Peter Rollins (born 31 March 1973) is a Northern Irish writer, public speaker, philosopher, producer and theologian.
Drawing largely from various strands of continental philosophy, Rollins' early work operated broadly from within the tradition of apophatic theology, while his more recent books have signalled a move toward the theory and practice of death of God theology. In these books Rollins develops a "religionless" interpretation of Christianity called pyrotheology,Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), Loc 2232 an interpretation that views faith as a particular way of engaging with the world rather than a set of beliefs about the world.Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p121
In contrast to the dominant reading of Christianity, this more existential approach argues that faith has nothing to do with upholding a religious identity, affirming a particular set of beliefs or gaining wholeness through conversion. Instead he has developed an approach that sees Christianity as a critique of these very things. This anti-religious reading stands against the actual existing church and lays the groundwork for an understanding of faith as a type of life in which one is able to celebrate doubt, ambiguity and complexity while deepening care and concern for the world.Rollins, Peter The Divine Magician (Howard, 2015) p95-96 He argues that the event which gave rise to the Christian tradition cannot itself be reduced to a tradition, but is rather a way of challenging traditions.
In order to explore and promote these themes Rollins has founded a number of experimental communities such as ikonCaputo, John What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (Baker Academic, 2007), pp129-134 and ikonNYC. These groups describe themselves as iconic, apocalyptic, heretical, emerging and failing and engage in the performance of what they call 'transformance art'Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 3011 and the creation of "suspended space."Rollins, Peter The Fidelity of Betrayal (Paraclete Press, 2008), pp173-176 Because of their rejection of "worldview Christianity" and embrace of suspended space, these groups purposefully attempt to attract people with different political perspectives and opposing views concerning the existence of God and the nature of the world.Caputo, John What Would Jesus Deconstruct (Baker Academic, 2007), p130
Although Rollins does not directly identify with the emerging church movement,Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 2994 he has been a significant influence on the movement's development.
Early life and education
Rollins grew up in East Belfast during the Troubles,Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), Loc 2178 a period of intense and violent sectarian conflict that erupted in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s and resulted in the deaths of more than 3,600 people before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998, which is generally regarded as the end of the conflict, though pockets of violence persist today. He attended Orangefield Boys High School and left at the age of sixteen without the qualifications required for further study. He was unemployed for several years before taking a job as a youth worker in Carrickfergus and working in a homeless shelter run by the Simon Community on the Falls Road, Belfast. He then went on to an access course on the Castlereagh Campus of the Belfast Metropolitan College (an intensive one-year course designed for disadvantaged students who wish to attend university but lack the entry requirements).How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006) Back cover Rollins has a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in scholastic philosophy, a Master of Arts degree in political theory and social criticism, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree dealing with post-structural theory from Queen's University, Belfast.
Academics such as Cathy Higgins have explored how an understanding of Rollins' activism requires an appreciation of The Troubles. The development of groups like the Belfast-based ikon collective was at least partially a response to the pervasive atmosphere of violence, economic hardship, rigid identity markers and deep rooted sectarianism in operation in the province. The sectarian violence combined with the use of religion to legitimize injustice, the fundamentalism of many Protestant churches and the sexual abuse scandals of the Catholic Church, played a major role in creating the frame of reference from which Rollins works.Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 109-292 The result being an emphasis on creating practices designed so that "participants [could] set aside the various identities that define them" and gather as a gathering of equals to "share stories, struggles, and rituals that help them respond to one another in a Christ-like way."Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 3010 In contrast to a dogmatic form of religion and she notes that ikon provided a space in which "doubt is viewed as healthy and necessary for owning our material reality, vulnerability and limitedness".Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 3037
Career
While operating broadly outside the academy Rollins does work with various academic institutions across the UK. He has been a research associate with the Irish School of Ecumenics (Trinity College, Dublin) and is currently on faculty at the Global Center for Advanced Studies.
Early writing Rollins' unpublished PhD (His Colour is Our Blood: A Phenomenology of the Prodigal Father) offers a survey of religious thinking in the aftermath of Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche. It engages directly with Martin Heidegger's critique of onto-theology and explores the religious significance of Jacques Derrida's post-structural theory and Jean-Luc Marion's saturated phenomenology (drawing out the points of connection and conflict between them). This manuscript represents Rollins' initial attempt to articulate an approach to faith that would short-circuit the categories of theism and atheism and problematize the various debates that arise from them. In so doing this marks an approach to Christianity that is not related to a system of belief but rather to a particular mode of life.
His first book, How (Not) to Speak of God (2006) popularized the main themes of his PhD by blending the apophatic work of Meister EckhartRollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp18-19 and pseudo-DionysiusRollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp26-29 with the Post-structural work of DerridaRollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp45-46 and Marion.Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp42-45 How (Not) to Speak of God also outlined how the theory was developed and worked out in a concrete way through the ikon collective (the second half of the book outlined a series of 'transformance art' liturgical experiments).Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp77-145
While his early work is marked by themes that continue to play a central role in his later development (such as doubt, complexity and ambiguity), they remain largely within a specifically theistic and mystical register.Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp23-26
Shift to radical theology The Fidelity of Betrayal (2008) signalled a movement from apophatic and post-structural discussions witnessed in his PhD and How (Not) to Speak of God into Radical Theology.Rollins, Peter The Fidelity of Betrayal (Paraclete Press, 2008), pp129-142 With this work we begin to see a critique of purely theistic forms of faith and witness the growing influence of political philosopher Slavoj Žižek and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in his overall project.Rollins, Peter The Fidelity of Betrayal (Paraclete Press, 2008), pp49-50 The Fidelity of Betrayal is thus a work that bridges the more mystical influence of his first writings toward a theological materialism, a trajectory that was subsequently fleshed out and deepened in Insurrection (2011) and The Idolatry of God (2013). In these later books the influence of Hegel, Žižek, Lacan, later Bonhoeffer and Tillich comes to the fore, though John Caputo remains as an ongoing point of reference.Moody, Katharine "Retrospective Speculative Philosophy: Looking for Traces of Zizek's Communist Collective in Emerging Christian Praxis" Political Theology April 2012, Vol. 13 Issue 2, p183
Story-telling Rollins incorporates narrative forms into his talks to create a more informal style of communication. In 2009 Rollins published The Orthodox Heretic, a book of 33 short, parable-like stories. He has also written fairytalesRollins, Peter. "Enduring Love: Tales From the Lonely Forest", Retrieved on 10 July 2019. and a play that became the basis of a short film he produced, called Making Love.
Current thinking Rollins' overall project is marked by the themes of doubt, complexity, unknowing and embracing brokenness.Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p5; see also Marti and Ganiel, The Deconstructed Church More than this, he has been interested in showing that these themes are central to the founding event of Christianity.Rollins, Peter Insurrection (Howard, 2011), pp19-39 He is interested in showing how the central scandal of Christianity offers us a critique of religionRollins, Peter Insurrection (Howard, 2011), ppxi-xv (including the need to believe) and tribal identity,Moody, Katharine "How to Eat Well in Church: Saying 'Yes' to the Other and Becoming Nothing in Derrida, Paul and Emerging Church Discourse" Presented at "Attending to the Other: Critical Theory and Spiritual Practice," International Society for Religion, Literature and Culture biennial conference, St. Catherine's College, University of Oxford, 23–26 September 2010 both of which have been lost in the actually existing church; an institution that he argues represents a fundamental betrayal of the insurrectionary power of faith.Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp22-23 His work is an attempt to show that Christianity does not rest on theistic belief, some commitment to supernaturalism or the affirmation of some set of dogmas.Rollins, Peter Insurrection (Howard, 2011), pp164-171 Rollins has named his theological program pyrotheology.Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), Loc 2192 The name was inspired by the Spanish anarchist Buenaventura Durruti's statement that "the only church that illuminates is a burning church." The phrase has also inspired some of Slavoj Žižek's work related to radical theology.
Rollins' work operates at the intersection of where Post-Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Phenomenology, and Existentialism meet and inform each other.Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), loc2178-2289 What follow are some of the major themes evidenced in his project:
Humans have a natural and destructive disposition toward the pursuit of satisfaction: By employing insights developed by psychoanalysis, Rollins argues that humans tend to seek some object that would seem to promise satisfaction.Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp9-16 This very pursuit is, however, itself destructive, for we either don't get what we seek above all else and thus always long for it, or we do get it and discover that it is actually unable to offer us what we sought.Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p22-24