Red-Letter Christian

English

Etymology

Red-Letter refers to New Testament verses and parts of verses printed in red ink, to indicate the words attributed to Jesus without the use of quotations; see “Red letter edition” on Wikipedia.

Noun

Red-Letter Christian (plural Red-Letter Christians)

1. A member of a non-denominational movement within Christianity, especially evangelicalism, that emphasises political activism on issues of social justice about which Jesus has made pronouncements.
   • 2010, Samuel Isaac Boerboom, Disciplined by democracy: moral framing and the rhetoric of Red Letter Christians. (Ph. D. dissertation, University of Minnesota):

     Due to the biconceptuality of the Red Letter Christian moral frame, Red Letter Christians often stress the importance of humility and non-partisan dialogue.

   • 2010, Bruce M. Wood, Red Letter Christian: Becoming an Authentic Follower of Jesus:

     I dedicate this study guide to my attractive wife, Connie, whose love and life is a daily demonstration of the love of Christ and a shining example of a Red Letter Christian.

   • 2010, Jenny Jörgensen, Marcelo Netto Rodrigues, Red Letter Christians:

     Take a bit of "Social Gospel", mix it with Martin Luther King's "Beloved Community", stir them up with a high dose of Early Christians' lifestyle, leave it all in a water bath fulled of “Liberal Theology” through many centuries, and then, you will have a "Red Letter Christian" — someone who cannot accept seeing Jesus' message kidnapped by right-wing parties (neither by left-wing); who considers discussions over abortion and homosexuality over-emphasized in the face of social justice issues, such as, the elimination of poverty and loving one's enemies; who sees an immanent and historical Jesus through the eyes of the poor, and intermingling all this, is "committed to living out the things that Jesus taught" (Campolo, 2008, p. 21), for the name is an allusion "to those old versions of the Bible wherein the words of Jesus are printed in red" (Campolo, 2008, p. 21).

   • 2011, Tony Campolo, Red Letter Christians: A Citizen's Guide to Faith and Politics:

     As a fellow Red Letter Christian, Tony Campolo knows that people of faith should not be in the pocket of any political party—that God is not a Republican or a Democrat.

   • 2019, M. Elizabeth Thorpe, Bryan Picciotto, “Constitutive characters: the “Great I Am” is actually “We Are””, in Atlantic Journal of Communication, volume 27, number 4:

     This paper reveals how Red Letter Christians, a contemporary evangelical organization, constitute a nuanced ideological identity by constructing a very particular version of Jesus that interacts with and influences the social world.