Review of Pete Rollins’ new book Insurrection.

Insurrection is essentially a follow up to Pete’s previous book, How (not) to peak of God. It is a faithful critique of Christianity that Rollins’ refers to as pyro-theology, whereby he affirms Buenaventura Durruti in that “the only church that illuminates is a burning church”. According to John D. Caputo, “Rollins writes and thinks like a new Bonhoeffer, crucifying the trappings of religion in order to lay bare a radical, religionless, and insurrectional Christianity.” Rollins’ has himself contextualised it by saying that:

H(N)tSoG represents the drilling of deep holes into the mountaintop of religion and the planting of explosives. While Insurrection represents the detonation and the subsequent exposure of the rich potentiality that lies hidden within.

While it is not essential to have read H(N)tSoG, it does provide a great deal of background and context to Insurrection, particularly through a grounding in Christian mysticism and continental philosophy (you can read my summary of (N)tSoG starting here. This said, Insurrection is an accessible yet meaty contribution to the emerging conversation in its own right.

What Rollins’ is attempting to accomplish with Insurrection is debatable…  I wondered at times whether he was actually saying anything at all. Yet as I was drawn into the book, with its rich parables and insightful interpretations, I found myself stopping regularly to catch my breath at the weight of its impact. As I finished each chapter I realised that I had been caught out by a silent explosion and had been happily riding the violent avalanche: I couldn’t wait for each next fuse to be lit!

Insurrection challenges Western Christianity in a number of ways, including its reliance on dogma and its penchant for offering all the answers. Instead, Rollins’ challenges us to stand in the site of Christ and cry in unison “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” In doing so we question the very God that we follow. This a/theistic Christianity is not afraid to stand with God (just as God stands with us) in the mire of existence and say: “Why?” It is a spirituality that instead of offering an oasis in the desert of life, promotes spirituality as the desert in the oasis of life. This is a desert where we can both lose everything for religion and lose everything including religion. It is only when we stare into the void of the crucifixion, and feel that void staring back, that we are free to embrace the resurrection… choosing to stand or fall.

It is through this freedom and confrontation that we can embrace the resurrection, and the way of Jesus. This is a path that has nothing to do with personal piety or even an all-powerful ‘fix-everything’ God, rather, it is a terrifying freedom and realisation that we are required to act in service and love. Like Mother Teresa we must feel compelled to ‘faithfully’ love thy neighbour, even when our ‘belief’ in God is weak. This does not in any way diminish the reality of God, as God remains (as it did for Saint Teresa) in the very workings and actions of love. It is by participating in the crucifixion and resurrection, by participating in the suffering and healing of the world, that our faith must be lived out.

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. – Pete Rollins -

Amen.

You can read the first chapter of Insurrection here and then buy the book from here. H(N)tSoG is available here.