Social Gospel

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The Social Gospel movement is a Protestant Christian intellectual movement that was most prominent in the early 20th century United States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean environment, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically, the Social Gospellers sought to operationalize the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10): "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."[1] They typically were post-millennialist; that is, they believed the Second Coming could not happen until humankind rid itself of social evils by human effort.[2] The Social Gospel was more popular among clergy than laity.[3] Its leaders were predominantly associated with the liberal wing of the Progressive Movement and most were theologically liberal, although they were typically conservative when it came to their views on social issues.[4] Important leaders include Richard T. Ely, Josiah Strong, Washington Gladden, and Walter Rauschenbusch.

Although most scholars agree that the Social Gospel movement peaked in the early 20th century, there is disagreement over when the movement began to decline, with some asserting that the destruction and trauma caused by World War I left many disillusioned with the Social Gospel's ideals[5] while others argue that World War I stimulated the Social Gospelers' reform efforts.[6] Theories regarding the decline of the Social Gospel after World War I often cite the rise of neo-orthodoxy as a contributing factor in the movement's decline.[7] Many of the Social Gospel's ideas reappeared in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. "Social Gospel" principles continue to inspire newer movements such as Christians Against Poverty.[8]

United States[edit]

The Social Gospel affected much of Protestant America. The Presbyterians described its goals in 1910 by proclaiming:[9]

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 late 19th century, many Protestants were disgusted by the poverty level and the low quality of living in the slums. The social gospel movement provided a religious rationale for action to address those concerns. Activists in the Social Gospel movement hoped that by public health measures as well as enforced schooling the poor could develop talents and skills, the quality of their moral lives would begin to improve. 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 were crusading against the 12-hour day for workers at U.S. Steel.

Differing Theology and Doctrine[edit]

One of the defining theologians for the Social Gospel movement was Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist pastor of a congregation located in Hell’s Kitchen. Rauschenbusch rallied against what he regarded as the selfishness of capitalism and promoted a form of Christian Socialism that supported the creation of labor unions and cooperative economics.

While pastors like Rauschenbusch were combining their expertise in Biblical ethics and economic studies and research to preach theological claims around the need for social reform, others such as Dwight Moody refused to preach about social issues based on personal experience. Pastor Moody’s experience led him to believe that the poor were too particular in receiving charity. Moody claimed that concentrating on social aid distracted people from the life saving message of the Gospel.

Rauschenbusch sought to address the problems of the city with socialist ideas which proved to be frightening to the middle classes, the primary supporters of the Social Gospel. In contrast, Moody attempted to save people from the city and was very effective in influencing the middle class Americans who were moving into the city with traditional style revivals.[10]

Rauschenbusch's A Theology for the Social Gospel (1917)[edit]

The social gospel movement was not a unified and well-focused movement, for it contained members who disagreed with the conclusions of others within the movement.[11] Rauschenbusch stated that the movement needed “a theology to make it effective” and likewise, “theology needs the social gospel to vitalize it.”[12] In A Theology for the Social Gospel (1917), Rauschenbusch takes up the task of creating “a systematic theology large enough to match [our social gospel] and vital enough to back it.”[12] He believed that the social gospel would be “a permanent addition to our spiritual outlook and that its arrival constitutes a state in the development of the Christian religion,”[13] and thus a systematic tool for using it was necessary.

In A Theology for the Social Gospel, Rauschenbusch states that the individualistic gospel has made sinfulness of the individual clear, but it has not shed light on institutionalized sinfulness: “It has not evoked faith in the will and power of God to redeem the permanent institutions of human society from their inherited guilt of oppression and extortion.”[14] This ideology would be inherited by liberation theologians and civil rights advocates and leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.

The “kingdom of God” is crucial to Rauschenbusch’s proposed theology of the social gospel. He states that the ideology and doctrine of the “the kingdom of God,” of which Jesus Christ reportedly “always spoke”[15] has been gradually replaced by that of the Church. This was done at first by the early church out of what appeared to be necessity, but Rauschenbusch calls Christians to return to the doctrine of “the kingdom of God.”[16] Of course, such a replacement has cost theology and Christians at large a great deal: the way we view Jesus and the synoptic gospels, the ethical principles of Jesus, and worship rituals have all been affected by this replacement.[17] In promoting a return to the doctrine of the “kingdom of God,” he clarified that the “kingdom of God”: is not subject to the pitfalls of the Church; it can test and correct the Church; is a prophetic, future-focused ideology and a revolutionary, social and political force that understands all creation to be sacred; and it can help save the problematic, sinful social order.[18]

Settlement movement[edit]

Main article: Settlement movement

Many reformers inspired by the movement opened settlement houses, most notably Hull House in Chicago operated by Jane Addams. They helped 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 was created originally to help rural youth adjust to the city without losing their religion, but by the 1890s became a powerful instrument of the Social Gospel.[19] Nearly all the denominations (including Catholics) engaged in foreign missions, which often had a social gospel component in terms especially of medical uplift. The Black denominations, especially the African Methodist Episcopal church (AME) and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion church (AMEZ) had active programs in support of the Social Gospel.[20] Both evangelical ("pietistic") and liturgical ("high church") elements supported the Social Gospel, although only the pietists were active in promoting Prohibition.[21]

Progressives[edit]

In the United States prior to World War I, the Social Gospel was the religious wing of the progressive movement which had the aim of combating injustice, suffering and poverty in society. Denver, Colorado, was a center of Social Gospel activism. Thomas Uzzel led the Methodist People's Tabernacle from 1885 to 1910. He established a free dispensary for medical emergencies, and employment bureau for job seekers, a summer camp for children, night schools for extended learning, and English language classes. Myron Reed of the First Congregational Church became a spokesman, 1884 to 1894 for labor unions on issues such as worker's compensation. His middle-class congregation encouraged Reed to move on when he became a Socialist, and he organized a nondenominational church. The Baptist minister Jim Goodhart set up an employment bureau, and provided food and lodging for tramps and hobos at the mission he ran. He became city chaplain and director of public welfare of Denver in 1918. Besides these Protestants, Reform Jews and Catholics helped build Denver's social welfare system in the early 20th century.[22]

The South had its own version of the Social Gospel, focusing especially on prohibition. Other reforms included outlawing public swearing, boxing and dogfights and similar affronts to their moral sensibilities. By 1900, says Edward Ayers, the white Baptists, although they were the most conservative of all the denominations in the South, became steadily more concerned with social issues, taking stands on "temperance, gambling, illegal corruption, public morality, orphans and the elderly." [23]

New Deal[edit]

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 with African Americans. After 1940, the movement withered, but was invigorated in the 1950s by black leaders like Baptist minister Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. After 1980 it weakened again as a major force inside mainstream churches; indeed those churches were losing strength. Examples of its continued existence can still be found, notably the organization known as the Call to Renewal and more local organizations like the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy. Another modern example can be found in the work of Reverend John Steinbruck, senior pastor of Luther Place Memorial Church in Washington, D.C., from 1970 to 1997, who was an articulate and passionate preacher of the Social Gospel and a leading voice locally and nationally for the homeless, Central American refugees, and the victims of persecution and prejudice.

Social Gospel and Labor Movements[edit]

Because the Social Gospel was primarily concerned with the day-to-day life of laypeople, one of ways in which it made its message heard was through labor movements. Particularly, the Social Gospel had a profound effect upon the American Federation of Labor (AFL). The AFL began a movement called Labor Forward, which was a pro-Christian group who “preached unionization like a revival.”[24] In Philadelphia, this movement was counteracted by bringing revivalist Billy Sunday, himself firmly anti-union, who believed “that the organized shops destroyed individual freedom.”[24]

Legacy of the Social Gospel[edit]

While the Social Gospel was short-lived historically, it had a lasting impact on the policies of most of the mainline denominations in the United States. Most began programs for social reform, which led to ecumenical cooperation in 1910 while in the formation of the Federal Council of Churches. Although this cooperation was about social issues that often led to charges of socialism.[24] It is likely that the Social Gospel's strong sense of leadership by the people led to women's suffrage, and that the emphasis it placed on morality led to prohibition.[24]

Canada[edit]

The Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, a political party that was later reformed as the New Democratic Party, was founded on social gospel principles in the 1930s by J.S. Woodsworth, a Methodist minister, and Alberta MP William Irvine. Woodsworth wrote extensively about the social gospel from experiences gained while working with immigrant slum dwellers in Winnipeg from 1904 to 1913. His writings called for the Kingdom of God "here and now".[25] This political party took power in the province of Saskatchewan in 1944. This group, led by Tommy Douglas, a Baptist minister, introduced universal medicare, family allowance and old age pensions.[26] This political party has since largely lost its religious basis, and became a secular social democratic party. The Social Service Council (SSC) was the “reforming arm of Protestantism in Canada”, and promoted idea of the social gospel.[27] Under the “aggressive leadership of Charlotte Whitton”, the Canadian Council of Child Welfare, opposed “a widening of social security protection...” and “continued to impede the implementation of provincial mothers’ pensions”, instead pressing for the “traditional private charity” model.[28] Charlotte Whitton argued that children should be removed from their homes “instead of paying money to needy parents” [29] Charlotte Whitton, as Christie and Gauvreau point out, was also a member of the SSC,[30] 7). The SSC's mandate included the “intensive christian conquest of Canada.[31]

In literature[edit]

The Social Gospel theme is reflected in the novels In His Steps (1897) and The Reformer (1902), by 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, one of the leading early theologians of the Social Gospel in the United States, 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 produced many of the written works that defined the theology of the Social Gospel movement and gave it public prominence. These included 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).

The 21st century[edit]

In the United States, the Social Gospel is still influential in mainline Protestant denominations such as, African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Presbyterian Church USA, the United Church of Christ, the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the United Methodist Church; it seems to be 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 is considered by some[who?] to have been a radical Marxist attempt to promote the Social Gospel. However, as noted by Penny Lernoux in her 1977 book Cry of the People, right-wing death squads linked with groups supported by the United States government frequently targeted priests merely for helping the poor and labeled them as Marxist or communist merely to justify torturing and murdering them.

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. ^ Cecelia Tichi, Civic passions: seven who launched progressive America (and what they teach us) (2009) p 221
  2. ^ They rejected premillennialist theology. which held the Second Coming of Christ was imminent, and Christians should devote their energies to preparing for it rather than addressing the issue of social evils.
  3. ^ Jill K. Gill (2011). Embattled Ecumenism: The National Council of Churches, the Vietnam War, and the Trials of the Protestant Left. Northern Illinois University Press. p. 33. 
  4. ^ White, Jr. (1990), and Ahlstrom (1974).
  5. ^ White, Jr. and Hopkins (1975) and Handy (1966).
  6. ^ Visser 't Hooft (1928)
  7. ^ Ahlstrom (1974), Hopkins (1940), White, Jr. and Hopkins (1975), and Handy (1966)
  8. ^ Christopher H. Evans, The social gospel today (2001) p. 149
  9. ^ Rogers and Blade 1998
  10. ^ Howard C. Kee, et al., Christianity: A Social and Cultural History, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998), 476-478
  11. ^ Kee, Howard C, et al. Christianity: A Social and Cultural History, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.p478
  12. ^ a b Rauschenbusch, Walter. Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917. p1.
  13. ^ Rauschenbusch, Walter. Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917. p2.
  14. ^ Rauschenbusch, Walter. Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917. P5.
  15. ^ Rauschenbusch, Walter. Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917. p131.
  16. ^ Rauschenbusch, Walter. Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917. p132.
  17. ^ Rauschenbusch, Walter. Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917. p133-134.
  18. ^ Walter Rauschenbusch, Theology for the Social Gospel (New York: Abingdon Press, 1917) pp 134-137. full text
  19. ^ Hopkins (1940)
  20. ^ Luker (1998)
  21. ^ Marty (1986)
  22. ^ Jeremy Bonner, "Religion," in Rick Newby, ed, The Rocky Mountain Region (Greenwood Press, 2004) p 370
  23. ^ Edward L. Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life after Reconstruction (1992) p 170
  24. ^ a b c d Howard C. Kee, et al., Christianity: A Social and Cultural History, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998), 479-480
  25. ^ "A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE NDP". Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  26. ^ The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. "The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan "Social Gospel"". University of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada. Retrieved 2009-10-14. 
  27. ^ Guest, D. (1997). The Emergence of Social Security in Canada. Vancouver, BC: Univ p. 70
  28. ^ Guest, D. (1997). The Emergence of Social Security in Canada. Vancouver, BC: Univ p. 59
  29. ^ Carniol, B. (2005). Case Critical: Social services and social justice in Canada. Toronto, ON: Between The Lines. p. 45
  30. ^ Christie, C., Gauvreau, M. 2001 A Full-Orbed Christianity: The Protestant Churches and social welfare in Canada, 1900-1940. Kingston, ON, Montreal, QC: McGill-Queen’s p.124
  31. ^ Christie, C., Gauvreau, M. 2001 A Full-Orbed Christianity: The Protestant Churches and social welfare in Canada, 1900-1940. Kingston, ON, Montreal, QC: McGill-Queen’s p.214

Further reading[edit]

Secondary sources[edit]

  • 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. Socialism and Christianity in Early 20th Century America. (1998), online edition
  • Brian J. Fraser. The Social Uplifters: Presbyterian Progressives and the Social Gospel in Canada, 1875-1915 (1990)
  • Robert T. Handy, ed. The Social Gospel in America, 1870-1920 (1966).
  • Charles Howard Hopkins. The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism, 1865-1915. (1940) online edition
  • Benjamin L. Hartley. Evangelicals at a Crossroads: Revivalism and Social Reform in Boston, 1860-1910 (University of New Hampshire Press/University Press of New England; 2011) 304 pages; looks at Methodist, Salvation Army, Baptist, and nondenominational Christians
  • William R. Hutchison. "The Americanness of the Social Gospel; An Inquiry in Comparative History," Church History, Vol. 44, No. 3 (Sep., 1975), pp. 367–381 online in JSTOR
  • Maurice C. Latta, "The Background for the Social Gospel in American Protestantism," Church History, Vol. 5, No. 3 (Sep., 1936), pp. 256–270 online at JSTOR
  • Ralph E. Luker. The Social Gospel in Black and White American Racial Reform, 1885-1912. (1998) excerpt and text search
  • Marty, Martin E. Modern American Religion, Vol. 1: The Irony of It All, 1893-1919 (1986); Modern American Religion. Vol. 2: The Noise of Conflict, 1919-1941 (1991)
  • Muller, Dorothea R. "The Social Philosophy of Josiah Strong: Social Christianity and American Progressivism," Church History 1959, v 28, #2 pp. 183–201 at JSTOR
  • Rader, Benjamin G. "Richard T. Ely: Lay Spokesman for the Social Gospel." Journal of American History 53:1 (June 1966). in JSTOR
  • Rogers, Jack B., and Robert E. Blade, "The Great Ends of the Church: Two Perspectives," Journal of Presbyterian History (1998) 76:181-186.
  • Smith, Gary Scott. "To Reconstruct the World: Walter Rauschenbusch and Social Change," Fides et Historia (1991) 23:40-63.
  • Visser 't Hooft, Willem A. The Background of the Social Gospel in America (1928).
  • White, Ronald C., Jr. Liberty and Justice for All: Racial Reform and the Social Gospel (1877-1925) (1990).
  • White, Ronald C., Jr. and C. Howard Hopkins. The Social Gospel. Religion and Reform in Changing America (1975).

Primary sources[edit]

External links[edit]

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