Liberal Theologian Tony Campolo Dies But Leaves Legacy of Deception

LTRP Note: To gain further insights into Tony Campolo, please see the links below Jim Fletcher’s article.

By Jim Fletcher

I’ve lost more work and friends in apologetics than I can name, because I name names. But for years, readers have thanked me for naming names and telling the truth because, without truth, none of us can make good decisions. We have only the example of cable news to show us that.

So it is that I want to spend a few minutes talking about Tony Campolo.

Campolo, a pastor and professor at Pennsylvania’s Eastern University, has died at 89.

Normally, it’s inappropriate to speak ill of the dead right after they pass, but in this case, I think it’s productive to discuss Campolo’s brand of liberal theology, which, I maintain, destroys the faith of many. He has plenty of accomplices, several of whom are still with us.

I first became aware of Tony Campolo in the late 90s. I was in Chicago and decided to attend a service at Willow Creek, the megachurch then pastored by Bill Hybels. They were getting ready to expand their 70-acre “campus” (a New Evangelicals term that further separates tradition from the New Left progressive Christianity.

I was startled to hear Campolo say the word s**t from the pulpit/stage. I do not remember at all what his message was, but I do remember that.

I went home and decided to learn more about Monseigneur Campolo. What I discovered was dismaying.

Apart from being a mentor to young leftwing figures like Shane Claiborne, Campolo championed liberal theology. His son, Bart, has become heretical and quite a proud one.

(In a 2014 Religious News Service profile by friend and fellow heretic Jonathan Merritt, Bart Campolo was quite open about his leaving the faith: “I passed just about every stage of heresy on my way to apostasy,” Bart Campolo said. “It wasn’t until I exhausted every option for staying a Christian that I gave it up.”)

Now for his father’s chilling reply after being informed of this at the family dinner table:

“You know me. I am not afraid you’re going to hell because the God I believe in doesn’t send people to hell for eternity for having the wrong theology,” Tony responded, according to Bart. “I’m sad because Christianity is my tribe, and I liked having you in my tribe.”

If you read the article at the link above, you’ll see that Campolo the Elder tried to massage that take regarding Campolo the Younger, but the effect is the same: he wasn’t that disturbed.

That little exchange exemplifies Tony Campolo’s take on religion and, ultimately if we’re being honest, Jesus Christ.

I interviewed Campolo once, and Shane Claiborne once. Both conversations left me dismayed. Moreso because in the Pravda-like Christian Media Complex that exists to this day, they had both cunningly appropriated the title “evangelical” so as to, in my view, fool real evangelicals. This they succeeded at primarily because of the weakness of American pulpits.

In any case, Christianity Today has weighed in, unfortunately. (The magazine/rag remains the MSNBC of the American Christian community.)  Here is the lead for the CT obituary of Campolo:

Tony Campolo frequently started his speeches to Christian audiences by telling them three things.

First, he would tell them how many children had died from hunger or malnutrition-related diseases the night before—a number in the tens of thousands.

And Campolo would say, ‘Most of you don’t give a s—.

Here is just one more snippet from the CT article, but it provides further color to the brand of Christianity for which Campolo advocated:

As he traveled relentlessly, speaking to up to 500 groups per year, Campolo urged people to let their lives be transformed by Jesus. And he told them that if their lives really were transformed, it would be good news for people who were hungry and oppressed.

First, it is deeply troubling that Campolo had as much influence as he did. Five hundred speaking events a year? That gets into fudged-numbers territory, but if it’s even remotely accurate, it was hundreds of opportunities for him to spread his spiritual poison. You can read more about his dangerous “theology” here and here, some of which included his unbiblical views on homosexuality, “gay” marriage, the nation of Israel, Islam, and New Age meditation.

And a life transformed by Jesus? That is progressive-speak. I would imagine Gandhi would have said the same thing. He too was a “Christ follower.”

I say this sincerely—it is a tragedy that Tony Campolo has died. I hope and pray his legacy of deception will also die soon.

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Related Articles on Tony Campolo:

“Tony Campolo – Coming to Christ Through Mysticism?” by Roger Oakland

“Emerging “Progressive” Spirituality: Joining the New Age with Christianity, and Christian Leaders Say OK” by LT Editors

A Response to “Red Letter Christians” and Tony Campolo’s “Going the Jesus Way”