"Red Letter" Christians. - Page 2

Nicea325 · #16 May 16, '12, 12:19 pm

Quote:

QUOTE=Publisher;9305504]"Red Letter Christians" to me seem to be in the same vein "Old Testament Christians" my very conservative Pentacostal aunt claims to be....."we believe in the OT as much as we beleive in the NT....we accept the death penalty...we don't see war as against the NT or being a Christian"....they were very pro George W. Bush....saw nothing wrong with segregation...and saw nothing wrong with prison sentences for gays...if not the death penalty.

My family is from the deep South....and much of the prejudice found there among some of the fundamentalists are very much alive here in the Northwest among conservative Christians.

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Publisher · #17 May 16, '12, 12:25 pm

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"RL"or "OT" tend to be on the fringes of established faith traditions....not typical believers...either very liberal to conservative for "RL" and very conservative for "OT"..

Anna Scott · #18 May 16, '12, 1:59 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Publisher

"Red Letter Christians" to me seem to be in the same vein "Old Testament Christians" my very conservative Pentacostal aunt claims to be....."we believe in the OT as much as we beleive in the NT....we accept the death penalty...we don't see war as against the NT or being a Christian"....they were very pro George W. Bush....saw nothing wrong with segregation...and saw nothing wrong with prison sentences for gays...if not the death penalty.

My family is from the deep South....and much of the prejudice found there among some of the fundamentalists are very much alive here in the Northwest among conservative Christians.

"Red Letter" or "OT" Christians tend to be on the fringes of established faith communities.

Publisher,
I'm not quite sure about any aversion to the Old Testament. I've looked through the website; and it's difficult to tell exactly what they believe.

Tony Campolo is called The Positive Prophet of Red Letter Christianity: http://tonycampolo.org/invite.php. However, there is a long list of other contributors to the website.

They do have quite a list of books one can purchase under Recommended Books: http://www.redletterchristians.org/books/.

There's a list of Speakers: http://www.redletterchristians.org/speakers/.

You can book Tony Campolo to speak: http://www.tonycampolo.org/invite.php. (cancellation fees are substantial.)

Bog: http://www.redletterchristians.org/.

Advertising can be purchased: http://www.redletterchristians.org/advertising/.

I can't find a specific statement of faith. Maybe I just missed it.

Anna

Anna Scott · #19 May 16, '12, 2:03 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nicea325

. . .I wonder if they consider other scripture as less important?

I can't tell from the website. I can't find a statement of faith. As I said last post, maybe I just missed it.

Anna

TimothyH · #20 May 16, '12, 2:10 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Publisher

"Red Letter Christians" to me seem to be in the same vein "Old Testament Christians" my very conservative Pentacostal aunt claims to be....."we believe in the OT as much as we beleive in the NT....we accept the death penalty...we don't see war as against the NT or being a Christian"....they were very pro George W. Bush....saw nothing wrong with segregation...and saw nothing wrong with prison sentences for gays...if not the death penalty.

My family is from the deep South....and much of the prejudice found there among some of the fundamentalists are very much alive here in the Northwest among conservative Christians.

"Red Letter" or "OT" Christians tend to be on the fringes of established faith communities.

Don't worry about the deep south.

The Catholics from all those closed parishes up north didn't just die. We all moved down south, some of us deep.

Were taking care of things one mission Church at a time.

-Tim-

Publisher · #21 May 16, '12, 2:12 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Scott

Publisher,
I'm not quite sure about any aversion to the Old Testament. I've looked through the website; and it's difficult to tell exactly what they believe.

Tony Campolo is called The Positive Prophet of Red Letter Christianity: http://tonycampolo.org/invite.php. However, there is a long list of other contributors to the website.

They do have quite a list of books one can purchase under Recommended Books: http://www.redletterchristians.org/books/.

There's a list of Speakers: http://www.redletterchristians.org/speakers/.

You can book Tony Campolo to speak: http://www.tonycampolo.org/invite.php. (cancellation fees are substantial.)

Bog: http://www.redletterchristians.org/.

Advertising can be purchased: http://www.redletterchristians.org/advertising/.

I can't find a specific statement of faith. Maybe I just missed it.

Anna

No I wasn't trying to state they are the "same"...they are "similar" as being "sub-groups" within either the liberal or conservative groups of Christians.

The "OT" Christians tend to be more radical in seeking to establish more of a "Conservative Christian Social Order"...almost a "theocracy" where "offensive" books, movies, TV programs are censored....criminals are punished with little mercy....gays and lesbians would find themselves in situaltion much like in Islamic countries here in the US....women's rights would be curbed to the point of prosecution if their activities goes against the "mores" of society.

"Red Letter" Christians are either the very liberal in only accepting..or putting primacy on the words of Jesus to establish social order OR very conservative to do the same...with different outcomes of course.

Both are "fringe"...outside the established faith communities.

Nicea325 · #22 May 16, '12, 2:55 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Scott

I can't tell from the website. I can't find a statement of faith. As I said last post, maybe I just missed it.

Anna

They simply might not have one?

exnihilo · #23 May 16, '12, 4:50 pm

I don't really have anything to add about what a 'Red Letter' Christian is except to say that I'd make a terrible one. Being red-green colorblind I'd think Jesus said nothing. I actually have a nice leather red letter KJV Bible that I did not even know was red letter for the longest time.

GaryTaylor · #24 May 17, '12, 2:16 am

I see there are Red Letter Followers, no doubt. What would be the logic of placing more value on what Jesus said in John, than what what John said otherwise for example? John said "everything" in John since Jesus wrote nothing. Thus if we are to count John as accurate with what he states about Jesus, why wouldn't we count him just as accurate with everything else?

Izdaari · #25 May 17, '12, 2:52 am

Tony Campolo is a conservative evangelical who is emergent-friendly and liberal on economics. He's a sociologist who is also an ordained Baptist pastor. Interesting guy. You might want to check out some of his speeches and/or preaching on Youtube. His Facebook updates are pretty interesting too.

Randal796 · #26 May 17, '12, 3:15 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Scott

I can't tell from the website. I can't find a statement of faith. As I said last post, maybe I just missed it.

Anna

http://www.redletterchristians.org/history/

This is as close to a faith statement I found. They use the Apostle's creed.

GaryTaylor · #27 May 17, '12, 3:40 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randal796

They use the Apostle's creed.

They believe in the Holy Catholic Church and the Communion of Saints?

Nicea325 · #28 May 17, '12, 9:45 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randal796

http://www.redletterchristians.org/history/

This is as close to a faith statement I found. They use the Apostle's creed.

Publisher · #29 May 17, '12, 10:32 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by GaryTaylor

I see there are Red Letter Followers, no doubt. What would be the logic of placing more value on what Jesus said in John, than what what John said otherwise for example? John said "everything" in John since Jesus wrote nothing. Thus if we are to count John as accurate with what he states about Jesus, why wouldn't we count him just as accurate with everything else?

The belief is that the words of Jesus as contained in the gospels for the most part are either authentic teachings of Jesus of Nazareth OR they at least reflect his teachings as they came to be understood by his followers in the decades after his death. The letters of Paul were written before the gospels for the most part and reflect a "Pauline" theology....which Jesus of Nazareth may not have fully embraced. The Gospel of Thomas is also used by the more "liberal" believers to confrim the "authentic" teaching of Jesus of Nazareth.

For years a "sayings gospel" which scholars dubbed "Q" had been speculated to have existed. Many said there was no such things as a "sayings gospel"...with the finding of the Nag Hammaddi Library in the '40's...a "sayings gospel" puported to be written by "Thomas the Twin" was found...."sayings gospels" did exist it seems.....

Anna Scott · #30 May 17, '12, 10:57 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anna Scott

Red Letter Christians History and Purpose: http://www.redletterchristians.org/start/.

They say they hold to the same theological convictions that define Evangelicals; and believe in doctrines from the Apostles’ Creed.

Anna

Quote:

Originally Posted by Randal796

http://www.redletterchristians.org/history/

This is as close to a faith statement I found. They use the Apostle's creed.

Randal,
I posted the same link earlier. I agree it is the closest thing to a statement of faith.

However, the History and Purpose section says more about what they do not believe, than it does about what they do believe.

I'll try to pull out statements regarding what they do believe. Quotes from History and Purpose are in Blue type.

". . . First, Red Letter Christians hold to the same theological convictions that define Evangelicals. . . ."

There isn't a single definition of Evangelical. So saying they "hold to the same theological convictions that define Evangelicals" is somewhat vague. For example, Southern Baptists consider themselves to be Evangelical, but they are not a member of The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), due to disagreements. However, General Association of General Baptists is a member of the NAE (link: http://www.nae.net/membership/current-members.) Red Letter Christians are not listed as members of the NAE, but I'm not sure they are actually a denomination.

". . .We believe in the doctrines set down in the Apostles’ Creed, which states the central beliefs the church has held over centuries. . ."

There is a strong possibility they do not interpret The Apostles' Creed the same way Catholics, Anglicans, Eastern Orthodox, etc. would--especially when it comes to issues like Communion of the Saints.

However, there is a rather surprising article entitled, Following Francis: The Veneration of (Imperfect) Saints: http://www.redletterchristians.org/f...erfect-saints/.

"Second, we are Christians with a very high view of Scripture. The writers of Scripture, we believe, were invaded by the Holy Spirit and were uniquely guided by God as they wrote, providing us with an infallible guide for faith and practice. We emphasize the “red letters’ because we believe that you can only understand the rest of the Bible when you read it from the perspective provided by Christ. . ."

So, it seems they do not rely on Tradition. But what beliefs fall under this infallible guide to faith and practice?

"Third-and this is most important-we claim that the historical Jesus can be alive and present to each and every person, and that salvation depends on yielding to Him and inviting Him to be a vital, transforming presence in our lives. . . ."

This is a rather vague description of salvation. Are they referring to the sinner's prayer? It would seem so, since they speak of inviting Jesus to be a vital, transforming presence in their lives. But how does Baptism and the Eucharist fit into salvation?

"The goal of Red Letter Christians is simple: To take Jesus seriously by endeavoring to live out His radical, counter-cultural teachings as set forth in Scripture, and especially embracing the lifestyle prescribed in the Sermon on the Mount. . ."

This is an admirable goal; but what does this mean exactly? Do they help the poor, feed the hungry, take a vow of poverty, etc.?

I think one would have to read through all the sermons and articles to find the specifics of Red Letter Christian beliefs. I really don't have the energy right now.

Anna