Social gospel

The social gospel movement is a Protestant intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late 19th century and early 20th centuries . The principles of social gospel still serve as inspiration for younger movements such as B. Christians Against Poverty . The movement applies Christian principles to social issues , in particular poverty, alcoholism, crime, ethnic conflicts, precarious neighborhoods, hygiene, poor education and the risk of war.

theology

Theologically speaking, the leaders of the social gospel movement were usually post-millennial . That is, they believed that the Lord's return would not come before humanity would try to get rid of its social problems. As a result, they generally rejected the prevailing premillenarian theology in the U.S. that the Lord's return is imminent, which is why Christians should focus on this rather than on social issues. Their millenarian views are similar to those of Christian Reconstructionism , but social gospel supporters tend to be left and theologically liberal , while Reconstructionists tend towards politically libertarian and religious fundamentalist views.

Social gospel in the USA

In the USA, the social gospel movement was significantly influenced by the Baptist pastor Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918). He wanted Christians to fight for other, humane social conditions and thus contribute to the kingdom of God already on earth. His impetus was received in many Protestant churches in the country and became a driving force. This is expressed in the Presbyterian Book of Order (1910):

“The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. "

In the early 20th century, many Americans were appalled by the poverty and low standard of living in the slums. The social gospel movement provided them with a religious justification for actions aimed at eliminating this evil. Social gospel activists hoped that measures to improve public health and the introduction of compulsory education (skills and talents are encouraged) would also help improve the moral standards of disadvantaged sections of society.

List of prominent supporters of social gospel

Dorothy Day , American Roman Catholic, active in the 1940s, founder of the Catholic Worker Movement
Tommy Douglas , Canadian, Baptist pastor, New Democratic Party politician and intermittent Prime Minister of Saskatchewan , active from the 1930s to the 1960s
Diane Drufenbrock , nun and US Socialist Party candidate for Vice Presidency (1980)
Washington Gladden , American, active in the 1890s
Jesse Jackson , African American civil rights activist and Baptist pastor
Martin Luther King, Jr. , African American civil rights activist, active in the 1950s and 1960s
Shailer Mathews , American theologian
Charles Clayton Morrison , longtime editor of Christian Century in the USA
Abraham J. Muste , American peace and trade union activist, temporarily Reformed pastor
Walter Rauschenbusch , American theologian, active in the 1900s
Josiah Strong , American, active 1891
James Shaver Woodsworth , Canadian, active in the 1920s

literature

swell

Walter Rauschenbusch: A Theology for the Social Gospel (1917).
Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907).
Josiah Strong: Josiah Strong. Or, The Coming Kingdom (1898).
Lewis Herbert Thomas (ed.): The Making of a Socialist: The Recollections of TC Douglas (1984).

Secondary literature

Sydney E. Ahlstrom: A Religious History of the American People (1974)
Susan Curtis: A Consuming Faith: The Social Gospel and Modern American Culture (1991)
Jacob H. Dorn (ed.): Socialism and Christianity in Early 20th Century America . Greenwood Press, Westport 1998, ISBN 0-313-30262-6 .
Brian J. Fraser: The Social Uplifters: Presbyterian Progressives and the Social Gospel in Canada, 1875-1915 (1990)
Charles Howard Hopkins: The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism, 1865-1915. (1940)
William R. Hutchison: The Americanness of the Social Gospel. An Inquiry in Comparative History . In: Church History , Vol. 44 (1975), No. 3, pp. 367-381.
Maurice C. Latta: The Background for the Social Gospel in American Protestantism . In: Church History , Vol. 5 (1936), No. 3, pp. 256-270.
Ralph E. Luker: The Social Gospel in Black and White American Racial Reform, 1885-1912.
Martin E. Marty: Modern American Religion
- Vol. 1: The Irony of It All, 1893-1919 (1986).
- Vol. 2: The Noise of Conflict, 1919-1941 (1991).
Dorothea R. Muller: The Social Philosophy of Josiah Strong: Social Christianity and American Progressivism . In: Church History , Vol. 28 (1959), No. 2, pp. 183-201.
Jack B. Rogers, Robert E. Blade: The Great Ends of the Church: Two Perspectives . In: Journal of Presbyterian History , Vol. 76 (1998), pp. 181-186.
Gary Scott Smith: To Reconstruct the World: Walter Rauschenbusch and Social Change . In: Fides et Historia , Vol. 23 (1991), pp. 40-63.
Ronald Cedric White, C. Howard Hopkins: The Social Gospel. Religion and Reform in Changing America . Temple University Press, Philadelphia 1976, ISBN 0-87722-083-2 .

Individual evidence

↑ Gunnar Hillerdal: Art. Poverty , Chapter VII: 16. – 20. Century (ethical) . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE), Vol. 4. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1997, pp. 98–121, here p. 113.
^ Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the social crisis . Macmillan, New York 1907.
↑ Quotation from PCUSA website ( memento of January 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and from Rogers and Blade, 1988.

[1] Gunnar Hillerdal: Art. Poverty , Chapter VII: 16. – 20. Century (ethical) . In: Theologische Realenzyklopädie (TRE), Vol. 4. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin 1997, pp. 98–121, here p. 113.

[2] Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the social crisis . Macmillan, New York 1907.

[3] Quotation from PCUSA website ( memento of January 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) and from Rogers and Blade, 1988.