Poets, prophets and preachers
I am very excited and honored to be speaking alongside Rob Bell in his upcoming conference Poets, prophets and preachers. Rob Bell possess a unique ability to blend penetrating insight, intelligence and accessibility in a way that has rightfully earned him the reputation of being amongst the most influential Christian voices in the world today. Apart from anything else I am looking forward to the conference because, on a personal level, he is a great guy.
I will be offering two sessions,
- Returning to the New: An introduction to Transformance Art
- For those with Ears to Hear: Parables and the Lost Art of Provocation
If you are able to attend I would recommend it. You can find out more here and register here
Tags: Peter Rollins, Poets, preachers, prophets, Rob Bell
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:31 am
This sounds and looks very exciting Pete!! I really hope to be there.
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:01 am
I really wish that I could go to this…I just simply don’t have the money to travel nor do I have the money to afford the tickets at $250 a piece…Is this something that will be made available in some other medium? Book, DVD, Itunes? Anything, or is this information intended to be limited to those who can afford to hear it?
April 22nd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Wow, $250.00 dollars in THIS economy is a bit steep right now. So sorry to have to miss this. Can get a speaking gig and come for free?
April 22nd, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Sorry about the price! But it is being taped and will be available at some point in the future.
April 22nd, 2009 at 3:46 pm
Do you know where it’ll be available from?
April 22nd, 2009 at 4:36 pm
Pirates eh?! I’d better get my stall out before July
April 22nd, 2009 at 5:32 pm
ROFL @ hilarious mental image of a stall of bootlegged sermons and seminars on Christianity
April 22nd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Right on, I really want to get a hold of those tapes. I really both you and Rob.
April 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 am
dear mr rollins… how time dost fly, the beer tent of the organic kind seems an age ago…
this does all look very johnny depp…
mr bell will also be at Gb this summer, look forward to catching you both then – i fear you may be entertaining the masses in the land of the free when i get to belfast very soon….
April 23rd, 2009 at 11:53 am
provocation will cost vocation at my present location.
April 23rd, 2009 at 9:37 pm
wonderful! please keep us updated for that dvd. I am highly interested!
Though this may compromise sales, even a .doc of notes would be valuable.
I’ve been reading Abraham Heschel’s book The Prophets amidst this whole Zizek/Derrida/Caputo backdrop which has led me to consider certain rhetorical methods that aren’t really supported by mainstream pastors or my friends, but nevertheless seem to be the most piercing and authentic method of diving deeply into the radical subjectivity of the individual. I get hints of this method I am imagining from Rob, but you tend to use it even more drastically than I have imagined. I don’t quite know how to describe this ‘method’ (I don’t quite know what it is) but I have a sort of suspicion that there’s something to this incredibly interesting rhetorical choice that Jesus makes in John 6 when the Jews are saying, “How can this man give us {His} flesh to eat?” and instead of Jesus explaining “Well, this is metaphorical, symbolic” or even “Well there’s this mystical phenomenon that will occur after I die when a priest blesses wine and bread”…no, he chooses to PROVOKE the people even more by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” and doesn’t stop there but continues to drive the point, “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.”
What was the result of this deliberate rhetorical choice (bearing in mind this is the Son of God who, one would assume, has the power to persuade and/or manipulate with utter perfection, entirely understanding the minds of the people and what would get them to do things or not)?
It is written, “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard {this} said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?”
The large crowds left him and walked away until only the twelve were left.
Jesus was absolutely about being fruitful and multiplying but not about popularity.
I’m in college and one of my B.A.’s is called “Reasoning and Advocacy”…I am looking to advocate, to speak, for a living. The venue I speak in will no doubt determine the course of my speech, yet I am compelled in my study of rhetoric that as a Christian it does not seem consistent with the person of Christ to understand my role as a speaker to persuade, but rather to speak a word that sinks deeply into the soul of my audience forcing an encounter with the living God at Peniel – a wrestling match within their soul so as to see the face of God. In Heschel’s words, “The prophets words do not shine, they burn.”
April 24th, 2009 at 12:31 am
I am very excited about this conference. I only live 30 minutes from G-Rap (Grand Rapids) where this will take place and I am very excited to hear you speak Peter. I am going to be reading “How Not to Speak for God” and “The Orthodox Heretic” before the conference so I can get the backstory on what you mean by Transformance Art. Rob was a mentor for me years ago and I love seeing him when I can get away from my church I am a pastor at. Between you and Rob and Shane Hipps – holy crap! Thanks
April 24th, 2009 at 2:36 am
Wow Garrett… brilliantly put. Your reference to the Last supper offers a superb biblical example of this dis-course (I sometimes like to refer to it as a dis-course as it emphases the way that it is a discourse that sends one off course).
I am, as you know, attempting to do justice to this rhetorical device, which I see as central to the idea of ‘parable’ (not that common definitions support this). I would be tempted to call what you are describing ‘parabolic’ but not sure this word does all that it needs to.
Thanks for the comment… it is great to see someone interested in the mode of communication that I think is so central to Christian faith.
April 25th, 2009 at 10:51 am
garrett – thats a fascinating insight!
April 26th, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Sounds great! Thanks for the link.