Jesus freak

For other uses, see Jesus Freak (disambiguation).

Jesus freak is a term arising from the late 1960s and early 1970s counterculture and is incorrectly used as a pejorative for those involved in the Jesus movement. As Tom Wolfe illustrates in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the term "freak" with a preceding qualifier was a strictly neutral term and described any counter-culture member with a specific interest in a given subject; hence "acid freak" "Jesus freak." The term "freak" was in common enough currency that Hunter Thompson's failed bid for sheriff of Aspen, Colorado was as a member of the "Freak Power" party. However, many later members of the movement, misunderstanding the counter-cultural roots believed the term to be negative, and co-opted and embraced the term, and its usage broadened to describe a Christian subculture throughout the hippie and back-to-the-land movements that focused on universal love and pacifism, and relished the radical nature of Jesus' message. Jesus freaks often carried and distributed copies of the "Good News for Modern Man," a 1966 translation of the New Testament written in modern English. In Australia, and other countries, the term Jesus freak, along with Bible basher, is still used in a derogatory manner. In Germany there is a Christian youth culture, also called Jesus Freaks, that claims to have its roots in the American movement.

Music

20th century

The Elton John song "Tiny Dancer" (1971) refers to Jesus freaks, as does Felt's 1986 single "Ballad of the Band". There is an entire line about Jesus Freaks in Frank Zappa's 1978 song "The Meek Shall Inherit Nothing". The term also appeared in song "Nothing to Fear" by Oingo Boingo in 1982. The term has recently been used frequently by Ted Turner and Howard Stern, referring mainly to fundamentalists. Another use of the phrase was in Kevin Michael's song "We All Want the Same Thing". Black Sabbath in "Under the Sun" also used the phrase.

In 1995, a Christian rock group, DC Talk, released an album titled Jesus Freak. The song Jesus Freak from that album has since been covered by other Christian bands such as Chasing Victory and Newsboys, which features the former member of DC Talk Michael Tait.

In 1996, John DiBiase created a Christian record label website titled Jesus Freak Hideout.

In the lyrics of the 1978 version of Convoy, recorded for the film of the same name, "Jesus Freaks on grass" are mentioned.

21st century

In 2006, DC Talk released another album titled Jesus Freak: 10th Anniversary Special Edition.

Books

Jesus Freaks, written by DC Talk, The Voice of the Martyrs, and Toby Mac, is also the name of a series of books that examines the lives of Christian martyrs. The series is published by Bethany House, a Christian publishing company.

Sara Miles wrote Jesus Freak: Feeling Healing and Raising The Dead.

Film

Jesus Freak is a 2003 American micro-budget drama film directed by Morgan Nichols.

See also

• Bible thumper
• Jesus Freaks (youth movement)
• Jesus movement

Bibliography

• Di Sabatino, David. The Jesus People Movement: An Annotated Bibliography and General Resource (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999). [1]
• White, L. Michael. The First Christians:the Jesus Movement. [2]. 
• Shires, Preston David, Ph.D. (2002). Hippies of the religious Right: The counterculture and American evangelicalism in the 1960s and 1970s. University of Nebraska, Lincoln. 
• Bookman, Sally Dobson Ph.D. (1974). Jesus People: a religious movement in a mid-western city. University of California, Berkeley. 
• Wagner, Frederick Norman, Ph.D. (1971). A theological and historical assessment of the Jesus people phenomenon. Fuller Theological Seminary. 
• Young, Shawn David, Hippies, Jesus Freaks, and Music (Ann Arbor: Xanedu/Copley Original Works, 2005). ISBN 1-59399-201-7.
• Young, Shawn David. "From Hippies to Jesus Freaks: Christian Radicalism in Chicago’s Inner-City." Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Vol 22(2) Summer 2010.
• Jeub, Cynthia. "Jesus Freaks: a new definition of Martyr." Review of DC Talk's book Jesus Freak. 7 July 2009.
• Call, Keith. "Jesus Freaks." Special Collections. 15 January 2009.
• Geisler, Gertude. Ramey, B., Jessie. "Jesus Freaks." 2004.

References

Smalridge, Scott, M.A. (1999). Early American Pentecostalism and the issues of race, gender, war, and poverty: A history of the belief system and social witness of early twentieth century Pentacostalism and its nineteenth century holiness roots. McGill University.