Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson refused to identify as a Christian during a recent debate with an atheist who pressed the former about whether Catholics worship Mary, an exchange that has since gone viral.
Peterson appeared in a Sunday episode of Jubilee Media’s series “Surrounded.” In the episode, the psychologist sat in the middle of a circle as a group of about 20 atheists took turns debating him one-on-one.
Almost an hour into the episode, an atheist named Danny stepped up to challenge Peterson on his definition of worship and understanding of Catholicism. Danny asked the psychologist whether Christian denominations like the Catholic Church worship Mary. Peterson replied that Mary is “quite a ways up the hierarchy, but not at the top.”
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As Danny continued to ask Peterson about Catholicism and the Virgin Mary, the Canadian cultural commentator questioned the atheist about the relevance of his questions.
“Because you go to a Catholic church, don’t you? Or you’ve attended recently. You’re interested in Catholicism, aren’t you? … You’re familiar with their doctrines. How do they regard Mary?” Danny responded, prompting Peterson to inquire about the purpose of his opponent’s questions.
During a debate titled “One Christian vs. Twenty Atheists,” Jordan Peterson was pressed to identify himself as a Christian but awkwardly refused. pic.twitter.com/H8QoIQvmb1
— YungPut1n (@YungPutin1) May 25, 2025
“Because you’re a Christian,” Danny asserted.
“You say that. I haven’t claimed that,” Peterson replied.
Danny cited the video’s original title, which referred to the discussion as a debate between a Christian and an atheist. The atheist appeared to mock Peterson, asking if he knew where he was at the moment. Eventually, the Canadian scolded Danny and admonished him for acting like a “smart—.”
The atheist challenger gave Peterson an ultimatum: “Either you’re a Christian or you’re not — which one is it?”
Peterson replied, “I could be either of them, but I don’t have to tell you. … It’s private.”
In response to further commentary from Danny, the Canadian academic decided to end the debate with the young man, and another challenger took Danny’s place.
At the time of reporting, the Sunday episode of “Surrounded” had nearly 3 million views. A clip of the exchange between Danny and Peterson shared on X attracted 11 million viewers as of Tuesday.
“During a debate titled ‘One Christian vs. Twenty Atheists,’ Jordan Peterson was pressed to identify himself as a Christian but awkwardly refused,” the X user who shared the clip wrote.
Peterson has frequently faced questions about his faith, particularly after his wife Tammy’s conversion to the Catholic Church was formalized during the Easter Vigil Holy Mass last year. The wife of the Canadian psychologist has said in interviews that a cancer diagnosis in 2019 helped lead her back to the Church.
After learning in 2019 that she had untreatable kidney cancer that would leave her with less than a year to live, one of Tammy’s friends gave her rosary beads and offered to pray with her. Tammy prayed with her friend for two hours every day in the hospital’s atrium for five weeks. Due to the pain and suffering related to her diagnosis, Tammy also prayed a Novena of the Sick.
“It was on the fifth day of praying those prayers that the leak in my lymph system closed up,” Peterson’s wife told EWTN in a February 2024 interview.
Commenting on his wife’s conversion, Peterson told EWTN last March that his wife had benefited from embracing Catholicism, stating that investigating the faith has made her “much more who she is.” The Canadian academic said that it was “unlikely” that he would convert to Catholicism because he exists “on the borders of things.”
Peterson has commented on cultural trends within Christian institutions, even if he is not publicly speaking about his faith life.
In an interview last year with The Christian Post at the premiere of the Daily Wire’s film “Am I Racist?” Peterson criticized the presence of rainbow flags outside many Protestant churches. The Canadian cultural commentator asserted that this represents an abandonment of foundational Christian beliefs in favor of what he called “hedonistic pride.”
“There’s no shortage of bad actors as well in the Christian community of the sort that the atheists tend to object to,” he said. “The fundamental problem with religious enterprise is that it can be captured by the psychopathic narcissists, and that’s what you see in the Gospel story. Christ is persecuted most intensely by the Pharisees, the scribes and the lawyers … the Pharisees are religious hypocrites who use religion for their own self-aggrandizement.”
“That’s a real danger in the religious enterprise, and especially the more Evangelical forms of Christianity have been prone to being overrun by self-serving charlatans,” Peterson added. “That’s a problem.”
Samantha Kamman is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: samantha.kamman@christianpost.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Samantha_Kamman
