The Social Gospel in American Religion

One of the curious thin spots in the historiography of religion in America is the Social Gospel, the religious arm of progressivism in the decades surrounding the turn of the twentieth century. That such a crucial movement in American life should receive comparatively little scrutiny remains a mystery, but Christopher H. Evans's excellent survey, The Social Gospel in American Religion, goes a long way toward filling that void. Evans opens with a jarring juxtaposition of quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. and from the conservative activist Ralph Reed. Both claim the Social Gospel, and especially Walter Rauschenbusch, as their inspiration. King's Social Gospel lineage is well chronicled, coming as it does through his associations with Morehouse College and Boston University. Reed's claim is considerably more tenuous, but his inclusion in this narrative signals the author's capacious approach to the Social Gospel tradition. Evans properly links the Social Gospel with the earlier activism of evangelical social reformers, although he neglects to mention Charles Finney's full-throated attacks on capitalism. As evangelical, postmillennial activism gave way to premillennialism later in the century, the task of social reform was taken up by theological liberals, who had a more optimistic view of human nature and of the prospects for social amelioration. Individuals associated with the rise of the Social Gospel include such familiar figures as Washington Gladden, Josiah Strong, Frances Willard, and Richard T. Ely, but Evans expands the roster to include John Ryan (a Roman Catholic) and Stephen Wise (a Reform Jew

Art · Evangelism · Gospel · Historiography · Literature · Narrative · Political science · Politics · Progressivism · Protestantism · Scrutiny · Social Gospel · Sociology · Theology · American Constitutional Law and Politics · History · Law · Philosophy · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious studies

• The Novel of Neronian Rome and its Multimedial Transformations

  Monika Woźniak, Maria Wyke•Novel of Neronian Rome and Its…•2020

  Add to list