It is day three of Greenbelt and, as always, I am having a great time.
There have been a few surreal and interesting experiences, one that I should mention was the way that I am described in the Greenbelt book as a ‘one-time Christian, Charismatic and Evangelist…’. Now I must admit that I gave them the line, but I also went on to say, ‘Pete is now committed to the task of becoming Christian…’. But they left it out! Without that line the description kinda gives the wrong idea. So thought I had better mention it in case any of you were confused.
Last night I gave my main talk, which was called, ‘The birth of Christianity and the Death of Meaning’. In this talk I explored how Christianity has a radical and unique way of understanding the place of doubt, suffering and the sense of divine abandonment. I argued that there are two broad camps in offering a way of interpreting these. The first is the traditional camp (religious Christianity) which affirms that God is there and that doubt, suffering and the sense of losing God are all something that we must endure (God being near us in these trials and tribulations). The other camp (the New Atheists) see these things are signs that God is not there, that Christianity is a fable which we must move beyond in order to grow up.
However, in the talk I was arguing that a properly understood Christology draws us into a third position in which doubt, suffering and the sense of divine abandonment are not something that we experience as part of our relation to God but rather are things that God experiences. The moment of existential atheism is not one in which we are broken free of Christ, nor is it a moment in which we fall short of Christ, rather it is the moment when we partake in the very identity of Christ on the cross. All religions have a place where we can doubt God. In Christianity God doubts God (this brings us into what we can call, after Bonhoeffer, ‘religionless Christianity).
Hence we can begin to approach Bloch’s claim that only an atheist can be a good Christian. When I talk of the ‘atheist God’ I do not mean the weak, anemic atheism of philosophy but the existential atheism of people like Nietzsche, Sartre, and Camus. For these people the loss of God was felt, it was something that made its mark in their existence, it was a defining experience. It was, I argue, a singularly Christian, or Christ, experience.
In this experience God is not near us but rather we partake in the very economy of God. To share in the death of Christ thus involves a radical subtraction, a loss of ultimate Meaning, the experience of life in all its horror and contingency and the sense of being condemned to freedom. This is the founding moment of conversion. In the talk I also argued that this is a deeply Pauline reading.
Today, in a panel I will be exploring how Baptism and Communion are two moments of partaking in this divine dereliction.
Over Greenbelt Church Times and Third Way are offering a free copy of my latest book, The Orthodox Heretic, with every subscription to their magazines. Check it out if you are there,
Every summer ikon shuts up shop in Belfast and, with missionary zeal, travels to Greenbelt in order to save a few lost souls.
This religious crusade has been taking place since 2003 and has offered us the space to showcase some of our most creative and provocative gatherings. In the past we have offered ‘A/theism’, ‘Judas’, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani‘, ‘Queer’, ‘Sins of the Father’, ‘Fundamentalism’, and ‘The God Delusion’.
Each year we gather in a small bar and start scheming again from scratch. Always with a commitment to reinvent what we are doing in a way that will ensure that we continue to push both ourselves (creatively, intellectually, emotionally, spiritually), and those who participate.
This year we are offering ‘Pryo-theology’, a theodramatic affront to the senses originally inspired by Buenaventura Durruti’s incendiary claim, ‘The only church that illuminates is a burning one’.
We will be offering this gathering in the Centaur hall on Friday 28th at 21:00 (sometimes there are last minute changes to times, so double check the festival programme).
Hope to see you there… although please note that you may be refused entry if you are not carrying highly flammable material.
I am currently compiling all the parables I have received in response to the competition I ran with Paraclete Press in connection with my latest book, The Orthodox Heretic. The response to the competition has been overwhelming and the quality of submissions is impressive. Now I have the difficult task of foraging through them all to unearth the winners.
In addition to $100 of Paraclete books, first prize receives a beautiful limited addition print (see above) by the artist Jared Robinson. Second and third place win $50 of Paraclete books.
I will announce third place on the 1st September, along with the parable and a short explanation of why I chose it. I will do the same on the 2nd September with second place. Finally, on the 3rd, I will share the winner.
My hope is that this competition will have inspired some people to experiment with the art of crafting a parable and that, as a result, we will witness a small revival of this transformative mode of communication within the Christian community.
This short film found its way to me a little while ago and I thought it was beautiful. It is called Dilemma and was written and directed by Bala Boyd. In fact he even wrote the original score. Enjoy.
Update: I have been getting a lot of inquires concerning if/when recordings from my sessions at PPP ‘09 will come out.
If all goes well I should have some video footage in the near future and aim to put some of it up as free content on my blog. In the mean time my friend Mark Tanis sent me though some photo’s from the conference,
Here are some excerpts from the first week of the Slavoj Žižek reading group. This week we explored some basic concepts that inform Žižek’s thinking. Including ‘the divided subject’, ‘desire’, ‘drive’, ‘the Thing’, ‘Law’ and ‘Objet petit a‘. We also looked briefly at how these themes were related to his understanding of Christology. The following excerpts are here to give you a feel for the evening. To get the most out of them it would be helpful to have read ‘Slavoj Žižek’ in Christ in Postmodern Philosophy, By Frederiek Depoortere, p92-115
The conference will be taking place in Austin, Texas and is designed to provide a space for meaningful conversation between artists, theologians, philosophers, theorists, and anyone else interested in the intersection of faith and the arts.
The other contributors include,
Bill Mallonee & Vigilantes of Love
Bill Mallonee has been called “one of the top 100 living songwriters” by Paste Magazine. Mallonee, the lyrical and musical source behind the Americana indie band Vigilantes of Love, started playing music in the late 80’s. His early work was inspired by the post-punk-pop of XTC, Joy Division, the Clash, and Echo and the Bunnymen. Still, his deeper love for Dylan, Neil Young and other artists and writers of the “American experience” left an indelible mark on his writing and vocal delivery.
Joseph Frost: Playwright/Actor
Joseph Frost is a playwright, director, and actor living in Jackson, Mississippi. Frost has won awards for his writing for both stage (The Great Play) and screen (The Heart of Saturday Night). His play Anathema was selected as a part of Square Top Repertory Theatre’s 2009 New Works Festival, and his plays were the feature of the 2005 Malone College Playwright’s Showcase. He is the Chair of Theatre at Belhaven College and the founding artistic director of the Floodlight Theatre Company.
Dr. Cassandra Falke: Literature & Critical Theory
Cassandra is an Assistant Professor of English at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, Texas. She is the editor of Intersections in Christianity and Critical Theory (forthcoming: Palgrave/Macmillan), the author of A Mote in the Eye of Literature: Working-Class Autobiography in the Early Nineteenth Century, and a committed teacher.
Dr. Warren Langford: Textual Criticism and Biblical Languages
Warren currently serves as minister of youth at First United Methodist Church in New Iberia, Louisiana. His primary interest is the connection of art and text in ancient New Testament Greek manuscripts. He was one of the designers of the CNTTS Greek New Testament Textual Apparatus as well as a continual contributor to the publication. He has spent the last 4 years working with post-Katrina/Rita churches in south Louisiana.
Graeme Lowry: Film & Installation Art
Graeme is a native New Mexican who has lived and worked in Los Angeles for the past five years. His various post-production jobs on such reality TV gems as “The Simple Life,” “Road Rules,” “Dress My Nest,” “Miss America,” & MTV’s “Damage Control” have lead him to believe Hollywood thinks Americans are stupid. Graeme believes as individuals we aren’t, but collectively we might be. He’s a filmmaker and a storyteller, or at least that’s what his therapist tells him he is.
Dr. Justin McBrayer: Philosophy of Religion
Justin is a philosopher from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. He works in a wide variety of areas including philosophy of religion, epistemology, and both applied and meta ethics. His published work has been featured in a number of journals including Philosophical Studies, Faith & Philosophy, and Bioethics.
Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton: Photography & Mixed Media
Beka is a visual artist and an educator. She works as a freelance photographer and designer and teaches visual art at Pagosa Springs High School in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. Her book, Broken Cycles (Shechem Press, 2007), is a collaboration between poetry and the photographic image. Beka’s work has been shown at galleries in Durango, CO; Pagosa Springs, CO; Moscow, ID; Plainview, TX; and Marshall, TX.
Not only will the quality of contributors ensure some great content, but it is a perfect place to make lasting, meaningful connections with those exploring the cutting edge of art and faith. In addition to that it will be the first place anywhere in the US where you can get your hands on my Jack T. Chick stlye tract! This is not a conference to miss
I am taking part in a live twitter interview at 11:00 (GMT) today. It is going to be printed up in the Church Times (who are giving my latest book away to all new subscribers at Greenbelt). You can watch the interview live, look over the answers on my twitter feed afterwards or catch it in the magazine. Never done a twitter interview before! Doesn’t give much space for communicating thoughts. Should be a fun experiment! If you want to see the questions and answers you will need to follow me and Third Way. Or you can watch the answers come on my twitter feed on the right hand column below
The tract is finished and looks absolutely fantastic. I am aiming to have it ready for Greenbelt in a few weeks, and will be bringing some to the Matter conference where I am speaking in September. But I thought, as a taster, I would introduce you to some of the characters,
This is Dr I. M. Smug. He calls himself an expert on pre-tribulation studies and has written two small books on the subject (making him one of the few people who can claim to have written more books than he has actually read*). He spends much of his day watching for signs of the end times and sketching intricate diagrams describing the apocalypse. However, while he regularly refers to himself as a ‘Doctor’, it was recently revealed that he purchased the title for $25 from the Jesus-agrees-with-me Bible Seminary.
Meet Mr Smarm. He doesn’t go in for all this thinking nonsense. ‘Others interpret the bible’ he says, ‘I just do what it says’. For Mr Smarm reason is a tool sent by the devil (like fossils, facts and Obama) designed to divert us from the true path. But Mr Smarm is not concerned for he knows that Jesus did not leave us alone on earth, but sent Fox news to guide and comfort us. Like Dr Smug he too is obsessed with the rapture and is glad to see wars and enviromental crisis, as they are signs of the end times.
This is Miss Busybody. She heads up the local church prayer group. Their motto is, ‘no sin too small to share’. There is nothing that Miss Busybody and her little circle don’t know. Be in no doubt, if you have a dirty little secret that you think nobody knows about you are dead wrong… Miss Busybody knows what you did, and rest assured that she is utterly disgusted.
Not much to say here. The bigger the celebrity the smaller the introductions. And it doesn’t get much bigger than this… ladies and gentlemen, meet God. While God has no gender people often refer to Him as, well, ‘Him’ (cause guys got to make up the rules and because we are just that little bit better than girls). God rarely shows His face directly due to the nasty fact that His appearance is so overwhelming that peoples eyes tend to bleed, their skin melts, their eardrums explode and their brains leak out of their nasal cavity. Once this fact was firmly established God stopped communicating directly to the human race and now sends…
…these guys (yeah, we got to give them a male gender too, if you don’t like it go and make up your own superbeings). They tend to be around on all the big occasions. They are nine feet tall, blindingly beautiful and fight on your behalf in a cosmic battle for your soul. In their spare time they enjoy reading Frank Peretti on the beach, worshiping God and going to the movies.
Finally, meet Mr Saint. Mr Saint is generally known as anything but. He has been married twice, never goes to church, and is on Miss Busybodies infamous watch list. People aren’t too sure what he believes, but they do know that he reads dodgy books and hangs out with some shady characters. Mr Saint isn’t that interested in the end times and doesn’t seem all that bothered about subjects like God, the church and the afterlife. There is something strange about this man, something very strange…
———
*this joke was stolen from the comedian Stuart Lee, and considering what he said about Joe Pascale I thought I had better attribute it
The tract is finished and looks absolutely fantastic. I am aiming to have it ready for Greenbelt in a few weeks, and will be bringing some to the Matter conference where I am speaking in September. But I thought, as a taster, I would introduce you to some of the characters,
This is Dr I. M. Smug. He calls himself an expert on pre-tribulation studies and has written two small books on the subject (making him one of the few people who can claim to have written more books than he has actually read*). He spends much of his day watching for signs of the end times and sketching intricate diagrams describing the apocalypse. However, while he regularly refers to himself as a ‘Doctor’, it was recently revealed that he purchased the title for $25 from the Jesus-agrees-with-me Bible Seminary.
Meet Mr Smarm. He doesn’t go in for all this thinking nonsense. ‘Others interpret the bible’ he says, ‘I just do what it says’. For Mr Smarm reason is a tool sent by the devil (like fossils, facts and Obama) designed to divert us from the true path. But Mr Smarm is not concerned for he knows that Jesus did not leave us alone on earth, but sent Fox news to guide and comfort us. Like Dr Smug he too is obsessed with the rapture and is glad to see wars and enviromental crisis, as they are signs of the end times.
This is Miss Busybody. She heads up the local church prayer group. Their motto is, ‘no sin too small to share’. There is nothing that Miss Busybody and her little circle don’t know. Be in no doubt, if you have a dirty little secret that you think nobody knows about you are dead wrong… Miss Busybody knows what you did, and rest assured that she is utterly disgusted.
Not much to say here. The bigger the celebrity the smaller the introductions. And it doesn’t get much bigger than this… ladies and gentlemen, meet God. While God has no gender people often refer to Him as, well, ‘Him’ (cause guys got to make up the rules and because we are just that little bit better than girls). God rarely shows His face directly due to the nasty fact that His appearance is so overwhelming that peoples eyes tend to bleed, their skin melts, their eardrums explode and their brains leak out of their nasal cavity. Once this fact was firmly established God stopped communicating directly to the human race and now sends…
…these guys (yeah, we got to give them a male gender too, if you don’t like it go and make up your own superbeings). They tend to be around on all the big occasions. They are nine feet tall, blindingly beautiful and fight on your behalf in a cosmic battle for your soul. In their spare time they enjoy reading Frank Peretti on the beach, worshiping God and going to the movies.
Finally, meet Mr Saint. Mr Saint is generally known as anything but. He has been married twice, never goes to church, and is on Miss Busybodies infamous watch list. People aren’t too sure what he believes, but they do know that he reads dodgy books and hangs out with some shady characters. Mr Saint isn’t that interested in the end times and doesn’t seem all that bothered about subjects like God, the church and the afterlife. There is something strange about this man, something very strange…
———
*this joke was stolen from the comedian Stuart Lee, and considering what he said about Joe Pascale I thought I had better attribute it
Lars von Trier’s latest film Antichrist is one of the most talked about films of the moment and has left critics deeply divided. Some claim that it is a cinematic masterpiece while others dismiss it as a disjointed, misogynistic tale that loses its way in infantile shock tactics. So I was both intrigued and excited when I received a last minute invitation to a press screening this afternoon.
I should start by pointing out what most people will already have heard, namely that Antichrist is not easy to watch. While it is often visually mesmerizing, there are some darkly disturbing scenes that are harrowing to sit through. Indeed the way in which explicit sexual imagery is mixed with death, torture and mutilation has led many to claim that this is the most shocking film to be shown at Cannes. With the Ecumenical jury even going so far as to create an ‘anti’ award for the film as a way of noting their overwhelming disgust.
And yet, despite all this, Antichrist is a profoundly theological film. Indeed, it is perhaps one of the most explicitly theological films to have appeared since those offered up by Andrei Tarkovsky, to whom Antichrist is dedicated.
Visually speaking the film is awash with religious symbolism. Though, unlike Hollywood films, this is not some superficial and cynical act (Hollywood directors are known to place religious symbols within their films as an afterthought simply because there is a whole facile religious industry dedicated to seeking these out and interpreting their meaning – these directors know that if they place a key scene in a church, for instance, dozens of glib Christian books will appear commenting on the messianic nature of the hero etc.).
However, the theological depth of Antichrist is witnessed more in the way in which the film draws the viewer into an all-encompassing Gnostic universe in which nature is revealed as dark, brooding and utterly corrupt. This terrifying vision is beautifully captured when the lead female character whispers to her husband, “nature is Satan’s church”.
At first this reference to ‘nature’ signifies only the horror of the natural world. This is expressed both in subtle ways (such as when the wife comments upon how acorns falling to the ground demonstrate that most living things die before getting a chance to really live) and in more extreme ways (when we witness a beautiful deer miscarriage and a fox tearing its own flesh apart).
However soon ‘nature’ comes to represent, not only the fallenness of the world, but also the utterly fallen and corrupt reality of our own being. In this way Von Trier’s dark vision draws upon a particular notion of the Fall, offering us a masterful cinematic expression of this theological idea (one that is perhaps let down by the more gratuitous scenes).
This latter sense of nature (as human nature) is expressed powerfully in the way that the guilt and suffering of the wife (over the tragic death of her son) is eventually exposed as intimately connected with her clandestine desire to hurt her son.
For instance, a forensic report carried out on the dead body of the son notes damage to the child’s feet. Damage that occurred earlier than his death and which, says the report, ‘was not connected with the accident’. Soon after we find out that the wife was purposefully damaging the child’s feet. The implication, drawn out elsewhere in the film, being that, at a psychological level, the suffering she was facing over the death of her child was so intense precisely because she willed that death.
In order to understand this it should be pointed out how many psychoanalysts have noted that those who suffer most deeply from the death of someone they love often do so because, in a disavowed way, they have actually desired that death. In these situations one not only has to deal with the suffering caused by the loss, but also with the guilt associated with having secretly desired it. Hence, in contrast to popular thought, if we wish an ex-partner dead, and then subsequently find out that they have been tragically killed, this news can be even more traumatic to us than if we had desired that they prosper.
And so Antichrist presents us, not only with the natural world as grotesque in its beauty (the existence of oil, for example, testifies to the death of billions of creatures) but also of human nature as darkly perverted (wishing death, destruction and suffering) in its seemingly most humane and transcendent manifestations (in mourning, love and care).
Here we see an expression of the Freudian claim that superego and id are actually intimately connected. For here, at the very heart of societies proscribed and endorsed way of acting and feeling,Von Trier exposes how the darkest of desires play out.
It is because of these themes that we can guess why the film was dedicated to Andrei Tarkovsky. For while there are also stylistic similarities, in a Tarkovsky film like Stalker we find the same theological/psychological exploration being carried out, though with a different outcome: when one of Tarkovsky’s characters in Stalker (who is only ever mentioned) is confronted with the realization of his disavowed desire (to kill his beloved brother) he kills himself. In both Antichrist and Stalker we find an exploration of the conflictual nature of, and confrontation with, desire. In both filmmakers it can feel like, for a brief moment, a veil is lifted and we glimpse the world, our world, it all its horror.
In this way it is precisely because of their theological explorations (rather than despite them) that both von Trier and Tarkovsky can strike us as the most earthed and this-worldly of filmmakers (something that Zizek has commented on regarding the latter).
There is, of course, more taking place in Antichrist than reflections on desire, the Fall and a Gnostic vision of the universe. For example, there are also strong themes concerning misogyny and redemption. But it is perhaps Von Trier’s portrayal of a dark Gnostic universe that proves most unsettling and memorable.
Peter is the founder and co-ordinator of Ikon (a community which describes itself as iconic, apocalyptic, heretical, emerging and failing) as well as being a writer and freelance lecturer in Philosophy
