I shepherd not to engage the Bible as “a” map among many, but instead to see it as “the” map to align the rest of the life-maps to, to keep us from getting lost.”
So, so true. Fundamentally, I will be at odds with Peterson, as brilliant as he is, on this issue. He, as of the time of the writing of Maps of Meaning places Scripture as one of many maps, and I simply do not see it that way.
I’d be curious as to how he has “evolved.” I have reason to believe, from what I’m picking up online, that he is warming to the Lordship of Jesus.
Thanks!
I’m curious about his evolution as well. As I dove a little deeper it seems like he has doubled down on using Scripture but sadly it also seems that his approach isn’t submitted TO scripture or Jesus but still puts him as the prideful master.
I only dug a little so I could be reading him TOTALLY wrong. If you see something else, point me that direction.
Thanks Tim….I agree with you, and would boil down the difference between our perspective and Petersons to be his assumption that man creates meaning and our presumption that God reveals purpose and meaning as the one who created us. There could be lots of discussion and overlaps as to how that gets discovered and implemented into our lives…and Peterson might have some psychologically helpful things for us to consider and adopt along the way, but the fundamental posture of ‘discovering’ (as we related to God and are caught up in His grand narrative) verses ‘creating’ is substantively different starting points in the discussion.
Thats a really good point Scott. Though I may overlap with Peterson in some things the essential worldview of creating our own narrative vs. caught up in God’s created narrative is significant.
Maps with overlay..interesting. SO what you are saying is all these other maps are good if they are viewed overlaying scripture as foundation? Scripture being the main map? I can get behind that. Do you think overlaying other maps such as culture maps, or economic maps changes how you see the Bible? I’m not looking for a right answer, just curious:). I think the more I am around people different than me the more I understand scripture differently. Peterson was not prioritizing scripture as the base map, is that correct? Thanks for your summary:)
Jana, yes, I am suggesting scripture as a foundational map with the overlays being other maps. And yes, though I would suggest that first map doesn’t change, I do think we will end up comprehending that first map differently as we see how everything else overlays.
It seems that Peterson is laying all the maps out and saying “choose”. I don’t know that for sure as I couldn’t read the whole book but that’s what I caught.
Appreciated you posts, Peterson’s approach to the Bible is very out of the ordinary. I read a book about a year ago by Thomas Merton, and he mentioned the value of non-Christians who read the Bible and point out things that we can miss or overlook. I feel like Peterson does that to an extent, even though he seems to be on a journey and is hard to nail down spiritually.
Curious to see where his journey goes. I will say he is causing many around me to reengage the Bible and take some of these stories serious again which has led to some productive conversations around Christ and faith. I liked that you brought back what Jason said in South Africa about maps. I can remember exactly when he said that and what I was feeling as a first year student! Fun times.
I have no problem with non Christians pointing out things for us. Actually I welcome that. I guess I’m just concerned that less attentive Christians would think Peterson is coming from a Christian worldview and buy his philosophy hook, line and sinker because it is presented with such strength and authority.
However, I’m grateful that his stuff has inspired productive conversations about faith and Christ. Honestly my concerns are not founded on signifiant understanding just light observation, so thanks for providing a counter-narrative.
Just thinking through stuff alongside you. I feel similar with Peterson, along with others I read. Peterson is very “matter of fact” about some things which is what prompted some of my thoughts in my post this week about imposing our ideas into the ancient texts. I know he is doing that with psychology and its something readers and listeners may not be aware of, which is what your post is addressing. People who may not be familiar with the Bible could assume his views as gospel truth since he is compelling and has an authoritative approach. Thanks for the response.