The Divine Dance – by Richard Rohr
Summary of Basic Thesis/Argument:
In the introduction to this book, Rohr says “If the Trinity is supposed to describe the heart of the nature of God, and yet it has almost no practical or pastoral implications in most of our lives…if it’s even possible that we could drop it tomorrow and it would be a forgettable, throwaway doctrine…then either it can’t be true or we don’t understand it!” (page 26). That statement, in a nutshell, presents Rohr’s view of the problem that Christianity faces. His solution is to describe the “heart of the Christian revelation [where] God is not seen as a distant, static monarch, but…as a divine circle dance, as the early Fathers of the Church dared to call it (in Greek, perichoresis, the origin of our word choreography)” (page 31). Rohr posits that God invites all of creation into this dance, which is the essence of salvation.
Analysis:
Rohr begins his work by making his case that contemporary Christianity needs a paradigm shift in its view of God. Echoing Jurgen Moltmann, Rohr states that rather than viewing God as the “Eternal Threatener, we [should view] God as the Ultimate Participant – in everything – both the good and the painful” (page 36). Unfortunately, what characterizes humanity’s “greatest dis-ease…[is] our profound and painful sense of disconnection” (page 39). And yet, by diving inward toward the view of God as Trinity (which is the affirmation of the Christian perspective that God is one “in the context of God as a unity in diversity”) Rohr thinks that we can gain help in drawing us to a better place in relating to both God and each other in a “moving, dynamic, and generative” fashion (page 42).
Rohr believes the theological tools that Christianity owns as a result of a robust Trinitarian perspective offer the best solution to the most pressing problems facing our world today. When stating an aspect of this problem in a strikingly stark fashion, Rohr says that “Every case of non-physiologically-based mental illness stems from a person who has been separated, cut-off, living alone, forgetting how to relate. This person does not know intimacy and is starved for communion” (page 46). Rohr believes the tools Christianity owns that are inherent within the doctrine of the trinity provide the best hope for healing problems such as this.
As he moves onward, Rohr explores a series of topics that he hopes will lead the reader to the conclusion that a “Trinitarian Revolution” on the order of a scientific revolution described by Thomas Kuhn is necessary if we are to overcome our profoundly painful disconnection from God and each other. Among the more important topics he discusses is the value of vulnerability and diversity in relationships which he believes leads to a state of salvation. He maintains that “Any definition of the person as a substance instead of a relationship tends to leave out the movement, growth, and mutual mirroring that moves us forth in existence” (page 77). Rohr also clarifies the problems that often arise within binary thinking. He mentions that searching for certitude and stridently demanding either/or answers to questions posed by life sit at the center of this type of problem thinking. Instead, Rohr believes that scripture offers a dynamic relationship based on the centrality of the being of God who is one and yet three, while engaged in a mutual dance of love.
The next several sections of the book see Rohr expanding on his contention that a recovery of a healthy view of the Trinity is necessary at this time in our collective experience to solve the problems described in the first section of the book. He begins by delivering three reasons that make a re-appreciation of the trinity so important for this moment in history:
- An important and timely help to our understanding of transcendence,
- A significant broadening of our theological vocabulary, and
- A more full orbed understanding of the implications of the incarnation in the context of considering the Cosmic Christ (page 121).
From this point onward in the book, Rohr probes the implications of a robust Trinitarian perspective on issues such as salvation, atonement, sin, judgment, and evil. He then examines more closely how each individual person of the trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) engages with creation, and how we in turn interact with God through engagement with each different person in the trinity.
Strengths/Weaknesses in the Book and Questions:
I found many aspects of Rohr’s work to be extremely compelling. The following paragraphs provide a small sampling of what I found particularly interesting and helpful in his writing. First of all, I think Rohr’s focus on the perichoretic aspects of God as Trinity, along with his statement that God is “the Ultimate Participant” seems to blend well with some of the best work of Jurgen Moltmann (page 36). When combined with Rohr’s emphasis on the importance of relationship in the context of divine presence, I think Rohr’s perspective that “true love always enhances both sides of the relationship” to the extent that “we actually matter to God; some even said we ‘change God’…” (page 181) is one of his more important insights. Owning such a concept of the nature of God has a profound impact on a person’s approach to many important areas of life such as prayer and worship.
Rohr also seems to have a well-developed appreciation for the power and limits of metaphors (and words in general) when he quotes Donald Braun saying, “[t]hat which is belittled in plain speech finds the respect it warrants in the subtleties of metaphor” (page 48); and yet on the other hand, he says “we recognize that all metaphors limp” (page 144). When considering such a mysterious concept of the trinity, I believe this perspective is healthy.
In terms of weaknesses, I think that the flow of topics seems to lack direction. As a reader, one is hard put to remain comfortable in thinking Rohr is proceeding through the various topics with a sense of order and purpose. Instead, a reader may feel as if he or she is along for a ride on a stream of consciousness or train of reflections that Rohr presents in a conversation on a variety of topics related to a Christian understanding of the trinity. While wondrously stimulating, one never has a sense that the conversation is moving in a definitive direction that might result in a satisfactory resolution to the problems raised at the beginning of the book. In my opinion, this might be a result of Rohr’s uneasy relationship with Roman Catholicism writ large, and the sense (probably to a certain extent unconscious) that resolutions within that broader ecclesial context would require going in different directions than where he has chosen to wander in his book. All in all – I think the time spent reading and engaging with this book was time well spent.
Todd Rivetti 