We Who Wrestle with God, Chapter 1: In the Beginning

Alright, buckos!

This event will be the first in a monthly series, as we amble our way through Peterson’s latest book ‘We Who Wrestle with God’. As is tradition with JP Sydney, we’ll delve deep into the topic of each chapter in an open group discussion, after we’ve established our themes for the conversation.

Where do we begin?

Well, in the beginning of course!

Chapter 1, In the Beginning introduces Genesis, with Peterson seeing God as an embodiment of creative spirit. Old mate Peterson explains:

“Genesis opens with a confrontation. God is “moving” upon the face of the “waters.” What does moving mean? It means God is mobile, obviously. Less obviously, moving is what we say when we have been struck by something deep. God is what has encountered us when new possibilities emerge and take shape. God is what we encounter when we are moved to the depths. What then does waters mean - particularly the waters that God has not yet created? That is the ancient Hebrew tehom or tohu va bohu: chaos; potential; what lurks but has not yet been revealed - as water is the precondition for life - but also harbo(u)rs the unknown in its depths.”

From there, he ponders the spirit of man in the highest place, giving thought to the inherited human enterprise of creation, the “landscape of meaning” in our struggle with the real and the representational, the emergence of Eve from Adam as a manifestation of her role in “...draw(ing) attention to what has not yet been brought to the light of consciousness”, and, of course, finally, what exactly does it mean to be created in God’s image?

All this in only the first chapter! Yeesh!

We have a lot to talk about, guys. Feel free to get yourself a copy of the book or come along and intellectually rawdog it - we’ll most likely start the conversation with a brief chapter summary, regardless.

This event will take place at George House, next to Redfern station, affording us more privacy and less background music than our previous location - we might even do some snacks.

We encourage people from all walks of life to join us for the discussion, but please know—we have no patience for pointless, emotionally unstable, unnecessarily contrarian jabbering. If you repeatedly disrupt the natural flow of conversation, behave obnoxiously, or make a general nuisance of yourself, you will be promptly asked to leave. Yes, yes, “muh freedom of speech,” etc., but more importantly, we intend to exercise our freedom of association. In other words: we’re not interested in suffering the company of antisocial dorks.

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts, you bedevilled eggs of intellectual and spiritual pursuit!