The Fidelity of Betrayal: Towards a Church Beyond Belief (Paperback)

by Peter Rollins (Author) "There was once a small town filled with believers who sought to act always in obedience to the voice of God..." (more)
Key Phrases: religion without religion, Word of God, Son of Man, Gospel of Matthew (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Rollins possesses the freshest theological voice of the emerging church movement. The leader of an ecclesial community called Ikon that meets in pubs in his native Northern Ireland came out of nowhere with his How (Not) to Speak of God in 2006, where he made the tools of postmodern philosophy accessible to nonspecialists. That book's virtues are again on display: clarity (rare enough for an academically trained philosopher), wit and playful, counterintuitive readings of Christian scripture. He argues that the most faithful response to Christianity may be Judas's betrayal of Jesus over against fundamentalists who would violently defend Jesus and academics who would imprison Jesus. Rollins paints with an overly broad brush—not every theologian since Descartes has been boxed in by his categories. At times an academic degree would be helpful to understand his use of Zizek or Nietzsche. All the same, Rollins puts postmodern philosophy to work for those trying to rethink their faith for a new day without stifling modern categories. Even those who disagree will find the pages turning themselves. (June)
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Product Description

It may be necessary to betray your faith in order to keep it

What if one of the core demands of a radical Christianity lay in a call for its betrayal, while the ultimate act of affirming God required the forsaking of God? And what if fidelity to the Judeo-Christian Scriptures demanded their renunciation? In short, what would it mean if the only way of finding real faith involved betraying it with a kiss?

Employing the insights of mysticism and deconstructive theory, The Fidelity of Betrayal delves into the subversive and revolutionary nature of a Christianity that dwells within the church while simultaneously undermining it.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 196 pages
• Publisher: Paraclete Press (MA) (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557255601
• ISBN-13: 978-1557255600
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #120,948 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Giving up Christianity in order to truly fulfill it, May 15, 2008

By	Adam Moore (Waco, Texas) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ever since reading Peter Rollins' first book, "How (Not) to Speak of God," I have been looking forward to his next book. In fact, I can't remember a book I have anticipated more highly. So when "The Fidelity of Betrayal" arrived on Tuesday I quickly devoured it. I couldn't read it fast enough. It was wonderful. Sometimes I find it helpful to start engaging a book by reading through it quickly, in order to gain the overall big picture, and then to go through it slowly, savoring every word. I am really looking forward to reading it again, slowly.

Here are a few initial comments related to the new book (not a review, just a few comments).

First, I think this book successfully builds upon the concepts in Rollins' first book and takes them to the next level. So if you're interested in Rollins' work, I recommend buying both books but starting with "How (Not) to Speak of God." Basically, "The Fidelity of Betrayal" builds on an idea Rollins started working with in the first book. In fact, he builds on the idea that most intrigued me in his first book - the notion of giving up Christianity in order to truly fulfill it. In his first book Rollins relates a powerful story from the movie "Amen" in which a priest in Nazi Germany gives up his Christian faith and becomes a Jew in order to identify with the persecuted, a move the priest believes is necessary in order to truly live his Christian faith. "The Fidelity of Betrayal" takes this concept and examines it through three lenses, the Word of God, the Being of God, and the Event of God, which forms the structure for the book.

Second, I'm convinced that Phyllis Tickle is right in her assessment of Rollins' work. She writes, "Here in pregnant bud is the rose, the emerging new configuration, of a Christianity that is neither Roman nor Protestant, neither Eastern nor monastic; but rather is the re-formation of all of them. Here, in pregnant bud, is third-millennium Christianity." I really believe it. What Rollins (and others) is writing about and doing may not be THE future of Christianity but it is certainly A future of Christianity. And the possibility of this future gives me much hope. I believe the core concepts of this book are going to, and already are starting to re-form Christianity in our world. I'm not talking about a simple shift in the core beliefs of Christianity, but rather a revolution of how Christianity is experienced and expressed in the world.

Third, Rollins ends his new book with some discussion about starting communities that are forged in the midst of these ideas. He quite literally proposes "a church beyond belief" (the subtitle of the book). In short, Rollins is looking at the implications of moving from the church as a bastion of beliefs, towards communities of transformation. Just as Rollins argues for a "religion without religion" I think he is imagining a sort of church that is not a church, which is exactly what I am most interested in.

So buy this book. Read it. Think about it. Argue with it. Soak in it. And in the process, allow God to transform you.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Peter Rollins Responds, June 8, 2008

By	Norman Jeune "Norman Jeune III, christiansinc... (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is definitely a provacative and much anticiapted release from Dr. Rollins. The Fidelity of Betrayal is a fascinating book, regardless of whether or not you tend to agree with writers like Rollins, who are part of the emergent movement. Rollins offer a lively, insightful, and controversial interaction with a variety of historical primary sources, ultimately providing a vantage point from which he is able to question the very theological and metaphysical foundations of western christendom.

I will say that I think he went a bit too far in his assertion that its impossible to make any ontological inferences about God, but his critiques of western metaphysics are important, and are definitely worth considering. His practical conclusions are also quite insightful, and I think Rollins has his hand on the pulse of church life as we forward.

The biggest strength of this book, in my opinion, is that Rollins seeks to develop a position reagrding the status of the biblical text. No other emergent writer I have seen up to this point has been willing to address the question of what the biblical text actually is in their view, and I think this is a key question for the continued development of the postmodern church. I only wish he would have taken the implications of his textual presuppositions to their conclusion. Unfortunately, I think his skeptical presuppositions about the text itself are not sufficiently grounded in adequate interaction with historical-criticism, even though negative assertions in this arena are what drive his metaphysical and ontological assertions about our ability to know anything about God.

Overall, this is one of the most important books for one to read in regard to the Emergent Movement at this point. Pick it up!

For those of you who want to look at some deeper interactions between myself and Dr. Peter Rollins personally, check out christiansincontext.org

Dr. Rollins was kind enough to respond to my chapter-by-chapter pre-release review of his book.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart, July 30, 2008

By	Blake Thompson - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Rollins presents a hearty look at how faith can, and likely should, go well beyond our traditional ideas, beliefs and practices. Bravo Peter!

A word of caution: if you are pleased with the current state of church or are content with remaining where you currently find yourself in the area of faith...this book is not for you.