Peter Rollins's Blog, page 60

Is it possible for a Christian to give up atheism for lent?

Recently Tony Jones publically challenged me to give up my "atheism" for Lent. You can hear the interview where this happens at Homebrewed Christianity and read Tony's challenge directly from his website.

The whole thing has generated some amusing responses on both facebook and twitter and seems to have sparked quite a bit of broader interest with a record number of downloads for the interview.

In light of all this some questions that people have had include "is Peter really an atheist" and "has he given it up for lent".

In order to approach an answer I should begin by saying that the term "atheism" is not as monolithic and straightforward as the popular debate would portray it. This is not a subject that I want to delve into in this post, but it is worth mentioning that the atheism of Nietzsche is very different from, say, that found in Dawkins. Instead I want to outline my own position very briefly, which might be more accurately described as incarnational a/theism.

By "Incarnational a/theism" I am referring, not to an intellectual disavowal of God, but to the felt experience of God's absence; an experience that must be distinguished from the idea of a mere absence of experience. To understand the difference take a moment to think about the difference between the absence that exists before you meet someone you later come to love and the absence you experience once they are gone. In both cases the person is absent, but the first is a mere absence of experience while the second is an experience of absence (there is a third experience which relates to the experience of a person being absence when they are present).

More than being the felt experience of Gods absence the phrase "incarnational a/theism" also refers to the idea that this traumatic experience brings us into the very heart of what it means to affirm God's presence (hence the use of the dash). This is then the type of "atheism" I affirm as central to the Christian event.

This leads us then to the second question. A question that can be stated more widely and precisely in this way: can a Christian give up incarnational a/theism for lent? Immediately one is faced with the problem that Lent itself is the time leading up to Easter: the very point in the Christian calendar when we witness this incarnational a/theism coming into being (through Christ's Crucifixion and Resurrection). If the Crucifixion and Resurrection open up incarnational a/theism through the loss of all ground (Crucifixion) and the embrace of existence in the aftermath of this event (Resurrection) then the re-embrace of theism would be a retrograde step. One that would take us away from this profoundly liberating, life affirming and transformative event.

However, this type of incarnational a/theism does not in any way prevent one from experiencing a profound sense of wonder at the universe, nor does it stop one believing that there is some source to everything around us. Indeed, to speak personally for a moment, of late I have been confronted with a set of unprecedented circumstances and bizarre experiences that have left me profoundly open once more to the mystery of life and the sense that there are more things in heaven and on earth than are dreamt of in my philosophy. So while I argue that the event of incarnational a/atheism is central to our experience of becoming more human I do not see this as robbing us of a profound sense of mystery that we will often want to respond to with prayer, praise and worship. In short this means that, while I cannot accept Tony's challenge as it stands, I can promise that this Lenten time is among the most meaningful and mystical periods in my life. One which has short circuited my beliefs, brought me to silence, and invited me to try once more to simply be.

Christ and the End of Meaning, Canada

A talk with Q&A exploring the relationship between Christianity and the loss of meaning. For more information contact St Stephen's university.

Christ and the end of meaning, Canada

I will be leading two practical workshops during the day ( 10:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 16:00) and giving a talk in the evening (19:00 – 21:00). For more information contact St Steven's university.

Introduction to Pyro-theology, Canada

I will be offering a talk at St Steven's University (19:00 – 21:00). For more information contact the university through their website

In Praise of the Sublime

I have just discovered that it is International Woman's Day. Interestingly late last night I had been reflecting with a friend upon some of the individuals who most intrigue, transfix and inspire me. The five people I talked about that evening all happened to be woman. So it would seem appropriate on this day to pay homage to three of these singular individuals here. I feel that I cannot adequately express their importance to me in a post such as this, but I do plan to write much more on them one day when I have the skills to do them justice (to find out more about these woman click on their picture).

Lou Andreas-Salomé

Maud Gonne

Regine Olsen

What is Pyro-theology?

More recently I have been trying out a new term that might help to differentiate my own theological project for those of others. The term, which we developed and used in ikon, is pyro-theology.

My next book will seek to describe what pyro-theology is and show how it can revolutionize faith structures, but for now I thought I would attempt to offer a very broad definition. Pyro-theology describes a very specific theological enterprise. It is not a systematic, constructive or narrative theology. It is not concerned with building upon, supporting or altering the current understanding of Christianity. Nor is it interested in calling the presently existing church to a deeper fidelity to its ideals. Rather it represents a fundamental questioning these ideals and signals an approach to faith that claim the central event of Christianity is nothing less than a type of white-hot fire that burns up all we believe about ourselves, our gods and our universe. Pyro-theology thus offers a genuinely different theological approach to that found within the contemporary literature embraced by churches today.

Over the millennia the church has gone through a series of fundamental shifts. These arise as different interpretations of the world, the source of the world and our place in the world via for dominence. In pyro-theology the truth of faith is not seen to be located in one interpretation or the other. Nor is this truth thought of as a type of container within which all such conflicts are ultimately reconciled. But rather the truth of faith is seen to be expressed in the antagonism which generates the conflict and causes us to readjust our thinking in light of new contexts. The truth then is not that which remains after the fire which burns away the old ideas, but rather the fire itself.

The question for those seeking to build collectives that fan the flame rather than trying to extinguish it. Collectives that invite those who attend into the event of absolute loss reflected in the Crucifixion so that we might experience Resurrection.

All institutions operate with a set of beliefs and doctrines. The challenge is in forging an institution that, in its liturgical heart, fundamentally and resolutely undermines the beliefs and doctrines that it cherishes.

To hear me talk about pyro-theology check out the talk I gave at Mars Hill recently.

Chapter-by-Chapter Outline of New Book for Facebook

I have recently set up a public profile page on Facebook in addition to my personal profile page because the latter has certain restrictions. The main one being a friend limit of 5000. This is not a number I am close to reaching yet, but it might happen in the next year or two and so I want to be proactive, also I dream of one day beating my friend Jay Bakker who recently hit his limit! BTW while I like to pretend to myself that I have this many friends in real life we might get closer to the real number if I removed the zeros!

Please feel free to connect with me by my personal facebook page while there is still space, but I would encourage you to sign up to the public one as well (as I hope to one day transition over to the latter entirely). As a little incentive I am going to post up a chapter-by-chapter outline of my upcoming book to the public facebook page as a taster of what is to come. I will outline a chapter each week starting on Monday 7th March. This will look like the following,

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Introduction

7th March – There is a Fire in the Building, Please Step Inside

Section One

14th March – I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian

21st March – To Believe is Human; to Doubt Divine

28th March – "I'm Not Religious" and other Religious Sayings

4th April – I don't have to Believe, my Pastor does that for me

Section Two

11th April – Who Am I

18th April – We are Destiny

25th April – I Believe in the Insurrection

2nd May – Neither Christian nor non-Christian

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Alternatively, if you want the real thing, you can follow my arch nemesis the Real Pete Rollins on Twitter or facebook.

Pastor Stirs Wrath With His Views on Old Questions

Here is an interesting article in the New York Times about Rob Bell's upcoming book on Heaven and Hell

Dis-course competition update

After the Dis-course seminars I decided to run a competition for those ready and willing to run a Last Supper, Evangelism Project, Atheism for Lent and/or Omega Course (or something else based upon the ideas that feed these groups). So just wanted to give you a brief update.

The rules:

By the 31st March you need to have run a couple of events (or, if it is the Atheism for Lent, you need to be committed to running it), you need at least ten people involved, and you need to live in the US, Canada, the UK or Ireland.

If you qualify then you need to write me a message me via facebook by the 31st March with details of what you have done, how it went and how many showed up (or what you are about to do). Then, the next day, I will put all the entries into a hat and pick a winner.

The Prize:

Unfortunately the prize is me. I will fly out and spend the day with you to consult with your group and help you work out how to develop your project. I will cover the expenses so it won't cost you a cent (unless you want to buy me a Guinness).

Hope to hear from you soon!

I Deny the Resurrection

This a clip from the Poets, Prophets and Preachers conference I spoke at with Rob Bell and Shane Hipps in 2009.