 | It has been suggested that this article bemerged intoJesus movement. (Discuss) Proposed since March 2025. |
"Jesus freak" is a term arising from the late 1960s and early 1970scounterculture and is frequently used as apejorative for those involved in theJesus movement.
AsTom Wolfe illustrates inThe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, the term "freak" with a preceding qualifier was a strictly neutral term and described any counterculture member with a specific interest in a given subject; hence "acid freak" and "Jesus freak".[1] The term "freak" was in common-enough currency thatHunter S. Thompson's failed bid for sheriff ofPitkin County, Colorado, was as a member of the "Freak Power" party.[2]
However, many later members of the movement, those misunderstanding the countercultural roots, believed the term to be negative, and co-opted and embraced the term, and its usage broadened to describe aChristian subculture throughout thehippie andback-to-the-land movements that focused on universal love andpacifism, and relished the radical nature ofJesus' message. Jesus freaks often carried and distributed copies of theGood News for Modern Man,[3] a 1966 translation of theNew Testament written in modern English. In Australia, and other countries, the term "Jesus freak", along with "Bible basher", is still used in a derogatory manner. In Germany, there is a Christian youth culture, also calledJesus Freaks International, that claims to have its roots in the U.S. movement.[4]
