Embracing the Anxiety of Freedom: A Conversation with Peter Rollins

Send us a text

What if the good news isn't finding fulfillment, but discovering we can never be whole? What if community forms not just around shared beliefs, but shared enemies? What if anxiety isn't something to overcome, but the very evidence of our humanity?

These provocative questions form the heart of our conversation with philosopher, author and public speaker Peter Rollins about his concept of "pyrotheology" – a radical approach to faith that embraces uncertainty rather than fleeing from it. Peter explains that pyrotheology helps people confront the death of God (the loss of certainty) not to wallow in meaninglessness, but because this confrontation transforms how we relate to ourselves and others.

At a time when society seems increasingly fragmented along ideological lines, Peter's insights offer a surprising path forward. He distinguishes between three types of human gathering: communities (bonded by shared beliefs and enemies), commons (spaces where we encounter different others), and communion (connections formed around our shared experience of lack). This final category presents a revolutionary possibility – what if we could form bonds not around what we have in common, but around what we all lack?

The conversation takes fascinating turns through psychoanalysis, existentialism, and the nature of anxiety. Peter argues that anxiety, unlike other emotions, doesn't lie – it reveals the truth of our human condition. Rather than trying to escape this fundamental uncertainty through religion, consumption, or self-improvement, pyrotheology invites us to find freedom in embracing it.

Whether you're wrestling with faith questions, interested in philosophy, or simply seeking deeper connection in a divided world, this episode offers thought-provoking insights about finding joy not in certainty, but in the loving embrace of life's inherent incompleteness.

Check out Peter's work at www.peterrollins.com, support him on Patreon, or watch his videos on YouTube. Peter has agreed to return to the podcast in the future for more conversation.

https://livingoncommonground.buzzsprout.com