“How is it that the Lamb of God bears the sins of the world?”

Poet Denise Levertov

Agnus Dei

by Denise Levertov

Given that lambs
are infant sheep,
that sheep are afraid and foolish, and lack
the means of self-protection, having
neither rage nor claws,
venom nor cunning,
what then
is this ‘Lamb of God’?

This pretty creature, vigorous
to nuzzle at milky dugs,
woolbearer, bleater,
leaper in air for delight of being, who finds in astonishment
four legs to land on, the grass
all it knows of the world?
With whom we would like to play,
whom we’d lead with ribbons, but may not bring
into our houses because
it would spoil the floor with its droppings?

What terror lies concealed
in strangest words, O lamb
of God that taketh away
the Sins of the World: an innocence
smelling of ignorance,
born in bloody snowdrifts,
licked by forebearing
dogs more intelligent than its entire flock put together?

God then,
encompassing all things, is
defenseless? Omnipotence
has been tossed away,
reduced to a wisp of damp wool?

And we
frightened, bored, wanting
only to sleep ‘til catastrophe
has raged, clashed, seethed and gone by without us,
wanting then
to awaken in quietude without remembrance of agony,

we who in shamefaced private hope
had looked to be plucked from fire and given
a bliss we deserved for having imagined it,

is it implied that we
must protect this perversely weak
animal, whose muzzle’s nudgings

suppose there is milk to be found in us?
Must hold in our icy hearts
a shivering God?

So be it.
Come, rag of pungent
quiverings,
dim star.
Let’s try
if something human still
can shield you,
spark
of remote light.

* * * * * * * *

Mosaic of Doubting Thomas, Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, Ravenna, 500-520 AD.

The Disciple of Doubt

by Dan Clendenin

March 27, 2016

For Sunday April 3, 2015

Lectionary Readings (Revised Common Lectionary, Year C)

Acts 5:27–32

Psalm 118:14–29 or Psalm 150

Revelation 1:4–8

John 20:19–31

On Easter Sunday, we Christians condensed our confession

down to three words: "Christ is risen!" 

Those three words are a game changer.

Without the resurrection, Jesus is just another interesting teacher. But with it, believers confess that God in Christ has defeated death and reconciled the cosmos to himself. And so the Yale historian Jaroslav Pelikan wrote, "If Christ is raised from the dead, nothing else matters. If he is not raised from the dead, nothing else matters."

"This is what we preach, and this is what you believed," Paul wrote to the Corinthians.

Paul raised the bar about as high as you can when he said that no one should believe a lie about the resurrection, and that no one should preach a lie. If Christ isn't raised, said Paul, then the first witnesses were, in Pascal's famous words, "deceived or deceivers."

This week is different.  John says that he wrote his gospel with an agenda, "that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ" (20:31).  But the reading this week is not about faith but about doubt — in particular, Thomas's disbelief in the resurrection. 

Resurrection?  Really?

Except for the times when he is grocery-listed with the other disciples, there are only three references to Thomas. They're all in John's gospel, and they all reveal Thomas's sceptical bent.

After Lazarus died, and Jesus planned to return to Judea (where villagers almost stoned him), Thomas replied, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." Then, when Jesus told his disciples that they would join him in glory, Thomas questioned him: "Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?"

And then there's this week's gospel. When told that Jesus had appeared to the other disciples, Thomas was incredulous: "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe."     

The last several years, I've enjoyed reading the poetry of Denise Levertov (1923–1997).  Her personal story is so interesting.

Levertov was born in England to a Welsh mother and a Russian Hasidic father. He had emigrated to the UK from Leipzig, converted to Christianity, and become an Anglican priest. After moving to the United States in 1948, Levertov taught at a number of places, including eleven years at Stanford (1982–1993). By the time she died, she had published fifty volumes.

Carved panel of Doubting Thomas,
Abbey of Santo Domingo del Silos, Spain, c. 1150.

It was at Stanford, where her papers are now housed, that Levertov converted to Christianity at the age of sixty. Her little book The Stream and the Sapphire collects thirty-eight poems that trace her "slow movement from agnosticism to Christian faith."

Levertov always had an affinity for Thomas the Doubter. She wrote a Mass for the Day of St. Thomas Didymus. And in The Stream and The Sapphire she included the poem St. Thomas Didymus.

The Greek Didymus and the Aramaic T'omas both mean "the twin." In her poem, though, Levertov imagines Thomas identifying with his spiritual twin rather than his biological brother.

Thomas's spiritual twin is the desperate and doubting father in Mark 9:24: "I do believe, help my unbelief."

Long after Thomas saw the miraculous healing of the little boy, the doubt of the father plagued him. "Despite all that I witnessed, his question remained my question, throbbed like a stealthy cancer, known only to doctor and patient. To others I seemed well enough."

Here is Levertov's poem:

In the hot street at noon I saw him

a small man

gray but vivid, standing forth

beyond the crowd’s buzzing

holding in desperate grip his shaking

teethgnashing son,

and thought him my brother.

I heard him cry out, weeping and speak

those words,

Lord, I believe, help thou

mine unbelief,

and knew him

my twin:

a man whose entire being

had knotted itself

into the one tightdrawn question,

Why,

why has this child lost his childhood in suffering,

why is this child who will soon be a man

tormented, torn, twisted?

Why is he cruelly punished

who has done nothing except be born?

The twin of my birth

was not so close

as that man I heard

say what my heart

sighed with each beat, my breath silently

cried in and out,

in and out.

After the healing,

he, with his wondering

newly peaceful boy, receded;

no one

dwells on the gratitude, the astonished joy,

the swift

acceptance and forgetting.

I did not follow

to see their changed lives.

What I retained

was the flash of kinship.

Despite

all that I witnessed,

his question remained

my question, throbbed like a stealthy cancer,

known

only to doctor and patient. To others

I seemed well enough.

So it was

that after Golgotha

my spirit in secret

lurched in the same convulsed writhings

that tore that child

before he was healed.

And after the empty tomb

when they told me that He lived, had spoken to Magdalen,

told me

that though He had passed through the door like a ghost

He had breathed on them

the breath of a living man –

even then

when hope tried with a flutter of wings

to lift me –

still, alone with myself,

my heavy cry was the same: Lord

I believe,

help thou mine unbelief.

I needed

blood to tell me the truth,

the touch

of blood. Even

my sight of the dark crust of it

round the nailholes

didn’t thrust its meaning all the way through

to that manifold knot in me

that willed to possess all knowledge,

refusing to loosen

unless that insistence won

the battle I fought with life

But when my hand

led by His hand’s firm clasp

entered the unhealed wound,

my fingers encountering

rib-bone and pulsing heat,

what I felt was not

scalding pain, shame for my

obstinate need,

but light, light streaming

into me, over me, filling the room

as I had lived till then

in a cold cave, and now

coming forth for the first time,

the knot that bound me unravelling,

I witnessed

all things quicken to color, to form,

my question

not answered but given

its part

in a vast unfolding design lit

by a risen sun.

Not all those who saw the risen Christ believed. In his last recorded appearance in Matthew 28:17, we read that "when they saw him, they worshiped, but some were doubtful."

And not all those who believed saw him after his resurrection. Thomas was an exception, said Jesus: "Because you have seen me you believe? Blessed are those who did not see and believed."

Armenian illuminated manuscript in the Malatia Gospel,

Doubting Thomas, by Toros Roslin, 1268 AD.

Likewise in 1 Peter 1:8: "Though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory."

A week later, after touching the wounds of Jesus, Thomas confessed, "My Lord and my God!"

In Levertov's poem, Thomas's questions weren't answered; they were put into a larger context and a different light.

In the end, the famous doubter became a passionate witness. The Acts of Thomas from the early third century says that Thomas took the gospel to India by 52 AD. Today, the St. Thomas Christians trace their origins to this disciple of doubt.

NOTE: For more on Levertov, see the two critical biographies by Dana Green, Denise Levertov: A Poet's Life (Chicago: University of Illinois, 2012); and Donna Krolik Hollenberg, A Poet's Revolution: The Life of Denise Levertov (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013); and the recent Denise Levertov, Collected Poems, edited and annotated by Paul A. Lacey and Anne Dewey, with an Introduction by Eavan Boland (New York: New Directions, 2013), 1063pp.

* * * * * * * *

Talking to Grief

by Denise Levertov

Ah, Grief, I should not treat you

like a homeless dog

who comes to the back door

for a crust, for a meatless bone.

I should trust you.

I should coax you

into the house and give you

your own corner,

a worn mat to lie on,

your own water dish.

You think I don't know you've been living

under my porch.

You long for your real place to be readied

before winter comes. You need

your name,

your collar and tag. You need

the right to warn off intruders,

to consider

my house your own

and me your person

and yourself

my own dog. 

* * * * * * * *

What The Figtree Said

by Denise Levertov

Literal minds! Embarrassed humans! His friends

were blushing for Him

in secret; wouldn’t admit they were shocked.

They thought Him

petulant to curse me! – yet how could the Lord

be unfair? – so they looked away,

then and now.

But I, I knew that

helplessly barren though I was,

my day had come. I served

Christ the Poet,

who spoke in images: I was at hand,

a metaphor for their failure to bring forth

what is within them (as figs

were not within me). They who had walked

in His sunlight presence,

they could have ripened,

could have perceived His thirst and hunger,

His innocent appetite;

they could have offered

human fruits – compassion, comprehension –

without being asked,

without being told of need.

My absent fruit

stood for their barren hearts. He cursed

not me, not them, but

(ears that hear not, eyes that see not)

their dullness, that withholds

gifts unimagined.

* * * * * * * *

'Denise Levertov: Poetry as a Way to Prayer'

Jul 19, 2012

SchAdvStudy

Dana Greene (Emory University)

Poetry and Prayer: Continuities & Discontinuities - 'Denise Levertov: Poetry as a Way to Prayer'

An international conference organized jointly by the Institute of English Studies and Heythrop College, University of London.

The analogy and continuity between poetry and prayer, the poetical and the mystical, has often been discussed. The psychological mechanism used by grace to raise us to prayer is, Henry Bremond wrote, the same as that set in motion in poetic experience. Both poetry and prayer are rooted in an inner experience of concrete and fundamental values so that both invite, using the language of John Henry Newman, a real rather than a notional assent. Reading a poem can be perceived as a prayerful experience. W.H. Auden wrote: 'to pray is to pay attention to something or someone other than oneself. Whenever a man so concentrates his attention -- on a landscape, a poem, a geometrical problem, an idol, or the True God -- that he completely forgets his own ego and desires, he is praying.'

And yet it is also true that we have no shared understanding of the terms 'prayer' and 'poetry'. Some might claim that there is no connection between them. The traditions of poetry and prayer are numerous and the connections between them elusive. And poetry is, self-evidently, not exactly the same as prayer.

The conference will consider the similarities, interrelatedness and differences between poetry and prayer. What do poetry and prayer share? How do they differ? In what ways do they relate to each other? Theoretical reflections and historical surveys will provide a context for the discussion of individual texts and authors from different countries and cultural and religious traditions.

* * * * * * * *

Denise Levertov: six poems

Mar 15, 2009

Bloodaxe Books

Denise Levertov reads six poems from her later collections, three from EVENING TRAIN (1992) and three later included in her posthumously published collection SANDS OF THE WELL (1998). This is an extract from an hour-long reading she gave for the Lannan Foundation in Los Angeles on 7 December 1993. The poems are: 'Settling', 'Open Secret', 'Tragic Error',  'The Danger Moment', 'A Gift' and 'For Those Whom the Gods Love Less', three of which were also included in her SELECTED POEMS (New Directions, 2002), which was published in Britain as NEW SELECTED POEMS (Bloodaxe Books, 2003):

http://www.bloodaxebooks.com/titlepag...

Denise Levertov (1923-97) was born in Essex, and educated at home by her father, a Russian Jewish immigrant, who became an Anglican priest, and by her Welsh mother. In 1948, she emigrated to America, where she was acclaimed by Kenneth Rexroth in The New York Times as 'the most subtly skilful poet of her generation, the most profound, the most modest, the most moving,' and during the following decades she became 'a poet who may just be the finest writing in English today' (Kirkus Reviews). Throughout her life, she worked also as a political activist, campaigning tirelessly for civil rights and environmental causes, and against the Vietnam War, the Bomb and US-backed regimes in Latin America.

This video is copyright Lannan Foundation 1994 and posted on YouTube with the permission of the Lannan Foundation. 

* * * * * * * *

More on Denise Levertov poems, bio, essays:

The Poetry of R.E. Slater - "Meet Poet Denise Levertov"

R.E. Slater - Sin as "Lack"

Sin as "Lack"

by R.E. Slater

Somewhere in my studies over the years I came across Peter Rollins whom I first met at my church, Mars Hill, when Pete was invited one Sunday to speak by Rob Bell. I immediately fell in love with Pete's insights, and later learned - when hosting a webcast for GCAS between Pete and Jack Caputo - that they each held a deep fellowship between one another as friends, mentors, and respective scholars in their fields.

Peter Rollins (born 31 March 1973) is a Northern Irish writer, public speaker, philosopher, producer and radical theologian. Drawing largely from various strands of continental philosophy, Rollins' early work operated broadly from within the tradition of apophatic theology, while his more recent books have signalled a move toward the theory and practice of Death of God theology. In these books Rollins develops a "religionless" interpretation of Christianity [similar to Bonhoeffer] called Pyrotheology, an interpretation that views faith as a particular way of engaging with the world rather than a set of beliefs about the world. Rollins has a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in scholastic philosophy, a Master of Arts degree in political theory and social criticism, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree dealing with post-structural theory from Queen's University, Belfast.

American Philosopher, Jack Caputo

John David Caputo (born October 26, 1940) is an American philosopher who is the Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion Emeritus at Syracuse University and the David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Villanova University. Caputo is a major figure associated with postmodern Christianity and continental philosophy of religion, as well as the founder of the theological movement known as weak theology. Much of Caputo's work focuses on hermeneutics, phenomenology, deconstruction and theology.

Listening to Pete as he spoke that Sunday he presented the idea of viewing sin as a "lack" within the void of our human soul. Lately, I've been thinking about this again as a non-typical way of describing sin in terms of process theology and NOT in terms of evangelical theology.

Politics as Lack

One of my motivators today has come from my socio-political readings of rightwing and church-based media headlines identifying with white Christian nationalism = white supremacy = the new radical republican extremist party and the deep divisions these groups are causing in America by their continual gaslighting (propagandizing) of the American public.

To view sin as a lack within the

emptiness of the human soul

It reminded me yet again that "all things in the human sphere of social networking can be politicized at all times" by all kinds of groups and people. Even here, by myself (hopefully in good ways and not harmful ways) as I ask readers to resist and stand against bigotry, discrimination, unfair civil-and-domestic policies of inequality, and the blatant denial of basic civic liberties by the radical right placed upon an expanding, growing, polypluralistic American democracy.

But these "Democratic Troubles" of the Trumpian, post-Christian Era have shown that we, as humans, are especially skilled at deflection, blame and criticism as social reactionaries. And further, that we are seldom very good at listening, forming sound opinions, or in producing quality leadership. Look at any newspaper headline and you'll find these societal "lacks" reported again and again. From the "sanctimonious" sanctuaries of our churches, to the whispering hallways of the office; from family con fabs to community school boards. Our words betray us every time we speak as we act out our words issued from the depths of our inner hearts. We tend to feel before we think and usually those feelings are deeply rooted in troubled spirits looking for expression.

Sin as Lack

Think of sin as a "lack" in our human souls. A "separation" from our identity in the Imago Dei (Image of God). To be human is to experience lack. A gap within us. An ontological disconnect, or metaphysical disruption, with the cosmic whole. A lack which can drive us in mad pursuits possibly to the harms of others - or nature itself - in order to fill the gap, or cross the divide, within us.

The sad truth is, we can never fill this ontic gap or soulish separation by whatever we try to do. It will always be there in one form or another driving us to do very human things. The only thing we can do is to forgive ourselves and make peace with the gap buried deep within the DNA of our inner beings.

We are ever driven by our lack. Jesus is our peace who

helps us forgive ourselves bound in ontic disconnect.

For the Christian gospel the lack is forgiven, filled, and crossed over ontically, and metaphysically, through the atoning work of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary. By our repentance and penitent moment towards God will come a spirit-like peace offering wholeness. A peace fashioned by God for us in our brokenness which promises and begins to heal our fractured souls.

As long as we are human this "lack" will never be gone. It will be something we will always struggle with whether we are in the ministry, secluded in a monastery cell, working in local non-profits for the benefits of the broken, teaching, nursing, or active in earth restoration. Lack will always be with us. But in Jesus it can be mitigated enough that it doesn't quite so completely motivate us at every moment of every day of our mortal lives.

Jesus may fill our Lack but Lack Still Drives Us

How we act, or what we do, may always show our lack. If we might simply drop off the theological moral-or-ethical ideas of sin for a moment and think in terms of a psychological lack - or even deeper, as a philosophical lack - to human identity we can perhaps understand how deeply this condition grips the human soul.

What we feel we "lack" drives us to make up for its voids in our souls. Too often we substitute things to fill those holes in us but end up discovering nothing fills empty hearts full of pain and lack.

Now as a Christian I'm supposed to say Jesus fills this lack as I already have done - but ontic lack cannot be filled by the Christian religion as substitute for Jesus. To some degree, Jesus fellowships - but not hard-hearted dogmatic fellowships. Turning to God to fill our lack of separateness from Him by Jesus' atonement and God's Spirit begins the healing process needed within us. And yet, even as Spirit-driven repentants before God, humility often does not become us because of the voids of our personal lacks which habitually haunt us, so often does pride and selfishness own us.

Whether Christian or not, all religions - even the Christian religion - must recognize this lack. More importantly, faith and religion must not be the thing to be substituted in for the disparagement of lack. Lack must be filled in a personal relationship with the God who removes that void of emptiness, of separation from who we are created to be and become. But mere "faith works" or "religiousity" can never fill our lack. You cannot fill lack with more lack, thinking this action will rectify what already is missing. I think of church pastors who may possibly be driven by lack - filled with good intentions, but always driven by lack... as we all are, whoever we are, and whatever we do which defines us.

Too often we substitute things to fill those holes

in us but end up discovering nothing fills

empty hearts full of pain and lack.

The best I can say to get along with the human (and cosmic) condition of "lack" is to i) recognize it and ii) refuse to let it drive us. Let all things be done in love, healing, restoration, and recreation towards wellbeing in the love of God. But know, with a freewill creation there will ever be this condition of "lack". In a good way, it drives all forward positively. In a bad way, it brutishly disrupts loving action and relational connection. It is from within this ontic and metaphysical disruption we must chose to destroy and rebuild.

Lastly, I may pray and hope to disrupt the harming politicization of human events. To stop the lies, the blaming, the scapegoating, and the incessant, bald-faced disingenuousness by those who foment trouble. Who are pretend-healers, hypocrites and false prophets. To recognize, resist, and stand against such self-serving voices by declaring my disagreements against their irreligious, secular and ungodly pomposities.

Become streams of Living Waters.

Hubris and pride are but other names for personal and societal lack. We must learn the difference, stop its flow, and become streams of living waters. Do not pass such secular and religious toxicities on to the next generations further downstream. Jesus didn't, and taught against such ill-living and fated religion built on lack and not on Jesus. Let us do the same.

R.E. Slater

November 26, 2021

* * * * * *

Peter Rollins

Secret of the Lack | Part II

Jun 28, 2020

In this second seminar from my six part Pyrotheology course, I look at the move from a position called the 'Lack of the Secret' to that of the 'Secret of the Lack'. This is a movement that turns doubt, ambiguity and unknowing from an expression of epistemological humility into positive ontological affirmations.

Peter Rollins

On Lack and Forgiveness

Jul 7, 2018

This is a small clip from an all-day seminar I gave on the theory and technology of Pyro-theology.

Pete Rollins

Embracing the Lack

Sep 21, 2016

Peter Rollins: Pyrotheology -  Embracing the Lack

Belfast Interview | English | VAKUUM

Feb 9, 2019

VAKUUM J O U R N A L

https://www.vakuumjournal.de

https://www.facebook.com/vakuumjournal/

The Northern Irish philosopher Peter Rollins represents an idea of faith, that embraces doubt, unknowing and complexity. In the intersection of philosophy, theology and psychology he developed his Pyrotheology, which is more about how you believe, than what you believe. 

Peter Rollins was interviewed by the German theologian Peter Jost in April 2018 at Wake Festival. More information about Wake and Peter Rollins can be found on his  website: https://peterrollins.com/

#TheMinimalists

Ep. 246 | The Lacking (with Peter Rollins)

Aug 4, 2020

Joshua and Ryan discuss the fear of missing out (FOMO), the joy of missing out (JOMO), and how to be content in the midst of uncertainty with author, theologian, and philosopher Peter Rollins. Watch “Maximal” episodes of The Minimalists Private Podcast exclusively at http://patreon.com/theminimalists

Questions answered in this episode:

• What is ‘the lack’? (03:21) 

• What is the difference between freedom and determinism? (04:28)

• What are hypothetical and categorical imperatives? (05:57)

• Can too much freedom cause anxiety? (11:22) 

• How do I find satisfaction with my current situation rather than constantly searching for something new? (13:10) 

• What is the difference between desire and drive? (15:50)

• Why do most of us seem to crave change? (22:42) 

• What is the burden of freedom? (23:50) 

• What is the ‘lack of the secret’ compared to the 'secret of the lack’? (27:07) 

• How can I curb my constant desire for new things? (31:38) 

• Is our desire for the new related to our past? (33:16)

* * * * * *

Summary of Argument: Pete argues for the Protestant idea of original sin. Jack for the Catholic idea of God's Image from which sin cannot come forth nor be removed. Here, in this post, I have presented the Imago Dei as God's residing image imprinted upon creation (re Caputo) but acknowledging that with freewill came the ontic separation or "lack" (re Rollins) which couldn't remove God's Image but had pushed it's possibility further away from creation unless rectified in Christ salvifically (which it has been in Jesus, positionally but not yet practically).

Thus, in Jesus' redemptive work can now begin the heavy lifting of reducing the Imago Dei gap/gulf away from an ontic lack of being towards the progressive possibilities and actualities of ontic fulfillment of fellowship in the Divine (being and becoming) evidenced by loving engagement with one another while bringing restorative value to creation (e.g., process theology) - re slater

 

Keller-riffic + Caputo Tells Pete the “lack” is BS

February 28, 2016 By Tripp Fuller

Prepare yourself for some live theological goodness from the Subvert the Norm conference. In this episode you will hear Tripp and Jonnie talk with Catherine Keller about her newest book Cloud of the Impossible: Negative Theology and Planetary Entanglement among other subversively inspired topics. Then Jack Caputo arrives to settle a significant disagreement with Peter Rollins about the nature of humanity. It was simultaneously nerdy and hilarious, so do not listen until you are prepared to rub your chin while laughing.

https://trippfuller.com/?powerpress_pinw=20200-podcast

Catherine Keller speaks to Process Theology then Pete Rollins and Jack Caputo get it on at 34:30 

* * * * * *

https://peterrollins.com/

Peter Rollins

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Peter Rollins
Rollins in 2015
Born	31 March 1973 Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Era	Contemporary philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Continental philosophy Postmodern philosophy Postmodern Christianity Post-structuralist psychoanalysis Phenomenology Existentialism Apophatic theology Death of God theology
Main interests	Theology
Notable ideas	Pyrotheology Transformance art Suspended space
show Influences
show Influenced

Peter Rollins (born 31 March 1973) is a Northern Irish writer, public speaker, philosopher, producer and radical theologian.^[1]

Drawing largely from various strands of continental philosophy, Rollins' early work operated broadly from within the tradition of apophatic theology, while his more recent books have signalled a move toward the theory and practice of death of God theology. In these books Rollins develops a "religionless" interpretation of Christianity called pyrotheology,^[2] an interpretation that views faith as a particular way of engaging with the world rather than a set of beliefs about the world.^[3]

In contrast to the dominant reading of Christianity, this more existential approach argues that faith has nothing to do with upholding a religious identity, affirming a particular set of beliefs or gaining wholeness through conversion. Instead he has developed an approach that sees Christianity as a critique of these very things. This anti-religious reading stands against the actual existing church and lays the groundwork for an understanding of faith as a type of life in which one is able to celebrate doubt, ambiguity and complexity while deepening care and concern for the world.^[4] He argues that the event which gave rise to the Christian tradition cannot itself be reduced to a tradition, but is rather a way of challenging traditions.

In order to explore and promote these themes Rollins has founded a number of experimental communities such as ikon^[5] and ikonNYC.^[6] These groups describe themselves as iconic, apocalyptic, heretical, emerging and failing^[7] and engage in the performance of what they call 'transformance art'^[8] and the creation of "suspended space."^[9] Because of their rejection of "worldview Christianity" and embrace of suspended space, these groups purposefully attempt to attract people with different political perspectives and opposing views concerning the existence of God and the nature of the world.^[10]

Although Rollins does not directly identify with the emerging church movement,^[11] he has been a significant influence on the movement's development.^[12][13]

• 
  

Early life and education

Rollins grew up in East Belfast during the Troubles,^[14] a period of intense and violent sectarian conflict that erupted in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s and resulted in the deaths of more than 3,600 people^[15] before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998,^[16] which is generally regarded as the end of the conflict, though pockets of violence persist today. He attended Orangefield Boys High School and left at the age of sixteen without the qualifications required for further study. He was unemployed for several years before taking a job as a youth worker in Carrickfergus and working in a homeless shelter run by the Simon Community on the Falls Road, Belfast.He then went on to study an access course on the Castlereagh Campus of the Belfast Metropolitan College (an intensive one-year course designed for disadvantaged students who wish to attend university but lack the entry requirements).^[17] Rollins has a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in scholastic philosophy, a Master of Arts degree in political theory and social criticism, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree dealing with post-structural theory from Queen's University, Belfast.^[18]

Academics such as Cathy Higgins have explored how an understanding of Rollins activism requires an appreciation of The Troubles. The development of groups like the Belfast-based ikon collective was at least partially a response to the pervasive atmosphere of violence, economic hardship, rigid identity markers and deep rooted sectarianism in operation in the province. The sectarian violence combined with the use of religion to legitimize injustice, the fundamentalism of many Protestant churches and the sexual abuse scandals of the Catholic Church, played a major role in creating the frame of reference from which Rollins works.^[19] The result being an emphasis on creating practices designed so that "participants [could] set aside the various identities that define them" and gather as a gathering of equals to "share stories, struggles, and rituals that help them respond to one another in a Christ-like way."^[20] In contrast to a dogmatic form of religion she notes that ikon provided a space in which "doubt is viewed as healthy and necessary for owning our material reality, vulnerability and limitedness".^[21]

Career

While operating broadly outside the academy Rollins does work with various academic institutions across the UK. He has been a research associate with the Irish School of Ecumenics (Trinity College, Dublin)^[22] and is currently on faculty at the Global Center for Advanced Studies.^[23]

Early writing

Rollins' unpublished PhD (His Colour is Our Blood: A Phenomenology of the Prodigal Father) offers a survey of religious thinking in the aftermath of Marx, Freud, and Nietzsche. It engages directly with Martin Heidegger's critique of onto-theology and explores the religious significance of Jacques Derrida's post-structural theory and Jean-Luc Marion's saturated phenomenology (drawing out the points of connection and conflict between them). This manuscript represents Rollins' initial attempt to articulate an approach to faith that would short-circuit the categories of theism and atheism and problematize the various debates that arise from them. In so doing this marks an approach to Christianity that is not related to a system of belief but rather to a particular mode of life.

His first book, How (Not) to Speak of God (2006) popularized the main themes of his PhD by blending the apophatic work of Meister Eckhart^[24] and pseudo-Dionysius^[25] with the Post-structural work of Derrida^[26] and Marion.^[27] How (Not) to Speak of God also outlined how the theory was developed and worked out in a concrete way through the ikon collective (the second half of the book outlined a series of 'transformance art' liturgical experiments).^[28]

While his early work is marked by themes that continue to play a central role in his later development (such as doubt, complexity and ambiguity), they remain largely within a specifically theistic and mystical register.^[29]

Shift to radical theology

The Fidelity of Betrayal (2008) signalled a movement from apophatic and post-structural discussions witnessed in his PhD and How (Not) to Speak of God into Radical Theology.^[30] With this work we begin to see a critique of purely theistic forms of faith and witness the growing influence of political philosopher Slavoj Žižek and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in his overall project.^[31] The Fidelity of Betrayal is thus a work that bridges the more mystical influence of his first writings toward a theological materialism, a trajectory that was subsequently fleshed out and deepened in Insurrection (2011) and The Idolatry of God (2013). In these later books the influence of Hegel, Žižek, Lacan, later Bonhoeffer and Tillich comes to the fore, though John Caputo remains as an ongoing point of reference.^[32]

Story-telling

Rollins incorporates narrative forms into his talks to create a more informal style of communication. In 2009 Rollins published The Orthodox Heretic, a book of 33 short, parable-like stories. He has also written fairytales^[33] and a play that became the basis of a short film he produced, called Making Love^[34]

Current thinking

Rollins' overall project is marked by the themes of doubt, complexity, unknowing and embracing brokenness.^[35] More than this, he has been interested in showing that these themes are central to the founding event of Christianity.^[36] He is interested in showing how the central scandal of Christianity offers us a critique of religion^[37] (including the need to believe) and tribal identity,^[38] both of which have been lost in the actually existing church; an institution that he argues represents a fundamental betrayal of the insurrectionary power of faith.^[39] His work is an attempt to show that Christianity does not rest on theistic belief, some commitment to supernaturalism or the affirmation of some set of dogmas.^[40] Rollins has named his theological program pyrotheology.^[41] The name was inspired by the Spanish anarchist Buenaventura Durruti's statement that "the only church that illuminates is a burning church."^[42] The phrase has also inspired some of Slavoj Žižek's work related to radical theology.^[43]

Rollins' work operates at the intersection of where Post-Structuralism, Psychoanalysis, Phenomenology, and Existentialism meet and inform each other.^[44] What follow are some of the major themes evidenced in his project:

1. Humans have a natural and destructive disposition toward the pursuit of satisfaction: By employing insights developed by psychoanalysis, Rollins argues that humans tend to seek some object that would seem to promise satisfaction.^[45] This very pursuit is, however, itself destructive, for we either don't get what we seek above all else and thus always long for it, or we do get it and discover that it is actually unable to offer us what we sought.^[46]
2. Humans have a natural and destructive disposition to seek out certainty: Employing the insights of childhood development in the area of metapsychology Rollins argues that, as children, we identify with false images that help us to cover over our weakness and dependence on others.^[47] Rollins claims that adults often remain caught within these false images.^[48] Our various beliefs offer us a certain level or security and sense of belonging. But he argues that they ultimately damage us by distancing us from others, causing us to repress doubt and preventing us from being positively impacted by people who think and practice in ways that are different from our own.^[49]
3. Religion falsely promises to offer the certainty and satisfaction that we seek: While certainty and satisfaction are being offered to us from multiple sources, Rollins argues that the church offers the paradigmatic version of this pursuit. God is offered as that which will give us satisfaction and a certainty not available elsewhere.^[50] He argues that anything we believe offers this type of happiness and confidence is actually nothing but an idol that offers, ironically, the opposite: dissatisfaction and uncertainty.^[51]
4. The Liberal and Progressive forms of Church are structurally similar to Conservative and Fundamentalist Church: While Conservative and Fundamentalist churches can be seen to fall into the problems Rollins outlines, his main concern lies with Liberal and Progressive communities. He argues that Liberal and Progressive churches verbally advocate doubt, complexity, ambiguity and brokenness, yet generally enact an idolatrous view of faith in their liturgical structures.^[52][53]
5. Faith is not a system that offers certainty and satisfaction but is a mode of living free from these drives.

Projects

Rollins's project involves attempting to encourage a constant rupturing of ideological forms of Christianity through the development of non-dogmatic collectives that embrace doubt, complexity and ambiguity, open themselves up to critique, and face up to the human experience of lack.^[54][55][56] He has stated that these communities have a structural similarity to twelve step programs insofar as they involve facing up to one's issues and working them through in communities where grace and acceptance are fundamental principles.^[57] Psychoanalytic ideas, particularly from the school of Lacan, play a fundamental role.^[58][59] Rollins has developed a number of "contemplative practices" that are designed to help in this process.^[60]

Public speaking

As a public speaker and storyteller Rollins has been involved in various tours (often in collaboration with musicians and artists).^[61] These include How (Not) to Speak of God (2006), Beyond Belief (2008), Lessons in Evandalism (2008), Insurrection (2009), Building on Fire (2013), and Playing with Fire (2014). In addition to this Rollins curates an annual three-day festival event in Belfast exploring the theory and practice of pyrotheology.^[62]

Bibliography

• How (Not) To Speak of God (Paraclete/SPCK, 2006). The book aimed to re-envisage faith in the postmodern world, focusing on provisionality, fragility and fragmentation. The book became influential among emergent evangelical Christians soon after its publication.^[63]
• The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church beyond Belief (Paraclete/SPCK 2008)
• The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales (Paraclete/SCM, April 2009)
• Insurrection: To Believe is Human; to Doubt, Divine (Howard/Hodder and Stoughton, October 2011)
• The Idolatry of God: Breaking Our Addiction to Certainty and Satisfaction (Howard/Hodder and Stoughton, January 2013)
• The Divine Magician: The Disappearance of Religion and the Discovery of Faith (Howard/Hodder and Stoughton, January 2015)
• Enduring Love: Tales of Tortuous Desire from the Lonely Forest (September 2018)
• Producer and co-writer of Making Love (Magician's Niece, released December 2018). Based on an original script by Peter Rollins called The Gallows^[64]
• Producer of Extimacy: An Assent into Hell (Magician's Niece, June 2020)^[65]
• Producer of Outopia: A Descent into Heaven (Magician's Niece, June 2020)^[66]
• Producer of Allone (Magician's Niece, April 2020)^[67]
• Producer of Jamaica (Magician's Niece, original release 2015, re-edit October 2020)^[68]
• Co-writer and Producer of A Guide to Making Love (Magician's Niece, In production)

References

1. ^ "Moody, Katharine, "The Church Emerging After the Birth of God"". syndicatetheology.com. Archived from the original on 29 April 2016. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
2. ^ Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), Loc 2232
3. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p121
4. ^ Rollins, Peter The Divine Magician (Howard, 2015) p95-96
5. ^ Caputo, John What Would Jesus Deconstruct? (Baker Academic, 2007), pp129-134
6. ^ "Ikon NYC". Facebook. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
7. ^ "Pyrotheology". Pyrotheology. 18 January 2013. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
8. ^ Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 3011
9. ^ Rollins, Peter The Fidelity of Betrayal (Paraclete Press, 2008), pp173-176
10. ^ Caputo, John What Would Jesus Deconstruct (Baker Academic, 2007), p130
11. ^ Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 2994
12. ^ "Northern Ireland, America and the Emerging Church Movement: Exploring the Significance of Peter Rollins and the Ikon Collective By Katharine Sarah Moody" (PDF). Journal of the Irish Society for the Academic Study of Religions. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
13. ^ "A Book Review of Gerardo Marti and Gladys Ganiel's The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity By James Wellman". Patheos. 20 March 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
14. ^ Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), Loc 2178
15. ^ "The Troubles". BBC. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
16. ^ "The Good Friday Agreement". British Library. Retrieved 25 May 2015.
17. ^ How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006) Back cover
18. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
19. ^ Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 109-292
20. ^ Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 3010
21. ^ Higgins, Cathy Churches in Exile (Columbia Press, 2013), Loc 3037
22. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 26 May 2015. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
23. ^ https://globalcenterforadvancedstudies.org/faculty/peter-rollins/
24. ^ Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp18-19
25. ^ Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp26-29
26. ^ Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp45-46
27. ^ Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp42-45
28. ^ Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp77-145
29. ^ Rollins, Peter How (Not) to Speak of God (Paraclete Press, 2006), pp23-26
30. ^ Rollins, Peter The Fidelity of Betrayal (Paraclete Press, 2008), pp129-142
31. ^ Rollins, Peter The Fidelity of Betrayal (Paraclete Press, 2008), pp49-50
32. ^ Moody, Katharine "Retrospective Speculative Philosophy: Looking for Traces of Zizek's Communist Collective in Emerging Christian Praxis" Political Theology April 2012, Vol. 13 Issue 2, p183
33. ^ Rollins, Peter. "Enduring Love: Tales From the Lonely Forest", Retrieved on 10 July 2019.
34. ^ Rollins, Peter. "IMDB", Retrieved on 10 July 2019.
35. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p5; see also Marti and Ganiel, The Deconstructed Church
36. ^ Rollins, Peter Insurrection (Howard, 2011), pp19-39
37. ^ Rollins, Peter Insurrection (Howard, 2011), ppxi-xv
38. ^ Moody, Katharine "How to Eat Well in Church: Saying 'Yes' to the Other and Becoming Nothing in Derrida, Paul and Emerging Church Discourse" Presented at "Attending to the Other: Critical Theory and Spiritual Practice," International Society for Religion, Literature and Culture biennial conference, St. Catherine's College, University of Oxford, 23–26 September 2010
39. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp22-23
40. ^ Rollins, Peter Insurrection (Howard, 2011), pp164-171
41. ^ Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), Loc 2192
42. ^ Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), loc2192
43. ^ "The only church that illuminates is a burning church – Opinion – ABC Religion & Ethics (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". Abc.net.au. 8 August 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
44. ^ Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), loc2178-2289
45. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp9-16
46. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p22-24
47. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp56-58
48. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p58
49. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp66-68
50. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p72
51. ^ Rollins, Peter The Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p24
52. ^ "The Church is Fundamentalist on my Behalf". peterrollins.net. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
53. ^ Rollins, Peter Insurrection (Howard, 2011), pp50-52
54. ^ Keefe-Perry, Callid Way to Water: A theopoetics Primer (Cascade Books, 2014), loc2232
55. ^ Rollins, Peter Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp9-24
56. ^ Schendzielos, Erin Ed It Spooks: Living in Response to an Unheard Call (Shelter50, 2015), pp75-76
57. ^ "A Church of Non-Christians By Peter Rollins". Huffington Post. 19 March 2013. Retrieved 27 May 2015.
58. ^ Rollins, Peter Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), p207
59. ^ DeLay, Tad God is Unconscious: Psychoanalysis and Theology (Wife and Stock, 2015), ppix-xi
60. ^ Rollins, Peter Idolatry of God (Howard, 2012), pp162-202
61. ^ For instance he has worked extensively with poet and singer/songwriter Pádraig Ó Tuama and the artist Jonny McEwen
62. ^ https://idolatryofgod.eventbrite.com/
63. ^ James S. Bielo (2011). Emerging Evangelicals: Faith, Modernity, And The Desire For Authenticity. NYU Press. pp. 56–7. ISBN 978-0-8147-8954-4.
64. ^ Rollins, Peter. "IMDB", Retrieved on 10 July 2019.
65. ^ Rollins, Peter. "IMDB", Retrieved on 10 July 2019.
66. ^ Rollins, Peter. "IMDB", Retrieved on 10 July 2019.
67. ^ Rollins, Peter. "IMDB", Retrieved on 10 July 2019.
68. ^ Rollins, Peter. "IMDB", Retrieved on 10 July 2019.

Further reading[edit]

• What Would Jesus Deconstruct: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church By John Caputo (Baker Academic, 2007)
• Toward A Hopeful Future: Why the Emergent Church Is Good News for Mainline Congregations By Phil Snider and Emily Bowen (Pilgrim Press, 2010)
• Curating Worship By Jonny Baker (Seabury Books, 2011)
• Preaching After God: Derrida, Caputo, and the Language of Postmodern Homiletics By Phil Snider (Cascade Books, 2012)
• Churches in Exile: Alternative Models of Church for Ireland in the 21st Century By Cathy Higgins (Columbia Press, 2013)
• The Deconstructed Church: Understanding Emerging Christianity By Gerardo Marti and Gladys Ganiel (Oxford University Press, 2014)
• Way to Water: A Theopoetics Primer By L. Callid Keefe-Perry (Cascade Books, 2014)
• Post-Secular Theology and the Church: A New Kind of Christian is A New Kind of Atheist By Katharine Sarah Moody (Cascade, Wipf and Stock, 2015)
• Radical Theology and Emerging Christianity: Deconstruction, Materialism and Religious Practice By Katharine Sarah Moody (Ashgate, 2015)

External links

• Peter Rollins' Website

* * * * * *

John D. Caputo

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John D. Caputo
Born	John David Caputo October 26, 1940 (age 81) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Alma mater	La Salle University Villanova University Bryn Mawr College
Era	20th-century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	Continental philosophy deconstructionism phenomenology postmodern Christianity
Institutions	Villanova University Syracuse University
Doctoral students	James K. A. Smith
Other notable students	Theodore George
Main interests	Hermeneutics ethics mysticism theology
Notable ideas	Weak theology radical hermeneutics
show Influences
show Influenced

John David Caputo (born October 26, 1940) is an American philosopher who is the Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion Emeritus at Syracuse University and the David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Villanova University.^[1] Caputo is a major figure associated with postmodern Christianity^[2] and continental philosophy of religion, as well as the founder of the theological movement known as weak theology.^[3] Much of Caputo's work focuses on hermeneutics, phenomenology, deconstruction and theology.

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Education

Caputo received his BA in 1962 from La Salle University, his MA in 1964 from Villanova University, and his PhD in philosophy in 1968 from Bryn Mawr College.

Work

Caputo is a specialist in contemporary continental philosophy, with a particular expertise in phenomenology, hermeneutics, and deconstruction. Over the years, he has developed a deconstructive hermeneutics that he calls radical hermeneutics, which is highly influenced by the thought of the French philosopher, Jacques Derrida. Additionally, Caputo has developed a distinctive approach to religion that he calls weak theology. Recently, his most important work has been to rebut the charges of relativism made against deconstruction by showing that deconstruction is organized around the affirmation of certain unconditional ethical and political claims.

Caputo has a special interest in continental approaches to the philosophy of religion. Some of the ideas Caputo investigates in his work include the "religion without religion" of Jacques Derrida; the "theological turn" taken in recent French phenomenology by Jean-Luc Marion and others; the critique of ontotheology; the dialogue of contemporary philosophy with Augustine of Hippo and Paul of Tarsus; and medieval metaphysics and mysticism. In the past, Caputo has taught courses on Søren Kierkegaard, Friedrich Nietzsche, Edmund Husserl, Martin Heidegger, Emmanuel Levinas, Gilles Deleuze, and Jacques Derrida.

Positions held

Caputo taught philosophy at Villanova University from 1968 to 2004. He was appointed the David R. Cook Professor of Philosophy at Villanova University in 1993. Caputo was the Thomas J. Watson Professor of Religion at Syracuse University, where he taught in both the departments of philosophy and religion from 2004 until his retirement in 2011. He is emeritus professor at both Villanova University and Syracuse University and continues to write and lecture in both the United States and Europe. He is active in the American Philosophical Association, the American Academy of Religion, the Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy and he chairs the board of editors for the Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory.

Notable former students of Caputo

• Theodore George
• Michael Brogan
• James K. A. Smith, professor, philosopher and theologian
• Nythamar de Oliveira, professor, philosopher and theologian

Bibliography

Main article: John D. Caputo bibliography

• (1978) The Mystical Element in Heidegger's Thought (Ohio University Press)
• (1982) Heidegger and Aquinas (Fordham University Press)
• (1986) The Mystical Element in Heidegger's Thought (Fordham University Press paperback with a new "Introduction")
• (1987) Radical Hermeneutics: Repetition, Deconstruction and the Hermeneutic Project (Indiana University Press)
• (1993) Against Ethics - Contributions to a Poetics of Obligation with Constant Reference to Deconstruction (Indiana University Press)
• (1993) Demythologizing Heidegger (Indiana University Press)
• (1997) The Prayers and Tears of Jacques Derrida (Indiana University Press)
• (1997) Deconstruction in a Nutshell: A Conversation with Jacques Derrida, ed./auth. (Fordham University Press)
• (2000) More Radical Hermeneutics: On Not Knowing Who We Are (Indiana University Press)
• (2001) On Religion (Routledge Press)
• (2006) Philosophy and Theology (Abingdon Press)
• (2006) The Weakness of God (Indiana University Press)
• (2007) After the Death of God, with Gianni Vattimo (Columbia University Press)
• (2007) How to Read Kierkegaard (Granta; Norton, 2008)
• (2007) What Would Jesus Deconstruct?: The Good News of Postmodernism for the Church (Baker Academic)
• (2013) The Insistence of God: A Theology of Perhaps (Indiana University Press)
• (2014) Truth [Philosophy in Transit] (Penguin)
• (2015) Hoping Against Hope: Confessions of a Postmodern Pilgrim (Fortress Press)
• (2015) The Folly of God: A Theology of the Unconditional (Polebridge Press)
• (2018) Hermeneutics: Facts and Interpretation in the Age of Information (Pelican)
• (2019) Cross and Cosmos: A Theology of Difficult Glory (Indiana University Press)
• (2020) In Search of Radical Theology: Expositions, Explorations, Exhortations (Fordham University Press)
• (2021) The Collected Philosophical and Theological Papers, Volume 3: The Return of Religion (John D. Caputo Archives)

See also

• Khôra
• List of American philosophers
• List of deconstructionists

References

1. ^ "John D. Caputo". Westar Institute. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
2. ^ Camilleri, René (October 18, 2009). "Reinvent the Church". Times of Malta. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
3. ^ "John D.Caputo". College of Arts & Sciences at Syracuse University. Retrieved 2021-03-17.

External links

• Webpage at Syracuse University

Online writings

• John D. Caputo at philpapers.org
• "After Jacques Derrida Comes the Future" at the Wayback Machine (archived September 27, 2007), by John D. Caputo
• "For Love of the Things Themselves: Derrida’s Hyper-Realism" at the Wayback Machine (archived September 27, 2007), by John D. Caputo
• "Jacques Derrida (1930–2004)" (pdf), by John D. Caputo
• "Scripture: A Prologue" (pdf), by John D. Caputo
• "Without Sovereignty, Without Being: Unconditionality, the Coming God and Derrida's Democracy to Come" (pdf), by John D. Caputo
• "Theopoetic/theopolitic" (pdf) John D. Caputo and Catherine Keller
  'Cross Currents; Winter 2007; V. 57, No. 1'

Interviews

• Interview with Carl Raschke
• Interview at The Modern World
• After Atheism: New Perspectives on God and Religion, Part 2 by David Cayley, Ideas, broadcast 1 May 2012