Peter Rollins

Rollins incorporates narrative forms into his talks to create a more informal style of communication. In 2009 Rollins published The Orthodox Heretic, a book of 33 short, parable-like stories. He has also written fairytales and a play that became the basis of a short film he produced, called Making Love

The Fidelity of Betrayal (2008) signalled a movement from apophatic and post-structural discussions witnessed in his PhD and How (Not) to Speak of God into Radical Theology. With this work we begin to see a critique of purely theistic forms of faith and witness the growing influence of political philosopher Slavoj Žižek and psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan in his overall project. The Fidelity of Betrayal is thus a work that bridges the more mystical influence of his first writings toward a theological materialism, a trajectory that was subsequently fleshed out and deepened in Insurrection (2011) and The Idolatry of God (2013). In these later books the influence of Hegel, Žižek, Lacan, later Bonhoeffer and Tillich comes to the fore, though John Caputo remains as an ongoing point of reference.

His first book, How (Not) to Speak of God (2006) popularized the main themes of his PhD by blending the apophatic work of Meister Eckhart and pseudo-Dionysius with the Post-structural work of Derrida and Marion. How (Not) to Speak of God also outlined how the theory was developed and worked out in a concrete way through the ikon collective (the second half of the book outlined a series of 'transformance art' liturgical experiments).

As a public speaker and storyteller Rollins has been involved in various tours (often in collaboration with musicians and artists). These include How (Not) to Speak of God (2006), Beyond Belief (2008), Lessons in Evandalism (2008), Insurrection (2009), Building on Fire (2013), and Playing with Fire (2014). In addition to this Rollins curates an annual three-day festival event in Belfast exploring the theory and practice of pyrotheology.

Rollins grew up in East Belfast during the Troubles, a period of intense and violent sectarian conflict that erupted in Northern Ireland in the late 1960s and resulted in the deaths of more than 3,600 people before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement on 10 April 1998, which is generally regarded as the end of the conflict, though pockets of violence persist today. He attended Orangefield Boys High School and left at the age of sixteen without the qualifications required for further study. He was unemployed for several years before taking a job as a youth worker in Carrickfergus and working in a homeless shelter run by the Simon Community on the Falls Road, Belfast.He then went on to study an access course on the Castlereagh Campus of the Belfast Metropolitan College (an intensive one-year course designed for disadvantaged students who wish to attend university but lack the entry requirements). Rollins has a Bachelor of Arts degree with honours in scholastic philosophy, a Master of Arts degree in political theory and social criticism, and a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree dealing with post-structural theory from Queen's University, Belfast.

Peter Rollins (born 31 March 1973) is a Northern Irish writer, public speaker, philosopher and radical theologian.