Earlier this week, the faculty of divinity at Britain's prestigious University of Cambridge mysteriously withdrew its fellowship offer to the Canadian academic pop icon, who was scheduled to join the school for a series of lectures on the Bible later this year.

Peterson, a clinical psychologist and self-described "professor against political correctness" who came to global prominence for his opposition to the use of preferred gender pronouns on free speech grounds, and who is known for his harsh criticism of social justice warriors and radical feminism, harshly slammed Cambridge over its decision to rescind his fellowship offer in a lengthy appeal.

Citing his popularity among Cambridge students during a recent book tour, Peterson attacked the university, saying it "made a serious error of judgement in rescinding" his fellowship.

"I think they handled publicizing the rescindment in a manner that could hardly have been more narcissistic, self-congratulatory and devious," Peterson wrote, noting that the tweet released by the faculty made it sound as though he "came cap-in-hand to the school" for the fellowship.

"This is precisely the kind of half-truth particularly characteristic of those who deeply practice to deceive," the academic stressed, noting that the fellowship offer had been a mutual decision.

Jordan Peterson requested a visiting fellowship at the Faculty of Divinity, and an initial offer has been rescinded after a further review. — Faculty of Divinity (@CamDivinity) 20 марта 2019 г.

Noting that he felt the school's officials "don't give a damn about the perilous decline of Christianity," and suggesting that they "regard that faith, in their propaganda-addled souls, as the ultimate manifestation of the oppressive Western patriarchy, despite their hypothetical allegiance to their own discipline," Peterson wrote that it was "no bloody wonder that the faith is declining (and with it, the values of the West, as it fragments) with cowards and mountebanks of the sort who manifested themselves today at the helm."

"I wish them the continued decline in relevance over the next few decades that they deeply and profoundly and diligently work toward and deserve," the academic concluded.

In a postscript, Peterson noted that those who rescinded his invitation "remain shrouded in exactly the kind of secrecy that might be expected from hidden, conspiratorial, authoritarian and cowardly bureaucrats."

In any case, the academic stressed that he has "more opportunities at the moment" than he can keep track of, and promised to produce his planned lectures on the Bible's book of Exodus regardless of whether it is at a British, Canadian or other university.

As might be expected, the Peterson-Cambridge spat led to a debate online, with even many of Peterson's critics left scratching their heads over the faculty of divinity's decision.

you realize you gave him exactly what he needs for his brand, don't you? invited and then disinvited. watch him start bleating about being no-platformed, and watch Quillette running with it. it would help if our institutions don't make exactly the same mistakes again and again. — Sjoerd Levelt (@SLevelt) 20 марта 2019 г.

When you tear out a man's tongue, you are not proving him a liar, you're only telling the world that you fear what he might say pic.twitter.com/9v31ezhblv — Yu Zhang (@YuZhang46561738) 21 марта 2019 г.

It's truly bizarre for serious Christian scholars at Cambridge, who presumably spend their days contemplating God's infinite power & grace, Christ's redemption of Man, and the eternal afterlife, to be so swayed by a pack of petty, short-sighted, virtue-signaling undergrads. — Geoffrey Miller (@primalpoly) 21 марта 2019 г.

Peterson talks. A lot. The experts (historians, sociologists, biologists etc.) studying what he talks about review his waffling as 'stupid nonsense' to 'dangerous nonsense'.

Popularity isn't relevant in absence of scholarship, otherwise fellowships would be Kardashian territory. — joa (@hjernenkino) 20 марта 2019 г.

Only politically correct, cultural Marxist propaganda allowed. Sane people need not apply. https://t.co/R39P5ojSUA — Gerard Batten MEP (@GerardBattenMEP) 21 марта 2019 г.

A reminder to those accusing @Cambridge_Uni of "censorship" in choosing not to have Jordan Peterson swan about their campus in those ridiculous suits: Peterson hoped to use machine learning to target professors and eventually shut down whole departments that upset him. https://t.co/2gMNOB0b9x — Tabatha Southey (@TabathaSouthey) 21 марта 2019 г.

I think it's cool how conservatives are reacting to Cambridge uni rescinding Jordan Peterson's fellowship by warning people about the perils of call-out & boycott culture while simultaneously demanding NYU to cancel the hiring of Talia Lavin & calling her a "journo-terrorist." — saeen (@saeen90_) 22 марта 2019 г.