Disillusionment, Pyrotheology, and the Death of God: Peter Rollins, Part 1
Apr 6, 2024
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Philosopher Peter Rollins discusses disillusionment, pyrotheology, and the death of God. They explore questioning faith, embracing dissatisfaction, and ethical boundaries. Delve into Goedel's Incompleteness Theorem, epistemic unknowing, and the trinitarian nature of reality.
Embrace contradictions and fundamental negativity for true understanding.
Reevaluate Christianity through a century-long community based on ethic.
Explore the interplay of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis in philosophical frameworks.
Deep dives
Exploring the Intersections of Philosophy, Theology, and Spirituality with Peter Rollins
Peter Rollins, a philosopher known for his unique approach to theological and philosophical concepts, discusses radical ideas that challenge traditional views. He emphasizes the importance of embracing contradictions in reality and identifying with fundamental negativity as a means of true understanding. Rollins delves into the concept of the death of God and its significance in redefining our relationship with religion and existence.
Rethinking Tradition: Critiquing a Parable and Reflecting on Atheism for Lent
The podcast conversation navigates a parable from the Orthodox heretic, highlighting a group of disciples who miss news of the resurrection and sustain a century-long community based on ethic rather than religion. This leads to a critical discussion on the primary focus of Christianity, with a contrast between the death of God and the resurrection. The dialogue expands to the concept of Atheism for Lent, a practice of engaging with non-theistic perspectives to challenge assumptions and encourage reflection.
Understanding Dialectics and the Synthesis of Ideas
Addressing the philosophical concept of dialectics, the conversation delves into the interplay between thesis, antithesis, and synthesis. While discussing how a profound critique can lead to new perspectives and insights, the complexity of reconciling opposing views like theism and atheism emerges. As the dialogue unfolds, the podcast examines the challenges and nuances of finding synthesis in conflicting philosophical frameworks.
Exploring Different Forms of Atheism and Theism
The podcast discusses the evolution of atheism for Lent, focusing on different forms of atheism and theism. It delves into the concept of negation as a central theme in the exploration of God's existence. Different arguments and perspectives, ranging from mysticism to theological atheism, are examined to showcase the diversity within atheistic and theistic beliefs.
Challenging Notions of Epistemic Humility and Embracing Ontological Unknowing
The episode highlights the inadequacy of relying solely on epistemic humility and introduces the concept of ontological unknowing. It emphasizes the importance of understanding a radical unknowing inherent in reality, beyond mere epistemological uncertainties. By exploring various disciplines such as mathematics, physics, politics, and religion, the conversation underscores the presence of non-computable truths and the trinitarian nature of reality.
Break out your dictionaries folks, this one got in the weeds a bit. But if you're familiar with Peter Rollins, you're probably not too surprised by that. Peter is a philosopher, public intellectual, and self-described anti-guru who writes and speaks extensively about concepts like the death of God, negative theology, "pyrotheology," and Atheism for Lent. He's been on our list to talk to since we started the podcast, and we're finally making it happen. And wouldn't you know it, we had so much to dig into that we had to talk to him again, so this will be a two-parter.
Fair warning: Peter has some challenging things to say, pretty much regardless of where you land on the religious or political spectrum. His ideas are not easy to swallow or to understand, but we did our best to get to the bottom of some of them. And we had a great time doing it. Let us know what you think!
You can find the transcript for this episode here.
The bourbon we taste in this episode is Weller 12.
Content note: This episode has some adult themes and mild profanity.
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