The Reverend Richard Rohr | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | March 20, 1943 Topeka, Kansas, United States |
| Occupation |
|
| Nationality | American |
| Period | 1972–present |
| Subject | Theology, spirituality |
Richard Rohr, OFM (born 1943) is an American Franciscan priest and writer on spirituality[1] based in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[2] He was ordained to the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church in 1970, founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati in 1971, and the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque in 1987. In 2011, PBS called him "one of the most popular spirituality authors and speakers in the world".[3]
Rohr's notable works include The Universal Christ, Falling Upward, and Everything Belongs. His spirituality is rooted in Christian mysticism and the perennial tradition.
Rohr was born in Kansas in 1943. He received his Master of Theology degree in 1970 from the University of Dayton.[4] He entered the Franciscans in 1961 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. Rohr founded the New Jerusalem Community[5] in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1971[6] and the Center for Action and Contemplation (CAC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1986,[7][8] where he serves as founding director and academic dean of the Living School for Action and Contemplation.[9][10] The curriculum of Rohr's school is founded on seven themes developed by Rohr and explored in his book Yes, And....[11] Core faculty members include James Finley, Brian McLaren, Barbara Holmes and Cynthia Bourgeault.
On July 1, 2022, Pope Francis met with Rohr, who said that Francis expressed support for his work.[12] Later that year, Rohr announced he would step back from public ministry following a lymphoma diagnosis.[13] He was previously diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017, and suffered a severe heart attack in 2018.[14]
Rohr emphasizes "alternative orthodoxy", a term the Franciscan tradition has applied to itself, referring to a focus on "orthopraxy"—a belief that lifestyle and practice are much more important than mere verbal orthodoxy,[15] which he feels is much overlooked in Catholic preaching today.[16][17] According to Rohr's teachings, following Jesus is the "best shortcut" to salvation, but one does not necessarily have to practice formal Christianity. The key is to "fall in love with the divine presence, under whatever name." Rohr says people are disillusioned with conservative churches that teach that nonbelievers and followers of non-Christian religions go to Hell.[18] Rohr additionally states: "I'm not trying to be some New Age liberal who flattens the universe out. Quite the contrary. I'm trying to invite people into the depth of things. . .and that's why I still encourage people to be loyal to their primary tradition; to go deep in one place, as I've often put it."[19]
The perennial philosophy[20] forms the basis of much of Rohr's teaching; his work's essential message focuses on the union of divine reality with all things and the human potential and longing for this union. Rohr and other 21st-century spiritual leaders explore the Perennial Tradition in the Center for Action and Contemplation's issue of the publication Oneing.[21] In a similar vein, he sometimes draws on spiral dynamics and Ken Wilber's integral theory. Psychological concepts from Carl Jung and the Enneagram of Personality are also recurring themes in his work.
His book Immortal Diamond: The Search for Our True Self suggests Jesus's death and resurrection is an archetypal pattern for the movement from "false self" to "true self", from "who you think you are" to "who you are in God".[22] Rohr's 2014 book Eager to Love explores the key themes of Franciscan spirituality, which he sees as a "third way" between traditional orthodoxy and heresy, a way of focusing on the Gospel, justice, and compassion.[23]
In his teaching on scripture, such as in his book Things Hidden, Rohr calls the biblical record a human account of humanity's evolving experience with God, "the word of God in the words of people".[24] In one of his daily meditations, Rohr writes:
The Bible is an anthology of many books. It is a record of people’s experience of God’s self-revelation. It is an account of our very human experience of the divine intrusion into history. The book did not fall from heaven in a pretty package. It was written by people trying to listen to God. I believe that the Spirit was guiding the listening and writing process. We must also know that humans always see “through a glass darkly . . . and all knowledge is imperfect” (1 Corinthians 13:12).[25]
In his 2016 book The Divine Dance, Rohr suggests that the top-down hierarchy of western Christianity since Emperor Constantine has held ecumenical traditions back for centuries, and that the future of people of faith will have to involve a bottom-up approach.[26] Rohr maintains what he would call prophetic positions, on the "edge of the inside" of a church that he sees as failing to transform people, and thus increasingly irrelevant.[27][28] Rohr explains:
To live on the edge of the inside is different than being an insider, a "company man" or a dues paying member. Yes, you have learned the rules and you understand and honor the system as far as it goes, but you do not need to protect it, defend it or promote it. It has served its initial and helpful function. You have learned the rules well enough to know how to "break the rules" without really breaking them at all. "Not to abolish the law but to complete it" as Jesus rightly puts it (Matthew 5:17). A doorkeeper must love both the inside and the outside of his or her group, and know how to move between these two loves.[27]
In his 2019 book The Universal Christ, Rohr says he is a panentheist. He goes on to state that panentheism is the true position of Jesus and Paul:
But Paul merely took incarnationalism to its universal and logical conclusions. We see that in his bold exclamation, "There is only Christ. He is everything and he is in everything" (Colossians 3:11). If I were to write that today, people would call me a pantheist (the universe is God), whereas I am really a panentheist (God lies within all things, but also transcends them), exactly like both Jesus and Paul.[29]
In 2000, Rohr publicly endorsed Soulforce, an organization that challenges what it calls religion-based LGBTQ oppression through nonviolent protest.[30] In a 1999 essay, and afterward, Rohr has welcomed and affirmed God's love for LGBTQ people, emphasizing that God asks the same of people in same-sex relationships as of those in heterosexual ones: "truth, faithfulness, and striving to enter into covenants of continuing forgiveness of one another".[31][32]
Rohr's book The Universal Christ was a New York Times Bestseller in 2019.[18] His work has been both popular and controversial in Catholic and larger Christian circles. In an interview with the New Yorker, Rohr stated that a group of local Catholics once secretly recorded his homilies to have him excommunicated. They delivered the tapes to the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, then Archbishop of Cincinnati, who reviewed them and determined that they were within the bounds of the Church's teachings.[18] After his audience with Pope Francis, Rohr reported that the pontiff said he had read The Universal Christ and personally requested three times: "I want you to keep doing what you’re doing, keep teaching what you’re teaching."[33]
Rohr's audience extends beyond Christian boundaries and includes many people who follow other faiths or identify as spiritual but not religious. One of his publishers has described his largest demographic as Millennial Christians, "not Catholics but post-evangelicals."[34] He has been interviewed twice by Oprah Winfrey for her Super Soul Sunday program and author Brené Brown on her podcast.[35] Bono of U2 is also a fan of his work.[18]
Evangelical Denver Seminary professor Douglas Groothuis asserts that Rohr draws on Eastern mysticism rather than a biblical worldview by preaching finding our "true self" instead of knowing a savior distinct from the self.[36] Groothuis argues that Rohr subverts the "biblical worldview with most egregious errors" to support pantheism, comparing his Christology to New Age interpretations. Groothuis states that Rohr distorts the gospel since his emanational metaphysics is based on perennial tradition.[37]
Erwin Lutzer, an evangelical pastor, has criticized Rohr for promoting universalism. Lutzer asserts that Rohr's book The Divine Dance "is not about the Trinity, but rather Rohr imaginatively uses Trinitarian language in order to give a backdrop to his own eclectic spiritual teaching".[38]
William P. Young, an evangelical author, has criticized the tone of Rohr's work. Young states that people who are frustrated with their churches might misread Rohr as advocating a vague spirituality disconnected from the orthodox and scriptural understanding of Christ. According to Young, "The danger of universalism is nothing matters, especially Jesus". He adds, "Some of Rohr's followers can read it that way." Despite his criticisms, Young is a friend of Rohr's, and wrote the foreword to his book The Divine Dance.[18]
