Radical Christianity

Radical Christianity

Website Maintained By Rev. Dr. Jerry S. Maneker

Jesus was a radical and, hence, countercultural and, as Christians, we are to be
radical and countercultural as well! We are never to be satisfied with a status quo
that allows assorted social ills such as poverty, corruption in institutions,
discrimination of any kind, or the creation of out-groups that are then demonized
and discriminated against “in the name of God,” to go unchallenged.

As Christians, we are called upon to “…destroy arguments and every proud
obstacle raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought
captive to obey Christ.” (2Corinthians 10:4b-5) These “proud obstacles” come from
a variety of sources, some of which come from much of the organized Church itself,
and much of these posts will reflect concerns and critiques of such obstacles that
are felt to thwart God’s will for our lives and for His Church.

To be “radical” denotes going to the “root” or origin of a phenomenon and
elucidating its fundamentals. On this website,” Radical Christianity,” I seek to
address a variety of political, economic, social, and religious issues by using as my
compass point the fundamentals of Christianity as explicated in the words and
works of Jesus. These issues will be dealt with within the framework of some major
new items of the day.

Jesus preached love amidst hatred; unity amidst divisiveness; faith amidst the
legalistic religious leaders of His day; inclusiveness amidst exclusionary religious
leaders; wholeness amidst the brokenhearted; freedom amidst those held in yokes
of bondage; love amidst hatred. Jesus spoke truth to power, and we, as Christians,
are to do no less!

On this website, I seek to highlight and explicate a radical Christianity as applied to
a variety of contemporary issues in the hope of providing a Christian perspective
often overlooked or missing from much of the discourse held in the media and
within much of the organized Church as well. These articles have previously
appeared in my weekly newspaper column entitled, "Christianity and Society," that
appears in the Sacramento Valley Mirror and/or in the webzine, "Speak From The
Heart," and/or in the Online magazine, "Whosoever."

As I write further articles dealing with "radical Christianity," as well as dig through
my archives of relevant articles I have written over the years, I will add them to this
site. In addition, I intend to invite certain people to write articles for this site from
time to time that deal with relevant issues.

May this website provide a refreshing, provocative, forum for the civilized
presentation of ideas that reflect Jesus’ commandments to trust God over and
above seen circumstances, and to love other people by never tiring of doing good
to liberate all those held captive by traditions that make void the Word of God
(Matthew 15:3), as well as by all other religious and secular sources and forces. I
very much hope that these and subsequent articles will move forward the cause of
Christ and the betterment of Christ’s Church as well as secular society.