Book Review
Reviewed by Dan Riley in Baptists Today and reprinted by permission.
Speaking My Mind
The Radical Evangelical Prophet Tackles the Tough Issues Christians Are Afraid To Face
Tony Campolo, W Publishing Group, 2004, www.thomasnelsonson.com.
Campolo does it again. Steering his newest book right down the road of religious controversy! As he did 15 years ago in 20 Hot Potatoes Christians Are Afraid To Touch, Campolo prods Christians into thinking about controversial but critical issues. Readers should not expect this book to comfort troubled Christians, but rather to “disturb and trouble the comfortable.”
Outspoken Campolo, criticized as being too liberal by some evangelicals and too conservative by others, chooses to tackle issues of today that many preachers and writers sidestep because they polarize the Christian community. For example:
- What has happened to mainline denominations?
- Is evangelicalism sexist?
- Are evangelicals handling the gay issue all wrong?
- Is there a second chance for those who die without Christ?
- Is Islam really an evil religion?
- Is the war with Iraq a just war?
- Can Christians and Muslims be reconciled?
- Should Christian parents pull their kids out of public schools?
- Are evangelicals afraid of science?
- Is evangelicalism headed for a split?
Campolo does not claim to have all the answers. Rather, he writes as a “struggling Christian” who is certain about only one thing: Jesus. He believes, however, that Christians are compelled to work through the questions he raises “if we are to speak relevantly and helpfully to a world that is growing increasingly suspicious of Christians and feel threatened by much of what we say and do.”
Campolo’s consuming passion for the church and those to whom it ministers in the name of social justice can become contagious. Both individual readers and group stukdy participants will be inspired to seek—with Campolo—what is truly right and wrong within the community of Christians
