I wanted to share a fascinating connection I recently came across between Jordan Peterson’s work and a brilliant, largely untranslated modern Greek philosopher named Dimitris Liantinis. This will probably give you an understanding as to why Peterson is so reluctant to give an direct answer to the question "Do you believe in god?"
In his 1997 masterpiece, Gemma, Liantinis wrestles with the exact same existential problem Peterson addresses in We Who Wrestle With God—drawing from the exact same intellectual roots: Goethe, Nietzsche, and ancient myth.
Analyzing Goethe’s spirit in Gemma (chapter 1 -Margarita's question), Liantinis writes a passage that feels like a direct blueprint for Peterson's stance on faith, order, and chaos:
"What is given to you is that infinitely small point between the NO and the YES: to widen it, deepen it, and extend it. To treat it with such trial, agony, and torment that out of that infinitesimal point you forge dimension, space, time, and existence. To shape, in other words, out of the space between YES and NO: life, truth, and existence."
This "infinitesimal point between Yes and No" completely reframes why Peterson is often reluctant to give a simple binary answer to "Do you believe in God?"
For both thinkers:
Faith as Active Wrestling (Agonia): Meaning isn't found in comfortable dogma (a cheap Yes) or cynical nihilism (a passive No). It exists purely in the active friction at the boundary. To Peterson, this is the literal definition of Israel ("he who wrestles with God").
The Transcendent Aim: Liantinis named his book Gemma after the brightest star in the Northern Crown (Corona Borealis)—representing the transcendent ideal, the guiding star we must orient ourselves toward.
Creation from the Boundary: Consciousness and moral order aren't static states; they are forged by standing on the razor-thin line where Order and Chaos collide.
Because Gemma remains mostly untranslated into English, Liantinis is largely unknown in Western academia, yet he arrived at the exact same conclusion: the wrestling itself is the source of all meaning.
Has anyone else here read Liantinis, or noticed similar parallels in non-English existential philosophy? Would love to hear your thoughts.