Peter Rollins Denies the Resurrection

I use an RSS reader to sort out all the blogs I love to read and when Peter Rollins’s latest post "My Confession: I deny the Resurrection" popped up in the queue my first thought was…"great, another one bites the dust."

I had the opportunity to get to know Pete a bit during the Emergent Mid-Atlantic Conference.  I went to meet him at the train station.  I ate cheese steaks with him.  I talked to him in the car and at a pub, which leads to more wandering, friendly conversations.  He slept the night at my sister-in-laws house, for crying out loud.

This wasn’t just another "scholar goes off the deep end" type scenarios for me.  I had actually met this fellow and gotten to know him.  I don’t even know what the color of his eyes are.

So it stung a little bit to read that title.  I am open to conversation, but don’t mess with the creeds! (That’s my creedo, if you will).

Then I read what Pete had to say, and it absolutely blew me away.  It’s stuck with me for the past few days, never really leaving my thoughts.

Here’s what Pete wrote:

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.

Woah.  Talk about a call to follow the way of Christ. 

In a sense, we are all Peter.  We don’t really deny Christ in belief but we deny him in action.  And though we can affirm the resurrection by saying one of the ancient creeds we never truly affirm the resurrection until we live it out and bring new life to someone else.

If you want to hear more from Pete, head on over to the Emergent Mid-Atlantic Conference website and listen to the sessions Pete lead during the conference.

P.S. Sorry I forgot to link the first time.  Thanks for pointing that out Scott.