One pastor-friend wrote:

I haven’t thought about it entirely well yet, but I’m not convinced that [Richard Rohr’s view] the incarnation is our great trump card. As central as it is, I can’t help thinking that the cross itself (and resurrection) is our trump card.

Nathan:

I had a somewhat similar suspicion about Richard Rohr, but I went to his recent weekend men’s retreat in Melbourne, and was pretty much won over. He actually spoke about the cross and the paschal mystery way more than I was expecting. I suspect that he would agree with you on the centrality of the cross, but argue that its significance is dependant on the incarnation. Christianity is not the only faith with an executed founder, or even an executed founder who is claimed to be still alive. It is the relationship of this to the incarnation that makes the Christian claim unique. We claim that it was the incarnate God who was executed, and whose risen body lives again. It is the fact that it is the incarnate God who suffers on the cross that is so significant about the cross. Otherwise it is just yet another good person executed. But instead it is God entering into the depths of our life that sounds the invitation for us to enter into the heights of God’s life.

Peace and hope,

Nathan