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Rating: 
Summary: Merely Biblical Discipleship Needed
Review: Any good book that forces us to think about--rethink--the biblical concept of discipleship should be read. Mere Discipleship is such a book. Lee Camp has produced a serious book on Christian discipleship where his major premise is that the modern world, and in particular American life, has subverted the biblical concept of true discipleship. Granted Camp's perspective is hinged on his own Anabaptist church background, but his critique of how we apply Christianity today rings true--and at times, terrifyingly so. You're not going to agree with everything Camp presents. And at times he seems to choose some parts of Scripture over others (e.g., you can tell he likes the revelation of God in Christ as the peacemaker, but not the wrathful God of the OT that smote godless armies through Israel; he is partial to the passive Lamb of God, but not the table over-turning Jesus in the temple). Nonetheless, Camp is right--our church-life and concept of discipleship is tainted by our American-way of life. He attempts to help us decompartmentalize our faith, especially at the levels where our Christianity intersects with our public life. Although a bit on the intellectual side, still I highly recommend working through Camp's argument. Your commitment to discipleship will be enhanced and bettered as a result.
Rating:
Summary: Merely Biblical Discipleship Needed
Review: Any good book that forces us to think about--rethink--the biblical concept of discipleship should be read. Mere Discipleship is such a book. Lee Camp has produced a serious book on Christian discipleship where his major premise is that the modern world, and in particular American life, has subverted the biblical concept of true discipleship. Granted Camp's perspective is hinged on his own Anabaptist church background, but his critique of how we apply Christianity today rings true--and at times, terrifyingly so. You're not going to agree with everything Camp presents. And at times he seems to choose some parts of Scripture over others (e.g., you can tell he likes the revelation of God in Christ as the peacemaker, but not the wrathful God of the OT that smote godless armies through Israel; he is partial to the passive Lamb of God, but not the table over-turning Jesus in the temple). Nonetheless, Camp is right--our church-life and concept of discipleship is tainted by our American-way of life. He attempts to help us decompartmentalize our faith, especially at the levels where our Christianity intersects with our public life. Although a bit on the intellectual side, still I highly recommend working through Camp's argument. Your commitment to discipleship will be enhanced and bettered as a result.
Rating: 
Summary: Highly Recommended!!
Review: I picked this up at the library because of the title - a play on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. This book succeeds as well as any of C.S. Lewis' writings. The text is simple to read. The message is uncompromising in adherence to the Gospel. Mr. Camp has done a great service to all who want to follow Christ beyond doctrine or politics, religion or occupation.What would Jesus do? Check this book out. It may help in sorting through the options. A good sort can help with a hard choice, even if that choice may include one's own cross. Lee Camp reminds us that Easter is here and now, but only if we choose to carry our own cross. For all who worship the God of Abraham and seek to learn the Way of Christ.
Rating:
Summary: Radically readable radical medicine
Review: One of the beauties of this book is that it reminds us all that "radical christianity" is a somewhat redundant phrase if being Christian means being a follower of Jesus. Camp, with wit and ease, introduces us to the depth of our refusal to live the way of Jesus, yet also irenically points us to the attractive, bracing and winsome way of Jesus as a possible path for us as well. If Oxford church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch is right that contemporary Christians are increasingly likely to look more like 16th Century Anabaptists than the other groups of that era, then truly Camp's book qualifies as a tract for the times far more than Lewis's _Mere Christianity_. Never before has the "baptist vision" or "believers' church vision" been stated in a way as complelling and available as this. However, having said this, it should also be noted that the author has not set out to render intelligible one branch of Christianity but rather to call the whole church to this path of mere discipleship to its Lord; a way which is radically catholic and always relevant.
Rating:
Summary: Radically readable radical medicine
Review: One of the beauties of this book is that it reminds us all that "radical christianity" is a somewhat redundant phrase if being Christian means being a follower of Jesus. Camp, with wit and ease, introduces us to the depth of our refusal to live the way of Jesus, yet also irenically points us to the attractive, bracing and winsome way of Jesus as a possible path for us as well. If Oxford church historian Diarmaid MacCulloch is right that contemporary Christians are increasingly likely to look more like 16th Century Anabaptists than the other groups of that era, then truly Camp's book qualifies as a tract for the times far more than Lewis's _Mere Christianity_. Never before has the "baptist vision" or "believers' church vision" been stated in a way as complelling and available as this. However, having said this, it should also be noted that the author has not set out to render intelligible one branch of Christianity but rather to call the whole church to this path of mere discipleship to its Lord; a way which is radically catholic and always relevant.
Rating:
Summary: Mere Brilliance: Shaken and Stirred
Review: The Christian book market is constantly flooded with material that leaves people neither shaken nor stirred; books that call us to nothing beyond our confined consumerist lifestyles of comfort and conformity. In the flood of mass-marketed easy answers, this little book, 'Mere Discipleship', trusts God enough to ask hard questions. In the flood of apologetics that are not well thought through, 'Mere Discipleship' is a book you don't feel you have to apologize for. In the flood of takes on Christianity that are remembered for power games rather than the empowerment of the marginalised; that are remembered for genocide rather than lifestyles of generosity; that are remembered for the violence of the State rather than the nonviolence of the crucified Christ, we might rightly feel embarrassed about our faith. Yet upon this ocean of despair floats this little faithful vessel, 'Mere Discipleship', that reminds us that, although we may be horrified by a history of Christianity that looks nothing like Christ, we need not be ashamed of the gospel. Amidst the waters of unthinking fundamentalism and unengaged liberalism, 'Mere Discipleship' is a lucid, intelligent yet simple read which has shaken, inspired and moved me to embody the teachings and life of Christ in my person and in my community--and to do so in Resurrection power. Don't read it unless you are ready to hear the call, "follow me."
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Primer on Radical Discipleship
Review: This book is a hard-hitting, well-written and compelling account of Christian discipleship. Camp does a great job countering the individualistic and privatized notions of Christianity that pervade the consumer church in North America today. He clearly lays out the essentials of a true discipleship in which believers take seriously what it means to follow a Crucified Messiah. Camp shows how Christianity is no inner "spirituality" but is rather a life of radical and uncompormising allegiance to the kingdom of God as revealed in Christ. As such, the Christian way of discipleship makes claims on every aspect of the life. Politics, economics, how we view possessions and community are all circumscribed within what it means to follow Christ.
This book may not be helpful to those who have read John Howard Yoder, Stanley Hauerwas and the like at length. However, for those who are seeking to understand what being a disciple of Christ entails, or for evangelicals who have a sinking feeling that there must be more to Christ's salvation than escaping hell, this book will be a superb help. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Not again
Review: This book is disappointing. In my own estimation, it is simply another attempt by Brazos Press to define discipleship through the grid of pacifism. I guess this shouldn't be a surprise given the publisher's extreme preoccupation with Stanley Hauerwas. Lee Camp's proposition (sorry to offend you post-modern types) that Constantine and present day rulership in America are somehow similar is off-base. Last time I checked, Bush wasn't excuting people for not becoming Christian, and to confuse this with the issue of America's War on Terror or any other recently fought war is absurd.
I'm not endorsing bad evangelical thinking, and I know there is plenty of it, I would simply like to see Rodney Clapp of Brazos Press give Paul as much attention as he does Jesus (also they've seemingly forgotten about the Christ of Revelation). I have yet to see a respectable treatment of Romans 13 from this division of Baker. If I'm not mistaken, the canonicity of Paul's epistle is part of our Christian heritage.
Rating:
Summary: A **GEM** from the Buckle on the Bible Belt
Review: Tired of the same ol' pablum one usually finds in popularly written evangelical spirituality? Check out this gem! An outstanding tour de force that strikes at the root (literal meaning of 'radical') of much of popular Christianity. Dr. Camp is a Biblical scholar that pleads for a Christianity that is at once true to its founding AND focused on contemporary culture AND life-changing. Springing from an independent tradition, Mere Discipleship challenges readers to think deeply about the fundamentals of their personal practice of religion. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
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