Preview

A Short Summary of the Social Gospel

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1187 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Short Summary of the Social Gospel
Social Gospel
Perhaps a most natural starting point is to realize that the rise of the social gospel within the Roman Catholic Church occurred within the larger context of the economic situation in America during the late nineteenth century. Laissez-faire economics, which advocates economic freedom for the business class, ruled the day. Also, the Panic of 1873, which saw unprecedented unemployment among the lower classes and created bread lines in the urban areas greatly affected the national consciousness. During this time, labor unions and various trade organizations grew and developed. Child labor, women laborers, and the length of the working day were hotly disputed during this time as well.
Protestants
Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918). Rauschenbusch is probably the most well-known of the social-gospelers. A Baptist minister who served in the “Hell’s Kitchen” area of New York, Rauschenbusch believed that humanity needed salvation from social evils. The Church’s role in this is to promote the Kingdom of God, which upholds the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God. He did not become a political activist. Rauschenbusch had been influenced by Washington Gladden (1836-1918), who believed that businessmen were making a poor class of people and giving that same class of people a low wage, thus ensuring a cycle of pauperism. Gladden suggested that philanthropy could help solve the problem if it flowed from:
1) the understanding of the Fatherhood of God and
2) the Brotherhood of man.

Roman Catholics The rise of a social gospel perspective within the Roman Catholic Church took time and created friction during it’s ascendancy. In 1876, Archbishop James Bayley of Newark had told Roman Catholics that God permits poverty in order that the wealthier classes have the opportunity to perform alms-giving and advocated “patience and resignation to His holy will” on the part of the poor. In other words, not only did the poor exist to facilitate the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Alister McGrath’s is the author of Christianity’s Dangerous Idea. The author attempts to provide a detail account and depiction of the history of Protestantism from the sixteenth century to the twenty-first century. He’s analytical approach is made clear in his book as he details the entire Protestant Reformation from its early uprising to it effects it has in today society. McGrath states, “The dangerous new idea, firmly embodied at the heart of the Protestant revolution, was that all Christians have the right to interpret the Bible for themselves” (p.2). Throughout the fascinating book, he takes a simplistic approach by furthering the reformation accounts in three main points. The origin, manifestation and transformation that the movement would consist of.…

    • 1062 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    -Robber Barons were attacked very much, but believed that they had a commandment from God to help the poor (THE GOSPEL OF WEALTH)…

    • 4615 Words
    • 19 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the book Peasant Fires: The Drummer of Niklashausen, the authority and power of the church compared to the common man is greatly demonstrated. Throughout the book, Richard Wunderli talks of the evilness of the common man and the importance of the church. The church gained their power from the people because there were thought to be the only way that one could get out of “purgatory” and into heaven. The preachers would sell indulgences to the common folk in order for man to be saved from their inevitable future. Preachers were also very good speakers. They knew how to speak, what to speak of, and when to speak of it in order to capture the full attention of the people. The preacher John Capistrano was so great with his words, that the people…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Sociology and economics, gives theology a more informed understanding of the plight of the poor and oppressed. While critics have proposed that these theologies have a Marxist sympathy. This isn’t entirely true because the core of liberation theology has never been Marxist. “It is rather the compassionate identification with the poor and their struggle for justice, inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus himself, which is at its heart. “Instead of social analysis, which was seen as a methodological tool, from the outset liberation theology placed greater emphasis on the crucial role of God’s people committed praxis- or, in other words, the Christian communities’ action inspired by faith and informed theological reflection”…

    • 1388 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The son of Scottish migrants to Manitoba in the early 1900’s, Tommy Douglas grew up with a strong Christian underpinning of the ‘Protestant Work Ethic’ and the Christian ‘social gospel’ – a ‘belief that Christianity was above all a social religion, concerned as much with improving this world as with the life hereafter’. (Lovick and Marshall) These foundations initially led him to becoming a Baptist Minister in the small country town of Weyburn in Saskatchewan in 1930. However not quite 26 years old, while at Weyburn and seeing the sick and the old suffer greatly under capitalism, particularly during the Great Depression, Douglas wanted to do more for them than he felt he could as a pastor.…

    • 1905 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    DBQ reform movement

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The influence of religion upon reformative groups during the years of 1825-1850 was a major proponent to said groups’ spreading of and high reverence for democratic ideology. As seen in document B, churches themselves, as influenced by the equalitarian unwritten doctrine of the Second Great Awakening, worked to accept and aid members of society who were previously untouched by the church. As listed in Doc. B, “harlots, drunkards, infidels, and all sorts of abandoned characters” were taken in by the church, “awakened” and converted. The spiritual and social aid of the church, the feelings comradery and love which came along with membership to the church, and the respect for and appreciation of all members of society (thanks to the Second Great Awakening) was anyone’s to claim, all they had to do was convert. These feelings of comradery and this notion of acceptance are two genuine democratic ideals, though there were countless more displayed and advocated by the church from 1825-1850.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    While the country was at its best, many new religious denominations formed and lots of missionary work came about (Wikipedia contributors). The religious teachings of these times mimicked the positive changes that were being seen across the United States. Hell and damnation sermons were gone and the preaching…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Second Great Awakening in the early nineteenth century was about making people more noble, God-fearing, and erudite. Stemmed from the repercussion against the deist faith, Americans began pouring their time and energy into religious resurgences and reform movements. This uproar of religious groundswell sparked massive social reforms that amplified throughout the country. The idea that everyone can be saved, and everybody is worthy of salvation, heightened the interaction between one another through evangelism. Voluminous varieties of restructurings, all birthed from the awakening and spurred from evangelistic outreaching, included the ideas of alcohol consumption, women’s rights, and the education system.…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The reformation in 1517 has a huge role in the Protestant church. Catholic Church was extremely strict on their teachings and influence in society. But in the early 19th century in the United States of America, a religious revival was founded by Protestants – the Second Great Awakening, although it began around 1790, the Second Great Awakening gained power by 1800. The Second Great Awakening is a revival movement that encourages people to find salvation and improve society. The church leaders preaching touched the hearts and minds of many people, including the people who do not go to church; this is why between 1820s and 1830s the church membership has increased and reached their height. The religious revival changed the lives of many people, mostly blacks, and women. This religious revival transformed the United States into a Christian country. The Methodist and Baptist changed the traditional spiritual lectures and attracted more individuals regardless of their color and life status.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Created in Crisis

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Bird, Frederick B. (1982). A Comparative Study Of The Work Of Charity In Christianity And…

    • 1257 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    In John Wesley’s fourth sermon on the Sermon of the Mount, he makes the point that Christianity is a social religion. Christianity is not practiced in a vacuum. As Christians, he says, we gather as a community, holding one another accountable to the faith and being with one another as we grow in relationship with God. Beyond that, as a social religion, Christianity calls us to have an impact on our communities, to care about others, and to be involved in making social changes for the betterment of the world. The church should foster these Christian communities, providing space in which Christians and those exploring Christianity can live their faith with one another. Wesley’s two-part understanding of the social nature of Christianity and the church leads us to the stated mission of the United Methodist Church – “to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” This mission matters because our world needs transformation, and our call as the church is to work in concert with God to bring about the Kingdom of God – on earth, and within and through our lives.…

    • 1518 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    gospel essentials

    • 1466 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Human nature is defined in the dictionary as, “the psychological and social qualities that characterize humankind, especially in contrast with other living things” (dictionary.com, 2015). The purpose of God creating man was to love and to serve God. God wanted man to carry our His plan for life and His creation. This all changed when Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command. In Genesis…

    • 1466 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the late 1820s and 1830s a religious revival called the Second Great Awakening had a strong impact on the American religion and reform. It grew partly out of evangelical opposition to the deism associated with the French Revolution and gathered strength in 1826, when Charles Grandsoin Finney preacher conducted a revival. Many people saw religion as a social gathering since people didn’t get out much in the 1800s it made going to church and being holy a more enjoyable activity then we would see it today.…

    • 526 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    During The Progressive Era

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages

    The social Gospel promoted a brand of progressivism based on Christian based teaching to help get better housing and living conditions for the poor.…

    • 2287 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Christian Gospel

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Gospel of Christian is alleged in our traditions in many customs. Most people have the perception that if you are a Christian you feel you are holier than a non-believer. What they do not understand is that, when anyone makes the choice to become a Christian, they make life-long changes in their lives. On several occasions, friends and sometimes family become offended with the choices you make in becoming a Christian. In my life, my wife and I made the decision to become a Christians, we changed everything in our life, including the way we think.…

    • 399 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays