Peter Rollins's Blog, page 3

Belief and the Absurd, Sydney, NSW

In this intimate event, I’ll be delving into the heart of Pyrotheology via an exploration of the absurd and its relationship to Christianity. During the discussion, we will discover the links that exist between the Crucifixion, Punk and surrealist movements such as Dadaism and Discordianism.

This free event is open to only 60 people so we expect the tickets to go fast. In light of this, please only register  if you intend to participate. Thanks!

Click here to reserve your ticket

Building on Fire, Auckland, NZ

A common concern people have when first encountering my work relates to how we might rebuild our lives and communities after the fires of doubt, self-critique and complexity have burned bright. In short, what happens after we’ve set light to some of the negative parts of our religious past?

In this intimate all-day event we’ll explore how the real challenge actually lies in keeping that white-hot fire lit; building our lives around it, within it, and on top of it. During the sessions we’ll explore a truly liberating understanding of faith that keeps this purifying fire alive. A faith that has the power to impact our individual lives, our relationships and our communities.

Whether you’re interested in exploring my work for personal reasons, because you’re trying to foster healthy church life, or want to learn how to better impact your community; these sessions will offer some guidance.

To book you ticket, click here

Pints and Parables, Auckland, NZ

Parables are a type of weaponized dis-course that knock the sensitive listener off-course and onto a radically new one. They tactically confront us with disturbing truths we might otherwise miss, and bring to light what otherwise lies in darkness. At turns funny, poignant, irreverent, and shocking they cut into us with surgical precision, reaching deep into the hidden recesses of our soul, operating on those parts of our being that more direct speech can’t touch.

Over the years I’ve written dozens of parables and collected hundreds more, deploying them in both my books and public presentations. In this intimate event I’ll be offering some of my favorites along with some reflections and conversation.

There are only 40 tickets and everyone will receive a limited edition J.T.C. styled parable called “The Rapture”.

Click here to get your ticket

On Gravity and Grace: The Theopoetics of Simone Weil

Having just apologized for not writing posts for a while (because of my recent discovery of video blogging), I thought I’d actually do something about it, and write on something I’ve been wrestling with recently.

Over the last few weeks I have been delving into the work of Simone Weil. Weil is a difficult thinker whose work combines politics, mysticism and a deep appreciation of human suffering, to create an obscure, fragmented and poetic vision of what it means to be human.

One of the ideas that I find particularly appealing in her work lies in her various reflections on the themes of Gravity and Grace. For Weil, “Gravity” is the name for the world of force. Gravity defines, not simply the laws of physics, but the ways cause and effect operate in the very depths of our inner life. Gravity is not only the term that describes why one billiard ball moves when hit by another billiard ball, but it also describes how affliction causes affliction, how violence breeds violence, fire leads to fire, and hate to more hate.

Yet, in the world of Gravity, there are moments of short-circuiting that Weil describes as Grace. Grace does not describe another world beyond the world of Gravity, but rather refers to an event that occurs within the world of Gravity. In the universe of tit-for-tat and Mutually-Assured-Destruction, Grace opens up a space for something novel to occur.

Instead of violence begetting violence, fire begetting fire, and hate begetting hate. Grace puts a spanner in the works, creating the possibility of violence being confronted with peace, of fire hitting water, of hate encountering love. While the world is one in which affliction leads to more affliction and suffering expands until it swallows up everything in its path, Grace is the name for a spacing that stops the inevitability of hate winning. To cultivate a life of Grace means to cultivate a sensitivity to these little sparks in the world, giving oneself over to them and attempting to fan them into greater intensity.

In a world where we are overtaken by the heavy reality of Gravity – getting lost in one-dimensional life and the basic concerns of day-to-day survival – Grace offers freedom and peace.

In Continental Philosophy, one of the perennial questions concerns how to avoid falling into the problems caused by either the idea of a two-tier universe  on the one hand (a Cartesian duality of mind/body, material/immaterial, heaven/earth) or a reductionistic materialism on the other. Indeed, many of the philosophical movements of the 20th century can be seen as responses to this very dilemma. What Weil offers can be seen in the light of this attempt to avoid both these traps. Gravity and Grace combine in a similar way to how being and nothingness intertwine in a sculpture to create a thing of beauty.

If you want to hear me reflect more on this, just click here and look for Gravity and Grace.

Video Blogging

I just wanted to write a quite message to say that I’ve recently been experimenting with video blogging via Facebook Live videos. This has meant that I’ve been rather neglectful of my blog site for the last month or two. I’d like to get back to regular posting, or find a way to link the Facebook Live videos with my site. In the meantime, if you would like to keep up to date with my video reflections, you can follow me on Facebook. Thanks!

Friendly Fire: Critical Engagements With Pyrotheology, Online

The journal Modern Believing is bringing out a special edition focusing entirely on the theory and technology of Pyrotheology. The journal will bring together a group of brilliant scholars who are both experts in, and sympathetic to, the project of Pyrotheology. Yet each takes a critical stance in order to draw out perceived limitations or possible future directions.

In addition to the articles, the journal also includes a detailed response from me.

In this course, we’ll delve into the arguments of each scholar and I’ll offer up some reflections and responses.

The aim is to create a seminar that is both engaging and informative. Something that will be of interest not only to academics and practitioners, but also anyone interested in delving deeper into my body of work.

What to Expect

You’ll receive short readings each week that introduce you to the scholar in question, outline their critique and provide my response. You’ll also have access to five weekly seminars with which you can engage live (2pm PST, Sunday) or download later in video or audio-only format. You can sign up before, during or after the event to gain access to everything.

Join me Live

If you live in LA, you can purchase one of 12 tickets that let you attend the 2pm Sunday lectures. We’ll hang out together after the lecture to chat. In addition to this, you’ll also receive a free book, a “Happy Reaper” jacket pin, and a limited edition “Rapture” tract. The venue will be given out on purchase of the ticket. It will be in the Larchmont area of LA (90004).

Get your tickets here

Rebel Hearts, Sydney, NSW

It has become something of a tradition for Cam MacKellar and Peter Rollins to band together once a year for a raw and authentic exploration of faith, struggle, life and loss. Each event blends music, parables, comedy and conversation to create an intimate, candlelit night, designed to inspire both heart and mind.

Cam’s soaring folk sound offers the listener a rich experience of symphonic brokenness and deep yearning. One that has an earthy, gritty texture. This provides the perfect compliment to Peter’s unflinching exploration of faith as a type of religionless stance that invites us to face unknowing, to love fiercely, act resolutely and affirm the courage it takes to be.

Click here to get your ticket

Pints and Parables, Sydney, NSW

Parables are a type of weaponized dis-course that knock the sensitive listener off-course and onto a radically new one. They tactically confront us with disturbing truths we might otherwise miss, and bring to light what otherwise lies in darkness. At turns funny, poignant, irreverent, and shocking they cut into us with surgical precision, reaching deep into the hidden recesses of our soul, operating on those parts of our being that more direct speech can’t touch.

Over the years I’ve written dozens of parables and collected hundreds more, deploying them in both my books and public presentations. In this intimate event I’ll be offering some of my favorites along with some reflections and conversation.

There are only 40 tickets and everyone will receive a limited edition J.T.C. styled parable called “The Rapture”.

Click here to get your ticket

The Orthodox Heretic (Audio)

 

The Orthodox Heretic offers thirty-three parables that attempt to subvert religious readings of Christianity and uncover its truly radical and subversive core. A core that encourages us to cultivate a life affirming, world-transforming existence.

Each of these parables aims at unsettling the reader, and disturbing our most common assumptions about religion, blowing apart any dogmatic, religious defences that protect us from encountering a faith that is not concerned with beliefs about the world, but with a different way of being in the world.

We’ve combined my reading of the parables with soundscapes from the musician Dubh to create an audio book that is both meditative and thought provoking.

Add to Cart – $15

The Omega Course

 

In 1977, Charles Marnham created The Alpha Course to introduce some basic aspects of the Christian faith to people in his church. From its humble beginnings in Brompton, it has now reached over 27 million people across 169 countries. The course focuses on aspects of Christianity that all denominations hold in common. Although there’s been some controversy concerning this claim – particularly regarding its Charismatic leanings – it successfully offers participants a grounding in the standard religious understanding of Christianity.

While the message of The Alpha Course reflects the broad position of the Contemporary Church, there is a dissident expression of Christianity that runs against this. A Religionless expression that shakes the very foundations upon which the edifice of Contemporary Christianity is built. These “religionless” expressions are hard to locate as they exist largely under the radar of the institution. Yet they can be found thriving among socially engaged para-institutional parishes, enacted in grass-roots clusters of disobedient priests, promoted in the writings of insurrectionary thinkers and kept alive in the work of militant activists who, from the perspective of the Contemporary Church, look like enemies of the faith.

The Omega Course is a four week program intended to introduce people to religionless Christianity. One that reveals an escape tunnel in the prison house of religion. It’s designed to shock, enlighten and inspire in equal measure. Revealing a subversive spirit of Christianity that overturns distinctions between sacred and secular, transcends the conflict between theism and atheism, and moves, quite literally, towards a church beyond belief.

If you sign up you’ll receive a bundle of essays and access to over 5 hours of talks that you can download in video or audio only format.

Add Individual Ticket to Cart – $30

Add Group Ticket to Cart – $100