Compilation: The Death and Resurrection of Christ: A Commentary in Five Parts

The Nature of Experience

In this section, the speaker discusses two ways of looking at the world: as a place of things and as a forum for action. He argues that our conceptualization of the world as a place of being should take precedence over our conceptualization of the world as objective.

Two Ways of Looking at the World

• There are two ways of looking at the world: as a place of things and as a forum for action.

• Our conceptualization of the world as objective must remain subordinate to our conceptualization of the world as a place of being.

• The former manner of interpretation finds its expression in arts or humanities, while science allows for increasingly precise determination of consensually validate able properties.

The World as Forum for Action

• The world as forum for action is a place where all things have meaning shaped by social interaction.

• The domain drama and narrative is the world value from perspective emotion and action.

• The second story which is deeper is essentially religious.

Axioms Of Christian Revolutionary Story

• To decide that and then enact proposition that being is good despite its tragedy and malevolence

• To work in consequence for continual and eternal improvement

• To do such work in truth

• To strive toward heavenly City on hill in that manner

The Biblical Narrative of Paradise and the Fall

In this section, the speaker discusses how stories and myths are used to represent our experiences. He talks about the biblical narrative of paradise and the fall, which provides a profound account of the nature of being.

The Story of Adam and Eve

• The story tells us that in the Garden of Eden, human beings were sinless.

• After eating from the tree of knowledge, they discovered death and vulnerability and turned away from God.

• Mankind was exiled from paradise and began its effortful mortal existence.

Sacrifice as Delayed Gratification

• Sacrifice enters soon afterward beginning with Cain and Abel's account.

• Humanity learns that God's favor could be gained through proper sacrifice.

• Sacrifice is delay of gratification; it is giving up something valuable in the present to attain something better in the future.

Work as Delayed Gratification

• There is little difference between sacrifice and work; they are both uniquely human.

• Delaying gratification was simultaneously discovering time and causality at least for voluntary human action.

• Doing so was indistinguishable from organizing society.

Acting Out Understanding Before Articulating It

In this section, the speaker talks about how understanding is often acted out before it can be articulated. He discusses how making a ritual sacrifice to God was an early enactment of delay.

Ritual Sacrifice as Enactment of Delay

• Making a ritual sacrifice to God was an early enactment of delay.

• It takes a long time to learn to keep anything later for yourself or to share it with someone.

The Emergence of Currency and Saving Money

This section discusses the emergence of currency and saving money as a form of storage. It also explores how sacrifice and work are related to this concept.

Emergence of Currency and Saving Money

• Our ancestors stored away for the future representation of that storage in the form of records, currency, and ultimately the saving of money in a bank or other social institution.

• The logic behind storing away for the future is largely composed of other human beings, often precisely those who have watched and evaluated our past behavior.

• Sacrifice and work were discovered by our ancestors as necessary practices to improve their future.

Sacrifice and Work

• Sacrifices are necessary to improve the future, but larger sacrifices can be better.

• Small sacrifices may be sufficient to solve small singular problems, but larger more comprehensive sacrifices might solve an array of large and complex problems all at the same time.

• Adapting to necessary discipline is a sacrifice that can lead to long-term benefits.

• The basic principle established is that sacrifice will improve the future, but its full extension or significance has to be understood.

Limits on Sacrifice

• What would be the largest, most effective, most pleasing sacrifice? And how good might the best possible future be if this sacrifice could be made?

• Cain and Abel's story raises questions about why some sacrifices are rewarded while others are not.

• Not all sacrifices are equal in quality; furthermore, it often appears that sacrifices of apparently high quality are not rewarded with a better future.

Delayed Gratification and Civilization

This section discusses the concept of delayed gratification and how it runs contrary to our ancient fundamental animal instincts. It also explores how civilization has stabilized itself enough to guarantee the existence of delayed rewards in the future.

Delayed Gratification

• The realization that pleasure could be usefully for stalled dawned on us with great difficulty.

• Immediate satisfaction is demanded by our ancient fundamental animal instincts, particularly under conditions of deprivation which are both inevitable and commonplace.

• Delay only becomes useful when civilization has stabilized itself enough to guarantee the existence of the delayed reward in the future.

Developmental Progression from Animal to Human

• A developmental progression from animal to human occurred, where delay and stabilization of society into the future could possibly have manifested themselves.

Delay and Exchange

This section discusses the emergence of the social contract, which is based on the idea of sharing. Sharing does not mean giving away something you value and getting nothing back. Instead, it means initiating the process of trade.

Emergence of Social Contract

• The provisional notion that if I leave some food for later, I won't have to be hungry develops into a more advanced concept that if I leave some for later, neither will those I care for.

• Sharing with others provides an opportunity to build trust and initiate the process of trade.

• Sharing is not just about giving away something valuable without receiving anything in return. It's about initiating the process of trade.

• Benjamin Franklin suggested that asking someone for a favor was an invitation to social interaction and trade.

Building Trust through Exchange

This section discusses how exchange can help overcome natural hesitancy and mutual fear between strangers.

Overcoming Hesitancy and Fear

• Asking someone for a favor provides an opportunity to build familiarity and trust.

• By doing someone a favor, they become more likely to do another favor in return.

• Overcoming natural hesitancy and mutual fear between strangers is essential for building trust.

The Productive Truthful Sharer as Prototype

This section explores how sharing can lead to moral principles such as reliability, honesty, and generosity.

Emergence of Moral Principles

• The productive truthful sharer becomes the prototype for the good citizen and the good man.

• The groundwork for the conceptions of reliable, honest, and generous has been laid through sharing.

• The successful among us delay gratification and bargain with the future.

• Sacrifice is required by the god of Western tradition to make him happy.

Conclusion

This section concludes that from a simple notion that leftovers are a good idea, the highest moral principles might emerge.

Emergence of Moral Principles

• The successful sacrifice things to get better.

• Implicit unrecognized value came first as actions that preceded thought embodied value but did not make that value explicit.

• The questions become increasingly precise and simultaneously broader: what is the greatest possible sacrifice for the greatest possible good?

• Sacrificing precisely what is loved best is most starkly portrayed in the story of Abraham and Isaac.

The Necessity of Sacrifice

In this section, the speaker discusses the necessity of sacrifice and why it is required in life. He explains that sometimes when things are not going well, it's not the world that's the cause but instead what is currently most valued subjectively and personally.

Sacrifice as a Means to Examine Values

• The world is revealed through the template of our values.

• If the world we see is not what we want, it's time to examine our values.

• Sacrifice can be a means to rid ourselves of current presuppositions and let go.

• Sometimes it might even be necessary to sacrifice what we love best so that we can become who we might become instead of staying who we are.

Monkey Capture Story

• A monkey capture story illustrates these ideas very well.

• To catch a monkey, one must find a large narrow neck jar just barely wide enough for a monkey to put its hand inside.

• Fill the jar partway with rocks so it is too heavy for a monkey to carry.

• Scatter some treats attractive to monkeys near the jar to attract one and put some more inside the jar.

• A monkey will come along reach into the narrow opening and grab while grabbing is good but now won't be able to extract his fist now full of treats from the jar without unclenching his hand.

Ultimate Sacrifices

• What constitutes an ultimate sacrifice for personal gain?

• It's a close race between child and self.

• The sacrifice of mother offering her child exemplified by Michelangelo's great sculpture Pieta where Mary cradles her adult son crucified and ruined.

• Christ offers himself to God and the world knowing full well what's to come as the model for the Honorable man.

• Sacrifice can hold pain and suffering in abeyance to a greater or lesser degree, and greater sacrifices can do that more effectively than lesser.

The Ark of the Covenant

This section discusses the significance of the Ark of the Covenant in biblical history and its role as a bridge between the finite and infinite.

The Significance of the Ark

• The Ark contained the Ten Commandments, Aaron's rod, and a part of manna.

• It was created according to a pattern given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai.

• The gold-plated acacia chest was carried by Levites while en route towards the promised land or at the head of Israelite army in transport.

• The Ark was concealed under a large veil made of skins and blue cloth, carefully hidden even from priests and Levites who carried it.

The Role of the Ark

• The Ark is considered untouchable and unshakable, representing what is axiomatic in society.

• It must be placed at the center of the temple, which must be placed at the center of society.

• Following the Ark represents journeying together towards an eternal promised land.

• Axiomatic principles cannot be fully expressed in words but are manifested concretely through transformation into matter.

The Creative Logos

• The spirit that made rules manifest is known as creative logos.

• Christ embodies this spirit by transcending death, rejecting earthly kingdoms for God's kingdom, speaking truth that creates habitable order from chaos, wielding potential as a sword against death, accepting life's conditions to defeat bitterness and vengefulness.

• Christ's radical acceptance of death allows us to live despite the catastrophic fragility of our limited being.

Responsibility and Value

• Our likeness to God gives each of us a value that transcends the finite.

• Society is charged with the ethical demand to respect this value, which grounds the idea of human rights.

Pick Up the Cross of Your Tragedy and Betrayal

In this section, Dr. Peterson discusses the importance of accepting tragedy and betrayal as a part of life and using it to strive towards a better future.

The Importance of Struggling Upward

• Hatred, vengeance, cruelty, and evil accompany the desire for infinite revenge.

• Accepting the weight of tragedy and betrayal is necessary to move forward.

• Struggle upward towards the kingdom of God on the hill or face death and hell.

Psychological Meaning of Death and Resurrection of Christ Easter Message

In this section, Dr. Peterson discusses individual sovereignty in society.

Individual Sovereignty

• Only kings were sovereign at first, then nobles became sovereign.

• With Greeks, all men became sovereign.

• Christian Revolution made every individual male/female beggarman tax collector prostitute thief equally sovereign.

• Cultural and legal systems wrapped themselves around narrative of individual sovereignty.

Intrinsic Value of Individuals

• Western legal systems are predicated on intrinsic value of individuals.

• Each person can step forward voluntarily accept burden to be transformed positively in consequence.

• Share results with everyone else to push everything away from abyss toward heavenward.

Consciousness as Observer

In this section, Dr. Peterson discusses consciousness as an observer.

Consciousness as Observer

• Reality requires an observer; consciousness appears to confront unformed potential future and cast it into concrete reality present.

• Our awareness acts on possibility like logos acted on pre-cosmogonic chaos at beginning time.

Free Will vs Materialistic Processes

• Consciousness could be an epiphenomenon of materialistic processes.

• There are valid reasons to avoid too premature and casual acceptance of such conclusions.

• Even the greatest of us do not understand consciousness much less comprehend its role in being.

Inherent Value of Each Individual

In this section, Dr. Peterson discusses how society is predicated on the idea of inherent value of each individual.

Society Predicated on Inherent Value

• Evidence from our actions shows that treating ourselves and others as if we matter leads to thriving and stable relationships.

• Society is predicated on the great idea of the inherent value of each individual.

The Importance of Christ's Death and Resurrection

In this section, the speaker discusses the significance of Christ's death and resurrection in relation to human consciousness and our ability to confront tragedy and malevolence.

The Existential Truth of Advancement

• We are constrained by deterministic rules but can advance in the direction of our imagination.

• Abandoning foundational stories weakens us as individuals and makes us vulnerable to possession by demonic conceptual alternatives.

• Each of us should open ourselves up to the tragedy of being, pick up our tragic burdens, die continually, renew our souls continually.

The Mystery of Christ's Death and Resurrection

• It is not possible to encapsulate within any finite written account the total import of the idea of Christ's death and rebirth.

• Even for die-hard atheists, a great mystery remains as to why this story has exercised such immense impact.

• Each life is a tragedy tainted by malevolence. Life is suffering. But we all admire courage and truth as an antidote to catastrophe.

Human Consciousness and Cosmic Significance

• Acceptance of vulnerability and ignorance is necessary for growth. Confrontation with tragedy is necessary for wisdom and maturity.

• Human consciousness plays some central role in the reality of the cosmos as a necessary observer.

• Christianity poses the question: would you put everything you have on the line so that you could learn to conduct yourself in the best possible manner?

The Necessity of Eternal Transformation

This section discusses the idea of eternal transformation as an alternative to nihilistic despair or desperate and fatal identification with the state. It also talks about how this idea is enacted during the ceremony of the Christian Eucharist.

The Symbolic Transformation of the Participant

• The incorporation of the body of Christ is the symbolic transformation of the participant.

• This transformation is not into a believer in a set of religious facts, but into an imitator of Christ.

• This transformation involves being willing to undergo whatever death is necessary to bring about the next and better state of being.

The Idea of Dying and Resurrecting God

• The idea that a savior figure dies and resurrects is one of the oldest ideas in mankind.

• It manifests itself in allegorical forms such as the Phoenix, which immolates itself, regains its youthful form, and rises from ashes.

• This idea recurs repeatedly in popular culture as well.

Psychological Progress Requires Continual Death and Rebirth

• Psychological progress requires continual death and rebirth, both lesser and greater magnitude.

• When something new confronts us, what is old within must immolate itself and die.

• None should identify fundamentally with what they currently know or presume.

Learning Through Painful Demise

This section discusses how learning requires continual death and rebirth. It also talks about how none should identify fundamentally with what they currently know or presume.

Painful Demise of Previous Conceptions

• New information cannot be incorporated without the painful demise of previous conceptions.

• None should identify fundamentally with what they currently know or presume.

• It is not sufficient to abandon tradition and structure entirely, nor is it sufficient to remain stubbornly anachronistic and unchanged.

Psychological Development and Easter

In this section, Dr. Peterson discusses the importance of psychological development and how it relates to Easter.

The Process of Voluntary Death and Rebirth

• To progress psychologically, one must let go and sacrifice things that are impeding their progress.

• When you're wrong or have missed the mark, you must allow the new spirit manifesting itself within to spring to life.

• Christ is symbolically the way and the truth of life, embracing the process of voluntary death and rebirth that is identical with psychological development means determining to move forward despite the horrors of life.

Cultural Revitalization through Confrontation with the Unknown

• Forthright individual confrontation with the unknown renews the individual but also catalyzes cultural revitalization.

• We must identify with that part of ourselves that is always stretching beyond what we currently know so that new patterns of being can be brought into place.

• It is through identification with the process symbolized by Easter that we are each redeemed and our culture revivified and salvaged.

Courage, Truth, Love vs. Despair and Vengeance

• There is a spirit within us with sufficient courage to confront the true horrors of existence forthrightly to allow transformation even death that such confrontation catalyzes to occur.

• To rebel against fate merely worsens it transforming what could be mere tragedy into something indistinguishable from hell.

• The Christian suggestion is that courage, truth, and love are more powerful than death and despair.