We who wrestle with God : perceptions of the divine Cover Image

Book

We who wrestle with God : perceptions of the divine / Dr. Jordan B. Peterson.

Summary:

"In We Who Wrestle with God, Dr. Peterson guides us through the ancient, foundational stories of the Western world. In riveting detail, he analyzes the Biblical accounts of rebellion, sacrifice, suffering, and triumph that stabilize, inspire, and unite us culturally and psychologically. Adam and Eve and the eternal fall of mankind; the resentful and ultimately murderous war of Cain and Abel; the cataclysmic flood of Noah; the spectacular collapse of the Tower of Babel; Abraham's terrible adventure; and the epic of Moses and the Israelites. What could such stories possibly mean? What force wrote and assembled them over the long centuries? How did they bring our spirits and the world together, and point us in the same direction? It is time for us to understand such things, scientifically and spiritually; to become conscious of the structure of our souls and our societies; and to see ourselves and others as if for the first time. Join Elijah as he discovers the Voice of God in the dictates of his own conscience and Jonah confronting hell itself in the belly of the whale because he failed to listen and act. Set yourself straight in intent, aim, and purpose as you begin to more deeply understand the structure of your society and your soul. Journey with Dr. Peterson through the greatest stories ever told."-- Provided by publisher.

Record details

ISBN: 9780593542538
ISBN: 0593542533
ISBN: 9780593854013
ISBN: 0593542533
Physical Description: xxxi, 544 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
Publisher: New York, New York : Portfolio, Penguin, [2024]
Copyright: ©2024

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 507-544).

Formatted Contents Note:

In the beginning. God as a creative spirit -- The spirit of man in the highest place -- The real and its representation -- Eve from Adam -- In God's image -- Adam, Eve, pride, self-consciousness, and the fall. The image of God in the eternal garden -- Pride versus the sacred moral order -- The incompleteness of Adam and the arrival of Eve -- The eternal sins of Eve and Adam -- The eternal serpent -- Naked suffering as the fruit of sin -- Loss of Paradise and the flaming sword -- Cain, Abel, and sacrifice. The identity of sacrifice and work -- The hostile brothers of good and evil -- The sacred patterning of the political -- The good shepherd as archetypal leader -- The sacrifice pleasing to God -- Creatively possessed by the spirit of resentment -- Humility and faith versus pride, despair, and vengeful anger -- Fratricide, then worse -- Noah: God as the call to prepare. Giants in the land -- Sin and the return of chaos -- Salvation by the wise and the reestablishment of the world -- The faithless son doomed to enslavement -- The tower of Babel: God versus tyranny and pride. Lucifer and the engineers -- Pride and the fall, reprise: Descent into hell itself -- Inability to understand one another -- God-or else -- Abraham: God as spirited call to adventure. Go forth -- The devil at the crossroads -- Life as a sacrificial secession -- Sex and parasitism -- Sacrifice and transformation of identity: Abram, Sarai, and Jacob -- With the angels into the abyss -- The pinnacle of sacrifice -- Moses I: God as dreadful spirit of freedom. The Jews as unwelcome sojourners and slaves -- The fiery tree as revelation of being and becoming -- Return to the tyrannical kingdom -- Back to the land of doubling down -- The inevitable interregnum of chaos and the guiding spirit -- The subsidiary state as alternative to tyranny and slavery -- The Commandments as explicit revelation of custom -- Moses II: Hedonism and infantile temptation. Materialism and orgiastic celebration -- Desperate reestablishment of the covenant - Jonah and the eternal abyss. Jonah repents of his virtue -- Conclusion.