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Peter Rollins — The Crucified God: Love, Lack, and Liberation

Franciscan Spirit

What if the path to freedom isn’t found in finally becoming whole and complete but in learning to embrace our lack? This episode's guest, Peter Rollins, PhD, is a public intellectual known for his work in radical theology, psychoanalysis, and continental philosophy. In this conversation, Pete unpacks his life project, "pyrotheology," a provocative theological approach that invites us into an encounter with the mystery, division, and alienation at the heart of reality itself. Rather than promising wholeness through belief, success, self-improvement, or even traditional religion, pyrotheology suggests that true liberation comes when we stop fleeing our lack and discover that this very brokenness is shared—even woven into the absolute. Pyrotheology's emphasis on the Crucified God and relationality also makes way in this episode for dialogue about its fascinating overlaps with Franciscan theology. This conversation will stretch you, unsettle you, and perhaps even liberate you. Explore the show notes here. (00:00:01) Introduction (00:02:25) What is Pyrotheology? (00:07:50) The Danger in Promises of Wholeness and Completeness (00:15:28) Capitalism, Drive, Desire, and Enjoyment (00:20:01) Reflection No. 1: Sacred Objects and Desire (00:24:25) Cultivating Enjoyment (00:29:56) Hedonistic and Nihilistic Religions vs. Religions of the Absurd (00:36:50) Reflection No. 2: Christ Crucified and the San Damiano Cross (00:40:57) Community, Communion, and the Commons (00:46:24) Christ Crucified and the Eucharist (00:49:21) What About the Trinity? (00:57:43) The Apophatic Tradition and Catholicism (01:01:23) Parable: The Mystic, Evangelical, and Fundamentalist (01:04:26) Parable: Seamus Goes to Las Vegas (01:07:43) Relationality, Lack, and Love (01:11:50) Reflection No. 3: Letting Lack Guide Us (01:16:50) The Contemplative Mystical Tradition and Pyrotheology (01:20:50) Shared Alienation (01:25:33) What Does this Conversation Mean for Our Everyday Lives? (01:30:58) Conclusion