In Insurrection, Peter Rollins critiques the Deus Ex Machina.

This is the god that, in ancient Greek plays, was lowered on a rope into the middle of the stage, in order to resolve the story. It's a terrible contrivance, and we've probably all seen bad movies that make use of just this sort of device. Perhaps it comes in the form of a fairy godmother, or someone winning the lottery, or someone waking up to discover that the whole episode was a dream.

Lately I've been reading Peter Rollins, and in doing so, have become very suspicious of anything that might provide a false sense of security.

Like every being or creature, we naturally resist change. We attempt to maintain the status quo to protect our own sense of stability and security. But life is change, and everything we do to hide this from ourselves is self-deception, a shrinking from reality, and an embracing of death.

This is an excerpt from my email list: Christianity against Religion.

In Insurrection, Peter Rollins critiques the way in which various religious movements attempt to experience God.

One approach is the one taken by Chick Tracts, where God is a being so external to the world, the earth is left with no real meaning, and life becomes just something to endure until the final reconciliation.

I'm currently reading Peter Rollins' brilliant and incisive book "Insurrection". One of the primary ideas is that on the cross, Jesus lost everything including God himself, and that this experience of the loss of God is the central dynamic at the heart of Christianity.

That is, any religious person can believe in God. But a Christian who has gone through the crucifixion experience, who has lost all faith and all trust in God, has really and truly experienced what Jesus experienced, the consuming truth behind Christianity.