Saturday, March 08, 2008
Peter Rollins: Christianity is life
I came across this great quote by Peter Rollins in Becky Garrison's book Rising from the Ashes:
This of course reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis (and I suspect this is at least partly where Rollins got these ideas from):
In a sense I would not even want to say that the truth of Christianity is experiential in so much as the truth of Christianity is life, and life is not experienced. Rather life is what allows us to experience. Just as one does not see sight, but it is sight that enables us one to see. In other words, I don't think we experience the truth of Christianity, but the truth of Christianity is hinted at in the renewed way we experience everything else. In this way the truth of faith is not one thing among other things, but rather is that which brings us into new relationship with all things.
The way we explore this within Ikon is by attempting to create a gathering in which Christianity is not fundamentally about an understanding or experience, but rather a way of being and interacting in the world.
This of course reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis (and I suspect this is at least partly where Rollins got these ideas from):
"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
Labels: theology
posted by Mike Clawson at 10:34 PM | Permalink | 
4 Comments:
At 3/09/2008 12:49:00 AM, 
Mike Clawson
I think what he's getting at is that Christianity is not just one more set of beliefs alongside a lot of other beliefs. Rather it is a lens through which we can look at all of our beliefs, and perhaps more than that, it is a way of being that affects everything else that we do.
At least, I know that's a good description of how I think about my faith.
That's really interesting: while I disagree completely, I'd be willing to say almost the exact same thing with each instance of "Christianity"/"faith" replaced with the word "science." Of course, I wouldn't go so far as to describe science as a religion. Rather, the quotation seems to be calling for something more along the lines of a reality-based Christianity. Unless I'm taking it out of context, of course.