The Divine Magician: The Disappearance of Religion and the Discovery of Faith - Softcover

Peter Rollins knows one magic trick - now, make sure you watch closely. It has three parts: the Pledge, the Turn, and the Prestige. In The Divine Magician, each part comes into play as Rollins describes the way God works in our world today, and how this connection helps us understand the truly radical message of Christianity. The Divine Magician interrogates traditional religious notions from a refreshingly original perspective, undermining the commonplace debates involving dogma, doctrine, and tradition. Rejecting our preconceptions of what the spiritual and the religious mean, Rollins argues for a deeply material faith that finds meaning not in a set of beliefs, but in a passionate commitment to the world. This incendiary reading of Christianity breaks the boundaries of religion and overturns the tables of conventional wisdom. It offers hope for those seeking a depth and density in life, calling for the existing church to disappear, only to reappear in a fundamentally new and dynamic form.

Peter Rollins has been praised as possessing one of the most provocative and thoughtful theological voices of our day. An author, lecturer and storyteller, he is renowned for his dynamic and winsome speaking. He is also the founder of ikon, a faith group that has gained an international reputation for blending live music, visual imagery, soundscapes, theatre, ritual and reflection to create what they call 'transformance art'. Rollins received his higher education in Queen's University, Belfast, where he earned degrees (with distinction) in Scholastic Philosophy (BA Hons), Political Theory (MA), and Post-Structural Religious Philosophy (PhD). He is currently a research associate with the Irish School of Ecumenics in Trinity College, Dublin, and is the author of the much talked about How (Not) to Speak of God, The Fidelity of Betrayal, The Orthodox Heretic and Other Impossible Tales, Insurrection and most recently The Idolatry of God. He was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and currently lives in New York.