G. C. Jeffers

However, from a Christological perspective, the question itself, which everyone seems to take for granted, now comes to signify something else entirely. Instead of the words, Do you believe in God? Meaning Do you believe there is empirical data to assent to the existence of an extra-linguistic Supreme Being governing the universe?, it now refers to the way in which one lives and breathes. The empirical rendering of the question may continue to interest the philosopher and it is no doubt a fascinating conversation to have with friends over a drink. But it is not a specifically theological question when taken in this way. For the believer who passes through the Christian experience, God is no longer related to as an object out there. Rather, God is affirmed only through a passionate participation in life itself. This means that we can no longer claim that we know God while hating our neighbor. Those who have taken part in the event of Conversion (participation in Crucifixion and Resurrection) cannot claim to believe in God except insofar as love emanates from them, transforming the world within which they are embedded. In other words, the claim I believe in God is nothing but a lie if it is not manifest in our lives, because one only believes in God insofar as one loves. In the Resurrection faith testified to in the New Testament, the question Do you believe in God? Is transformed and now involves the very being of the one asking the question. As such it can be rendered in this way: Is your entire being caught up in a commitment to embracing the world? In Christianity, to believe in God means nothing other than to be the site where love is born, where to find the courage to affirm the world and live fully into it. So for the Christian, a new range of answers to the question Do you believe in God? arises. Answers such as, I aspire to, ask my friends, or more importantly, talk to my enemies. Of course, the idea that belief in God is manifested in nothing other than the Christ-like tenure of our existence will strike much of the actually existing church as heresy. It suggests that one cannot claim to have knowledge of God if one does not exhibit a life of boundless love. Yet isn’t this the type of heresy that brings us close to the very heart of orthodox Christianity? As the book of James makes clear, the demons of hell can be said to have the correct empirical understanding of reality, and yet it does them no good at all.

–Peter Rollins (from his book Insurrection)