Difference between revisions of "Social Gospel" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | [[Image:Rembrandt Heilung der Schwiegermutter des Petrus.jpg|thumb| | + | [[Image:Rembrandt Heilung der Schwiegermutter des Petrus.jpg|thumb|270px|[[Jesus]] heals [[saint Peter|Peter]]'s mother-in-law (Rembrandt). The Social Gospel emphasized the healing ministry of Jesus as a model for the [[church]]'s mission in the world.]] |
The '''Social Gospel''' movement is a [[Protestantism|Protestant Christian]] intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The movement applied [[Christian ethics]] to [[Social issues|social problem]]s, especially poverty, inequality, liquor, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, weak labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Above all it opposed rampant individualism and called for a socially aware religion. | The '''Social Gospel''' movement is a [[Protestantism|Protestant Christian]] intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The movement applied [[Christian ethics]] to [[Social issues|social problem]]s, especially poverty, inequality, liquor, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, weak labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Above all it opposed rampant individualism and called for a socially aware religion. | ||
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== In Britain and the the United States == | == In Britain and the the United States == | ||
| + | [[Image:Walter Rauschenbusch.jpg|thumb|200px|left|[[Walter Rauschenbusch]]]] | ||
In the late nineteenth century, many Europeans and Americans had grown deeply troubled by the poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. Meanwhile, liberal Christian theologians such as [[Albrecht Ritschl]], [[Adolf van Harnack]], and [[Ernst Troeltsch]] had brought a new vision of Christ's message which emphasized practicing Jesus' teaching of loving one's neighbor more than faith in the traditional doctrines of the church. In England, Charles Kingsley and Frederick Denison Maurice launched movements inspired by the idea of Christian Socialism, and similar movements also began in Switzerland and Germany. In the United States, the Social Gospel movement was stimulated especially by the writings of [[Washington Gladden]] and [[Walter Rauschenbusch]]. | In the late nineteenth century, many Europeans and Americans had grown deeply troubled by the poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. Meanwhile, liberal Christian theologians such as [[Albrecht Ritschl]], [[Adolf van Harnack]], and [[Ernst Troeltsch]] had brought a new vision of Christ's message which emphasized practicing Jesus' teaching of loving one's neighbor more than faith in the traditional doctrines of the church. In England, Charles Kingsley and Frederick Denison Maurice launched movements inspired by the idea of Christian Socialism, and similar movements also began in Switzerland and Germany. In the United States, the Social Gospel movement was stimulated especially by the writings of [[Washington Gladden]] and [[Walter Rauschenbusch]]. | ||
Revision as of 23:50, 27 December 2008
The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially poverty, inequality, liquor, crime, racial tensions, slums, bad hygiene, child labor, weak labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Above all it opposed rampant individualism and called for a socially aware religion.
Theologically, the Social Gospel leaders emphasized living Jesus teachings rather than mere faith in the doctrines of Christian religion. The foremost writer among them was the American Walter Rauschenbusch, together with reformers such as Richard T. Ely and Washington Gladden. Although it is general associated with liberal caused, the Social Gospel became a major force in the mainline churches of Britain and the US, inspiring movements as political diverse as the YMCA and women's suffrage, socialist labor reform and Prohibition.
The Social Gospel movement faded during WWII, but many of its ideas reappeared in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Social Gospel principles continue to inspire newer movements in mainline and black churches, as well as to blend with more radical ones such as liberation theology, black theology, and gay theology.
In Britain and the the United States
In the late nineteenth century, many Europeans and Americans had grown deeply troubled by the poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. Meanwhile, liberal Christian theologians such as Albrecht Ritschl, Adolf van Harnack, and Ernst Troeltsch had brought a new vision of Christ's message which emphasized practicing Jesus' teaching of loving one's neighbor more than faith in the traditional doctrines of the church. In England, Charles Kingsley and Frederick Denison Maurice launched movements inspired by the idea of Christian Socialism, and similar movements also began in Switzerland and Germany. In the United States, the Social Gospel movement was stimulated especially by the writings of Washington Gladden and Walter Rauschenbusch.
Rauschenbusch's view urged Christians to replace selfishness with love as the basis of human society. The mission of the church he taught, is not merely to get individuals into heaven, but bring about real change in society on earth. In his Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907), Rauschenbusch argued that Jesus never his life of faith from the task of reforming society, and neither should his followers. The mission of the church is thus not only individual salvation but social justice.
The Social Gospel movement found fertile ground in mainline American churches, providing a religious rationale for action to address social concerns from poverty to women's suffrage. Activists in the movement further hoped hoped that by enacting public health measures and supporting enforced schooling so the poor they could not only facilitate the development the talents and skills of the masses, but the quality of their moral lives would also begin to improve.
By 1910, the Social Gospel had become a driving force in much of Protestant America. In that year, US Presbyterian Church issued a statement typifying the view of many mainline churches:
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. [1]
Important concerns of the Social Gospel movement were labor reforms, such as abolishing child labor and regulating the hours of work by mothers. By 1920 they crusaded against the 12-hour day for men at U.S. Steel. They also spoke out against the lynchings of blacks, both in the South and rural northern states. Reformers inspired by the Social Gospel also opened settlement houses, most notably Hull House in Chicago operated by Jane Addams, to help the poor and immigrants improve their lives. Settlement houses offered services such as daycare, education, and health care to needy people in slum neighborhoods.
The YMCA, originally created to help rural youth adjust to the city without losing their religion, became a powerful instrument of the Social Gospel in the early twentieth century. Nearly all the denominations (including Catholics) engaged in foreign missions, which often had a Social Gospel component, especially in terms of medical services. The Black denominations, especially the African Methodist Episcopal church (AME) and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church (AMEZ) denominations, had active programs in support of the Social Gospel vision. Many elements of the mainline churches, both evangelical ("pietistic") and liturgical ("high church"), supported the Social Gospel. Among evangelical and fundamentalist churches the Social Gospel often translated into promoting Prohibition, which was viewed as a effort to better society by eliminating the social ills of alcohol abuse. So pervasive was the Social Gospel's influence that both Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson in the US, as well as David Lloyd George in England, sought Rauschenbusch's counsel.
In the United States prior to World War I, the Social Gospel inspired the religious wing of the progressive movement which had the aim of combating injustice, suffering, and poverty in society through socialist political reforms. During the New Deal of the 1930s Social Gospel themes could be seen in the work of Harry Hopkins, Will Alexander, and Mary McLeod Bethune, who added a new concern by championing the rights of African Americans.
After 1940, the horrors of World War II badly damaged the optimism of the Social Gospel and liberal Christianity in general. The Social Gospel movement soon faded as a major force in American politics. However, it had developed deep roots in the African American community and was invigorated in the 1950s by black leaders like Baptist minister Martin Luther King, Jr. and mainline ministers of the civil rights movement. After 1980 it weakened again but still underlies the social concerns of main mainline protestant churches.
The Social Gospel today
In Britain, the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM) is a Social Gospel-inspired society affiliated to the British Labour Party. It is an amalgamation of the earlier Society of Socialist Clergy and Ministers and the Socialist Christian League. It affiliated to the Labour Party in 1988. At last count the CSM had more than 40 members in the House of Commons and House of Lords, including former prime minister Tony Blair and the current prime minister Gordon Brown.
In the United States, the Social Gospel is still influential in mainline Protestant denominations such as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church. It is growing in the Episcopal Church as well, especially with that church's effort to support the ONE Campaign. In Canada, it is widely present in the United Church and in the Anglican Church. Social Gospel elements can also be found in many service and relief agencies associated with Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church in the United States. It also remains influential among Christian socialist circles in Britain in the Church of England, Methodist and Calvinist movements.
In Catholicism, liberation theology has similarities to the Social Gospel. In the Anglican Church, the social gospel has found expression in pacifism.
In literature
The Social Gospel theme was reflected in the novels In His Steps (1897) and The Reformer (1902), the creations of the Congregational minister Charles Sheldon, who coined the motto "What would Jesus do?" In his personal life, Sheldon was committed to Christian Socialism and identified strongly with the Social Gospel movement. Walter Rauschenbusch indicated that his theology had been inspired by Sheldon's novels.
In 1892, Rauschenbusch and several other leading writers and advocates of the Social Gospel formed a group called the Brotherhood of the Kingdom. Members of this group would produce many of the written works that defined the theology of the Social Gospel movement and gave it public prominence. These would include Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis (1907) and Christianizing the Social Order (1912), as well as Samuel Zane Batten's The New Citizenship (1898) and The Social Task of Christianity (1911). Since then, hundreds of works of both theology and fiction have been inspired by the message of the Social Gospel. Perhaps the most famous speech emphasizing Social Gospel themes was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Notes
- ↑ Jack B. Rogers and Robert E. Blade, "The Great Ends of the Church: Two Perspectives," Journal of Presbyterian History (1998) 76:181-186.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Curtis, Susan. A Consuming Faith: The Social Gospel and Modern American Culture. New studies in American intellectual and cultural history. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991. ISBN 9780801841675
- Evans, Christopher Hodge. The Social Gospel Today. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 9780664222529
- Luker, Ralph. The Social Gospel in Black and White: American Racial Reform, 1885-1912. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1991. ISBN 9780807819784
- Rauschenbusch, Walter. A Theology for the Social Gospel. Eugene OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2000. ISBN 9781579100223
- White, Ronald C., and Charles Howard Hopkins. The Social Gospel: Religion and Reform in Changing America. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1976. ISBN 9780877220848
External Links
- Religion and Socialism Commission of the Democratic Socialists of America - Retrieved November 16, 2007.
- Socialism and Faith Commission of the Socialist Party USA - Retrieved November 16, 2007.
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