“Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said?” by Shane Claiborne & Tony Campolo

“Red Letter Revolution: What If Jesus Really Meant What He Said?” (ISBN 9781400204182) by Shane Claiborne and Tony Campolo is a conversation about different aspects of Christianity like

1. our faith,
2. how outsiders see us,
3. social issues from homosexuality to abortion
4. the Middle East
5. and even US politics.

The concept of “Red Letter” refers to the practice of publishers using red letters to indicate the words of Jesus as a means to separate this movement (group of people) from fundamentalists.

“Whenever the word evangelical is used these days, a stereotype comes to mind. Whether or not that image is justified can be debated, but there is little argument that the word evangelical conjures up an image of Christians who are anti-gay, anti-feminist, anti-environmentalist, pro-war, pro-capital punishment, and conservative Republican. There are many of us, however, who are theologically evangelical, but who defy that image.”

Shane Claiborne even gives his opinion on the “Global Church” that seem to be out of place in order to sell a book.

“[T]he Pentecostal movement has challenged the idea of reducing Christianity to a head trip.”

“[Catholics] turn our attention to the writings of such mystics as Saint John of the Cross, Saint Francis, Catherine of Siena, and especially to Saint Ignatius and his book, Spiritual Exercises.”

Surprisingly (to me, at least) Clairborne turned around with an interesting approach.

“The emphasis on right belief given to us from the traditions of Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin is being balanced by Pentecostalism and Catholic mysticism.”

If I wouldn’t have gotten this book for free, in order to review it, I wouldn’t have bothered reading it. Maybe the approach of this book could’ve been different to achieve what “Jesus really meant what he said.”

Advertisements