The orthodox heretic and other impossible tales

209 Pages·2009·0.48 MB·English

by  Rollins

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A
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PETER ROLLINS

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PARACLETE PRESS
BREWSTER MASSACHUSETTS
The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales
2009 First Printing
Copyright © 2009 by Peter Rollins
ISBN 978-1-55725-634-8
All Scripture quotations are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW
INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978
by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All
rights reserved.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rollins, Peter.
The orthodox heretic and other impossible tales / Peter Rollins.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-55725-634-8
1. Christian life. 2. Emergent church movement. I. Title.
BV4515.3.R66 2009
230--dc22 2008048846
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced,
stored in an electronic retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or
by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any
other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Published by Paraclete Press
Brewster, Massachusetts
www.paracletepress.com
Printed in the United States of America
DEDICATION
Most of my closest companions have never read a
word I have written. Worse than this, the few who
have, see fi t to respond with a barrage of abuse
(taking great pleasure in fi nding typos, ill-formed
thoughts, and even the faintest hint of hypocrisy).
Are these responses not a perfect manifestation of
true love? This book is dedicated to them.
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
—DIS-COURSES: THE SACRED ART OF (MIS)COMMUNICATION ix
PART ONE—BEYOND BELIEF
1. NO CONVICTION 3
2. JESUS AND THE FIVE THOUSAND 10
(A FIRST-WORLD TRANSLATION)
3. TRANSLATING THE WORD 13
(ADAPTED FROM A BUDDHIST PARABLE)
4. TURNING THE OTHER CHEEK 19
5. SALVATION FOR A DEMON 24
6. THE PEARL OF GREAT PRICE 30
7. GREAT MISFORTUNE 36
8. THE THIRD MILE 43
9. THE INVISIBLE PROPHET 49
10. THE PAYOFF 52
11. FINDING FAITH 57
PART TWO—G-O-D-I-S-N-O-W-H-E-R-E
12. BEING THE RESURRECTION 67
13. THE PRODIGAL FATHER 75
14. AWAITING THE MESSIAH 80
15. THE LAST TRIAL 87
16. SINS OF THE FATHER 90
17. THE ORTHODOX HERETIC 94
viii THE ORTHODOX HERETIC
18. THE MISSION OF JUDAS 100
19. THE AGNOSTIC WHO BECAME AN ATHEIST 104
20. GOD JOINS THE ARMY 111
21. BETRAYAL 117
22. THE BELIEVER 120
PART THREE—TRANSFIGURATIONS
23. BLINDNESS 127
24. THE FATHER’S APPROVAL 131
25. OVERTHROWING THE EMPEROR 137
26. THE UNREPENTANT SON 144
27. MANSIONS 151
28. THE EMPTY EXCHANGE 155
29. THE LAST SUPPER 160
30. THE BOOK OF LOVE 164
31. A MIRACLE WITHOUT MIRACLE 168
32. THE REWARD OF A GOOD LIFE 174
33. THE HERETIC 179
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 185
NOTES 187
INTRODUCTION
DIS-COURSES
THE SACRED ART OF (MIS)COMMUNICATION
HOW TO SPEAK OF SOMETHING THAT CANNOT BE
SAID?Is this dilemma not simultaneously both the
obstacle and the opening for those who write of,
and wrestle with, the sacred? Is this confrontation
with the abyss of the unspeakable not what makes
such a writer’s job both possible and impossible
at the same time, enticing the readers to step
beyond, into the beyond where one cannot step?
It is precisely the futility of this pursuit that
acts as the manna that sustains such desert
pilgrims in their unending quest to inscribe,
enact, and incarnate truth. And it is as we lean
toward such travelers, listening to the dry crackle
of their encrypted, elusive whisperings, that we
may catch a glimpse of that truth. This truth