Last night I had the rare opportunity of having dinner with a small handful of people and Pete Rollins, philosopher, writer (including How (not) to speak of God), and (as I was so bold to label him) the Donnie Darko of contemporary theology. What an expansive mind is contained in such an unassuming and humble person! How many concepts and challenges can be offered to one’s notions of modern theology, postmodern philosophy and faithful living in one evening.
Of all the topics explored, a couple have managed to find some coherence in my memory. Pete referred to Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, where he notes that David’s lineage goes all the way down to Joseph, and ends there. For Pete’s interpretation of Matthew, Jesus’ placement in this genealogy is not direct - it is a rupture. For Pete, God’s entrance into the human race is a break in history, not a consequence or expectation. I’m spending a lot of time staring into nothing, trying to work out what this means for the world’s ongoing Christian presence … for my personal faith … for how we talk of God … that faith in this world should be fractured, incoherent, fledgling, just as our understandings of ourselves in the world are becoming, and as postmodern thought is embracing.
Still too much is going through my head to make any kind of literate sense of it now, so all I can say is thank you to Cheryl for organising the event. Good work, mate. Couldn’t thank you enough.
