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Red-Letter Christians

  • 22-07-2008 9:55am
    #1
    Dave!
    Closed Accounts Posts: 27,856 ✭✭✭✭


    Hey folks,

    I was watching a video the other day by a journalist (can't remember his name) who spent a year 'living Biblically', and he mentioned that on his journeys around Bible-belt America, he met a group of Evangelicals called Red-Letter Christians.

    Apparantly this group follows in the Bible only the parts which are direct quotes from Jesus. They supposedly have a leaflet called 'what Jesus says about homosexuals', and it's completely blank. Stuff like that... (dunno if Jesus did in fact say anything about gays, I'm just reporting what I heard)

    Anywho -- what do ye other Christians make of this? Presumably ye don't endorse the part where you leave out most of the stuff in the Bible... But I'm sure as a moral and philosophical guide, there's some merit in their ideas! You wouldn't really associate them with most other Bible bashers, because they're unlikely to share most of their ideas, and I'm sure they can't get most of their support from the Bible, since they're cutting out so much of it.

    By their methods they'll no doubt be cutting out alot of the 'basic' Christian teachings (did Jesus actually speak the 10 commandments himself?), so they'll have a different (more liberal, it seems) philosophical outlook on things.

    But anyways, what do ye make of it? Jesus was pretty much a love everybody kind of hippy dude, so it's hard to see how you can go wrong with this stuff!


Comments

  • #2
    PDN
    Closed Accounts Posts: 13,686 ✭✭✭✭PDN


    Dave, I think the video you saw must have been talking about some other group than the one you linked to in Wikipedia, which you can also read about here: http://www.beliefnet.com/story/185/story_18562_1.html

    The group commonly known as Red Letter Christians do not reject the rest of the Bible. What they are saying is that the Christian Right in the US has presented and unbalanced picture of Christianity by only emphasising certain issues.

    Therefore, in the political realm, Red Letter Christians want to speak out on issues such as social justice, eradicating global poverty etc. They still hold to an Evangelical stance on issues such as abortion and homosexuality, but they say those paticular issues have been overemphasised to the detriment of others.

    I agree with them and think that their's is a message that needs to be heard.

    One of their leading lights, Tony Campolo, is a Baptist professor of sociology who was a spiritual advisor to Bill Clinton following the whole Monica Lewinsky fiasco. Campolo is a very entertaining speaker if you ever get the chance to hear him - although he makes some traditionalists extremely angry.

    One of my favourite Campolo quotes is when he was defending his own orthodoxy against those who accused him of being unduly liberal. He said, "I believe in the Bible. I believe in all the miracles. I believe in the Virgin Birth. Heck, I believed in the Virgin Birth even when before I knew what a virgin was!"


  • #3
    Tim_Murphy
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,995 ✭✭✭Tim_Murphy


    I was watching a video the other day by a journalist (can't remember his name) who spent a year 'living Biblically', and he mentioned that on his journeys around Bible-belt America, he met a group of Evangelicals called Red-Letter Christians.
    The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible
    http://www.amazon.com/Year-Living-Biblically-Literally-Possible/dp/0743291476/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216722651&sr=8-2

    Good enough book, interesting in places, funny in others. Some interesting insights but he tended to use humour to shy away from saying anything anything too controversial.
    One of my favourite Campolo quotes is when he was defending his own orthodoxy against those who accused him of being unduly liberal. He said, "I believe in the Bible. I believe in all the miracles. I believe in the Virgin Birth. Heck, I believed in the Virgin Birth even when before I knew what a virgin was!"
    lol:pac:


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