Shane Claiborne (born July 11, 1975) is a Christian activist and author who is a leading figure in the

New Monasticism New Monasticism is a diverse movement, not limited to a specific religious denomination or church and including varying expressions of contemplative life. These include evangelical Christian communities such as " Simple Way Community" and Jonathan ...

movement and one of the founding members of the non-profit organization, The Simple Way, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, Pennsylvania. Claiborne is also a social activist, advocating for

nonviolence Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

and service to the poor. He is the author of the book, '' The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical''.

Biography

Claiborne grew up in east Tennessee. His father, who was a Vietnam War veteran, died when Shane was 9 years old. A graduate of Eastern University, where he studied

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

and youth ministry, Claiborne did his final academic work for Eastern University at

Wheaton College Wheaton College may refer to: * Wheaton College (Illinois), a private Christian, coeducational, liberal arts college in Wheaton, Illinois * Wheaton College (Massachusetts) Wheaton College is a private liberal arts college in Norton, Massachus ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolitan areas include, Peoria and Rock ...

. While at Wheaton, Claiborne did an internship at

Willow Creek Community Church Willow Creek Community Church is an Evangelical non-denominational, multi-site megachurch. Its largest campus is located in the northwestern Chicago suburb of South Barrington, Illinois. It was founded on October 12, 1975 by Dave Holmbo and Bil ...

. He has done some graduate work at

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...

, but took a leave of absence, and now is a part of The Alternative Seminary in Philadelphia. Claiborne worked alongside

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was ...

during a 10-week term in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

.
He has written about how his work with Mother Teresa impacted him and made him realize the need to support a

consistent life ethic The consistent life ethic, also known as the consistent ethic of life or whole life ethic, is an ideology that opposes abortion, capital punishment, assisted suicide, and euthanasia. Adherents oppose war, or at the very least, unjust war; some adh ...

, to protect all human life from conception to natural death. He spent three weeks in

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

with the Iraq Peace Team (IPT), a project of Voices in the Wilderness and Christian Peacemaker Teams. He was witness to the military bombardment of Baghdad as well as the militarized areas between Baghdad and

Amman Amman (; ar, عَمَّان, ' ; Ammonite: 𐤓𐤁𐤕 𐤏𐤌𐤍 ''Rabat ʻAmān'') is the capital and largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of 4,061,150 as of 2021, Amman is ...

. 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. He also continues to serve as a board member for the nationwide Christian Community Development Association which was founded by the authors and community developers, John Perkins and Wayne Gordon. On June 20, 2007, a seven-alarm fire at the abandoned warehouse across the street destroyed The Simple Way Community Center where Claiborne lived. He lost all of his possessions in the fire. The Simple Way immediately set up funds to accept donations to help those who lost their homes in the fire. Claiborne is featured in the documentary ''

The Ordinary Radicals ''The Ordinary Radicals'' is a 2008 documentary film directed by Philadelphia filmmaker Jamie Moffett. Background The film follows authors Chris Haw and Shane Claiborne, co-founder of the Potter Street Community (formerly The Simple Way) of Ph ...

'', and 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. 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. On May 7, 2011, Shane Claiborne married Katie Jo Brotherton. On January 26, 2016, he released his first solo book in ten years, ''Executing Grace - How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It's Killing Us''. It makes a case for the abolition of the death penalty through social and spiritual arguments, and received praise from John Perkins,

Philip Yancey Philip Yancey (born November 4, 1949) is an American author who writes primarily about spiritual issues. His books have sold more than 15 million copies in English and have been translated into 40 languages, making him one of the best-selling con ...

and

Desmond Tutu Desmond Mpilo Tutu (7 October 193126 December 2021) was a South African Anglican bishop and theologian, known for his work as an anti-apartheid and human rights activist. He was Bishop of Johannesburg from 1985 to 1986 and then Archbish ...

, among others.

Authorship

*''Beating Guns: Hope for People Who Are Weary of Violence'', with Michael Martin (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2019) *''Executing Grace - How the Death Penalty Killed Jesus and Why It's Killing Us'' (Harper Collins, 2016) *''The Irresistible Revolution - Updated and Expanded 10th Anniversary Edition'' (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016) *''Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals'', with

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a Christiawriterand preacher who has graduated both from Eastern University and Duke Divinity School. He associates himself with New Monasticism. Immediately prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he and his wife, Leah, ...

and Enuma Okoro (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2010) *"What If Jesus Meant All That Stuff?" (Esquire Magazine, November 18, 2009) *''Follow Me To Freedom: Leading and Following as an Ordinary Radical'', with John Perkins (Regal Books, 2009) *'' Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals'', with

Chris Haw Chris Haw (born 1981) is a Catholic theologian and professor in the United States who was an important figure in New Monasticism. Biography Haw was baptized into the Catholic Church and attended Catholic churches as a child until his mother s ...

(Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008) *''Becoming the Answer to Our Prayers: Prayer for Ordinary Radicals'', with Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove (InterVarsity, 2008) *'' The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical'' (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006) *''Iraq Journal 2003'' (Doulos Christou, 2006)

References

External links

Claiborne's official page with Tony Campolo at the Red Letter Christians

The Simple Way organization's official website

The Ordinary Radicals official website

The Another World is Possible DVD series

Shane Claiborne's sermon on radical discipleship
{{DEFAULTSORT:Claiborne, Shane American consistent life ethics activists American Christian pacifists American tax resisters Christian writers Eastern University (United States) alumni Political activists from Pennsylvania People from Tennessee Writers from Philadelphia Living people 1975 births Christianity and environmentalism Nonviolence advocates Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni Christian radicals

Biography

Authorship

See also

References

External links