Predictable yet disappointing, this “Magna Carta for the 21st Century.” The authors advocate a Jesus-centered Christianity, but as usual it’s a subjectively-based Christianity. Not Jesus, but the subjective response to Jesus, is paramount.

So, e.g., Statement 1 begins thusly: “The center and circumference of the Christian life is none other than the person of Christ.” But then the authors go on: “Knowing Christ is Eternal Life.” It’s not about Christ; it’s about knowing Christ.

We see a similar pattern in Statement 4: “Incarnation doesn’t just apply to Jesus; it applies to every one of us… We have been given God’s “Spirit” which [sic] makes Christ “real” in our lives. We have been made, as Peter puts it, “partakers of the divine nature.” Fine. But then S4 continues: There is a vast ocean of difference between trying to compel Christians to imitate Jesus and learning how to impart an implanted Christ. The former only ends up in failure and frustration. The latter is the gateway to life and joy in our daying and our dying.” Here again there’s a shift from the presumably objective — Christ’s indwelling presence — to the subjective — Christians learning to impart an implanted Christ into others.

Statement 7: “Justice apart from Christ is a dead thing… Jesus Christ is the embodiment of Justice, Peace, Holiness, Righteousness.” If Jesus is the embodiment of Justice, then can there be any Justice in which Jesus isn’t present? What should be important is Christ’s justice made manifest, not subjectively attributing the just intervention to Christ or implementing it in an explicitly church-branded program.

Maybe I’d have liked this Manifesto better if I’d taken the authors’ advice and listened to the Youtube musical link while reading it.