A few years back, I was very excited to get to meet an author I admire, a man named Peter Rollins. Rollins is a post-modern philosopher from Belfast and a fantastic theologian (though he calls himself a pyro-theologian). He has written many books with titles like “The Fidelity of Betrayal,” “The Idolatry of God,” “The Divine Magician,” and “The Orthodox Heretic.”
I have had the pleasure of hearing him speak several times, and I even got to sit and chat with him for a while one great night about a year ago. Rollins is brilliant and humble and challenging in what he says and in how he lives his life. As I thought about what I wanted to write in this space for Easter Sunday, I kept coming back to the following excerpt from a talk Rollins gave in Grand Rapids, MI. He is responding to the question of an audience member who commented that Rollins doesn’t speak about the resurrection much, so the questioner wanted to know if Rollins denies the resurrection. Enjoy his answer, and may it challenge us all to affirm the resurrection in our own lives. Happy Easter!
– Pastor Mike
“Without equivocation or hesitation, I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anyone who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think…
I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.
However, there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have
had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those
who have no more tears left to shed.”
– Peter Rollins