Several times throughout the conversation, Rogan expressed his awe at the mystery of the universe and the purposes of human history. As their time was coming to a close, Huff asked Rogan, “What do you think of Jesus? Like, in terms of your own journeying and trying to find answers to ultimate questions. What do you think of the historical person of Jesus?”
“Well, it certainly seems like there’s a lot of people that believe that there was this very exceptional human being that existed. So the question is, what does that mean?” Rogan replied. “Does it mean he was the Son of God?”
“Does it mean he was just some completely unique human being that had this vision of humanity and this way of educating people and spreading this ideology that would ultimately change the way human beings interact with each other forever?” he asked.
Rogan wondered if all people are sons of God trying to live up to Jesus’ example or if Jesus was the literal Son of God. “Christians are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet in your life. So it does work, right?” he said. “Like, if you do live like a Christian, and you do follow the principles of Christ, you will have a richer, more love-filled life.”
“But you have to submit to this concept that this guy was the child of God who came down to earth,” Rogan added, “let himself be crucified, came back from the dead, explained a bunch of stuff for people, and then said, ‘All right. See you when I come back.’”
Rogan also wondered, given the preponderance of fake news and developments in AI, if anyone would even believe that Jesus was back if he did return.
Huff commented that he appreciates the way people like Dr. Jordan Peterson see Jesus, but Huff believes that Peterson “misses the forest for the trees in that he sees Jesus as an archetype. And I don’t think actually even Jesus gives you the opportunity to see him as the archetype.”
Peterson “seems to get so much right where he walks up to the line, but he doesn’t want to cross over,” said Huff. When Rogan asked him to elaborate, Huff said, “[Peterson] seems to think that the concept of Jesus as an example is more important than the actual flesh and blood first century itinerant Jewish preacher who was crucified and rose from the dead physically—which is the claim of the gospels and the rest of the New Testament.”
“I actually think that Jesus condemns moralism,” Huff explained, “and ultimately what I see Peterson doing is looking at Jesus as a moral example.”
“And if Jesus is nothing but a moral example,” Huff went on, “then you can save yourself and you don’t actually need a savior. And so I think, actually, Jesus would have critiqued that, because Jesus was very against moralism.”
“What do you mean by that, exactly?” Rogan asked, referring to “Jesus being against moralism.”
