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Shane Claiborne

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Shane Claiborne
Shane Claiborne in 2008
Shane Claiborne in 2008
BornShane Claiborne
(1975-07-11) July 11, 1975 (age 49)[citation needed]
East Tennessee, U.S.[citation needed]
OccupationFounder, writer, organizational leader, activist
LanguageEnglish
Literary movementNew Monastic movement
Notable worksThe Irresistible Revolution (2006)
Spouse
Katie Jo Brotherton
​
(m. 2011)​
Website
shaneclaiborne.com

Shane Claiborne (born July 11, 1975) is an American evangelical Christian and founder, an author and organizational leader. He is one of the founders of the non-profit organization, The Simple Way, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, cofounder of the Red-Letter Christians, and has been described as a founder, as well, of the New Monastic movement.[1] Moreover, Claiborne is referred to in the press as an activist,[2][3] given his advocacy for nonviolence and service to the poor. Among other writings, he is the author of the book, The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (2006).

Early life and education

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Claiborne was born July 11, 1975,[where?][citation needed] and grew up in Maryville, Tennessee.[4] His father, who was a Vietnam War veteran, died when Shane was 9 years old. During his childhood, he attended a Methodist church. After being invited to a Pentecostal church by high school friends, he became a Christian and was baptized. He studied sociology and youth ministry at Eastern University and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1997.[5]

During his studies, Claiborne worked alongside Mother Teresa during a 10-week term in Calcutta.[4] He has written about how his work with Mother Teresa impacted him and made him realize the need to support a consistent life ethic, to protect all human life from conception to natural death.[6] He spent three weeks in Baghdad with the Iraq Peace Team (IPT), a project of Voices in the Wilderness and Christian Peacemaker Teams.[2] He was witness to the military bombardment of Baghdad as well as the militarized areas between Baghdad and Amman. As a member of IPT, Claiborne took daily trips to sites where there had been bombings, visited hospitals and families, and attended worship services during the war.

Career

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After his studies, he reports in interview that he served at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago.[7] He went on to found The Simple Way—"a small organization supporting neighbors in building a neighborhood where... all belong and thrive"[8]—in 1998, with Joe Strife, Jamie Moffet, Brooke Sexton, and Michelle and Michael Brix,[9] fellow graduates of Eastern University, in Kensington, Philadelphia.[10][11][12][1][excessive citations]

In 2000s,[clarification needed (much too imprecise)]} he became board member for the nationwide Christian Community Development Association.[13] In 2006, he published the book The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical, a plea for Christian voluntary simplicity and social justice.[14] With Tony Campolo, he founded Red-Letter Christians in 2007, aiming to bring together evangelicals who believe in the importance of insisting on issues of social justice mentioned by Jesus, that name deriving from a convention of printing the words of Jesus in red ink in some Bible editions.[4]

On June 20, 2007, a seven-alarm fire at the abandoned warehouse across the street destroyed The Simple Way Community Center where Claiborne lived.[15] He lost all of his possessions in the fire.[15] The Simple Way immediately set up funds to accept donations to help those who lost their homes in the fire.[16]

In June 2008, with Chris Haw, he visited churches and community centers in cities across the United States in a refurbished used vegetable oil fuel school bus, labeled "Jesus for President", to give talks on Christian social justice.[17] In September, they released the book Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals. In 2008, he was featured in the documentary The Ordinary Radicals. He co-directed the three volume Another World is Possible DVD series. Claiborne wrote the foreword to Ben Lowe's 2009 book Green Revolution: Coming Together to Care for Creation.

In 2011 he has appeared as both a guest and co-host of the TV show Red-Letter Christians with Tony Campolo.[18] That year also, he declared his unwillingness to pay taxes to fund U.S. military activity. He withheld a portion of his income taxes meant to correspond to the percentage of the federal budget spent on the military, donating that money instead to charity. He wrote a public letter to the Internal Revenue Service to explain his decision.[19] On January 26, 2016, he released the book Executing Grace - How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It's Killing Us.[20] It makes a case for the abolition of the death penalty through social and spiritual arguments.

In 2023, he published the book Rethinking Life: Embracing the Sacredness of Every Person, a book that calls for extending the Christian definition of the "pro-life" movement to issues other than the fight against abortion, such as gun violence, poverty, the death penalty and openness to immigration.[3]

Published works

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  • Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence, with Michael Martin (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2019) ISBN 978-1-58-743413-6
  • Executing Grace - How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It's Killing Us (HarperCollins, 2016) ISBN 978-0-06-234737-4
  • The Irresistible Revolution - Updated and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016) ISBN 0-310-34370-4
  • Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove and Enuma Okoro (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) ISBN 0-310-32619-2
  • "What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff?" (Esquire Magazine, November 18, 2009) [21]
  • Follow Me To Freedom: Leading and Following as an Ordinary Radical, with John Perkins (Regal Books, 2009) ISBN 0-8307-5120-3
  • Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals, with Chris Haw (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008) ISBN 0-310-27842-2
  • Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals, with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (InterVarsity, 2008) ISBN 0-8308-3622-5
  • The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) ISBN 0-310-26630-0
  • Iraq Journal 2003 (Doulos Christou, 2006) ISBN 0-9744796-7-5

Awards and recognition

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In 2010, Claiborne received an honorary doctorate from Eastern University.[citation needed]

Personal life

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As of this January 2020, Claiborne was stating to reporters that he was a member of an Anabaptist church.[4]

Claiborne married Katie Jo Brotherton on May 7, 2011.[22]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Moll, Rob (September 2005). "The New Monasticism". ChristianityToday.com. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  2. ^ a b Goldberg, Michelle (April 24, 2003). "Dodging Bombs for Peace". Salon.com. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Klett, Leah MarieAnn (March 7, 2023). "Activist Shane Claiborne Challenges Christians to Expand View of What Constitutes 'Pro-Life' Issues". ChristianPost.com. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d Tabor, Nick (January 6, 2020). "Can This Preacher's Progressive Version of Evangelical Christianity Catch on with a New Generation?". Washington Post Magazine. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  5. ^ TLN Staff (February 8, 2011). "The Expression of Service: To Live as Christ" (report on convocation message with extensive quotations). The Liberty News (TLN). Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  6. ^ "A New Pro-Life Movement - Consistent Life Blog". February 14, 2017. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  7. ^ Steem, Joy; Steem, Matthew & Claiborne, Shane (April 9, 2022). "Shane Claiborne: The Credible Christian" (interview). Radix Magazine. Retrieved October 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Simple Way Staff (October 2024). "Reflections and News: The Simple Way is You". TheSimpleWay.org. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  9. ^ Tod-Pearson, Caz (July 18, 2018). "Reflections and News: The Simple Way is You". TheSimpleWay.org. Retrieved October 28, 2024. The Simple Way founders: Joe Strife, Jamie Moffet, Brooke Sexton, Michelle and Michael Brix and Shane Claiborne.
  10. ^ Evans, Elizabeth Eisenstadt (May 5, 2021). "Eastern University Has Served as the Evangelical Left's Laboratory". ChristianCentury.org. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  11. ^ Steem, Joy; Steem, Matthew & Tod-Pearson, Caz (April 9, 2022). "The Simple Way: Neighbourly Love, Hospitality and Showing Up" (interview). RadixMagazine.com. Retrieved October 28, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Dalrymple, Timothy & Claiborne, Shane (August 9, 2010). "How to Derail the New Monasticism—An Interview with Shane Claiborne". Patheos.com. Retrieved May 25, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  13. ^ Benson, Bruce Ellis; Berry, Malinda Elizabeth & Heltzel, Peter Goodwin (2012). Prophetic Evangelicals: Envisioning a Just and Peaceable Kingdom. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans. p. 45.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ Leland, John (March 2, 2006). "Xtreme Christianity in Goth and Punk". NYTimes.com. Retrieved October 28, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Matza, Michael (June 23, 2007). "Their lives shattered after Kensington fire". inquirer.com. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  16. ^ Stuhldreher, Katie (June 22, 2007). "Nonprofit starts two relief funds for fire victims". inquirer.com. Retrieved July 12, 2020.
  17. ^ Marrapodi, Eric & Bolduan, Kate (June 29, 2008). "Evangelical movement touts 'Jesus for president'". cnn.com. Retrieved January 26, 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. ^ "RLC on TV - Red Letter Christians". Red Letter Christians. Retrieved May 25, 2016.
  19. ^ Claiborne, Shane (April 11, 2011). "My Easter Letter to the IRS". Huffington Post.
  20. ^ Merritt, Jonathan The death penalty killed Jesus. Is it killing us, too?, religionnews.com, USA, September 2, 2016,
  21. ^ "Shane Claiborne - Letter to Non-Believers by Shane Claibourne". Esquire. November 18, 2009. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  22. ^ Althoff, Allison. "Shane & Katie Claiborne: A Love Story". Christianity Today. Retrieved January 12, 2017.
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