Writings on Reconciliation and Resistance

by Will D. Campbell, Richard C. Goode (Series Editor)

If prophets are called to unveil and expose the illegitimacy of those principalities masquerading as "the right" and purportedly using their powers for "the good," then Will D. Campbell is one of the foremost prophets in American religious history. Like Clarence Jordan and Dorothy Day, Campbell incarnates the radical iconoclastic vocation of standing in contraposition to society, naming and smashing the racial, economic, and political idols that seduce and delude. In this anthology Campbell diagnoses a problem afflicting much of the church today. Zealous to make a difference in the world by acquiring the power of legislation and enforcement, Christians employ society's political science rather than the scandalous politics of Jesus. Although well-intentioned, Christians are, Campbell laments, mistakenly "up to our steeples in politics." Campbell's prescription is for disciples simply to incarnate the reconciliation that Christ has achieved. Rather than crafting savvy strategies and public policies, "Do nothing," Campbell counsels. "Be reconciled!" Yet his encouragement to "do nothing" is no endorsement of passivity or apolitical withdrawal. Rather, Campbell calls for disciples to give their lives in irrepressible resistance against all principalities and powers that would impede or deny our reconciliation in Christ--an unrelenting prophetic challenge leveled especially at institutional churches, as well as Christian colleges and universities. In sermons, difficult-to-access journal articles, and archival manuscripts, Campbell then develops what reconciliation looks like. Being the church, for example, means identifying with, and advocating for, society's "least one"-including violent offenders, disenfranchised minorities, and even militant bigots. In fact, in Campbell's ordo the scorned sectarian and disinherited denizen is often closer to the peculiar Christian genius than are society's well-healed powerbrokers. Disciples seeking to discern their calling can hardly do better than taking direction from this "bootleg," pulpitless preacher.

Genres: Religion, Theology, Nonfiction

252 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Will Davis Campbell was a Baptist minister, lecturer, and activist.

Reviews

[Rod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This anthology serves as an excellent introduction to the Anabaptist theology and thought of William D. Campbell, a self-described "bootleg preacher" and one of the leading lights in the civil rights movement. Campbell's writing is bold, ornery, and almost always thought provoking. His distrust of institutions in general means he has plenty to say both to government and to "the steeples." To give an example, I'll share the lines that made me buy the book in the first place. "In my judgment American culture has almost forgiven people for being black," he says in a sermon at Riverside Church in NYC. "What we can't forgive them for is being poor. That's the tough one for us."

[Scott Hopkins]

WHAT A GREAT DAY !! TWO NEW BOOKS BY WILL CAMPBELL I DID NOT KNOW ABOUT... I did not even get these on Kindle... bookshelf material with all his others in my study--- ABSOLUTELY !!