By the turn of the last century a new theology emerged within the United States called the social gospel. Walter Rauschenbusch, the son of German immigrants and a Baptist, was the major proponent of this new theology. The social gospel sought to address issues of sin and salvation within the context of the Industrial Revolution and the great poverty it spawned in urban centers. The social gospel asked Christians and their churches to become advocates for the “least of these” in a society that had abandoned the poor. Rauschenbusch’s theology was optimistic. He saw human progress as an event always moving forward with the great potential for improvement of the human condition. The social gospel became the dominant theology within American churches until the optimism it expressed collapsed under the weight of two world wars and a growing sense among Christians that human progress was not always a forward event. Despite its shortcoming the Social Gospel remains one of the most important theological movements of the modern era and even today continues to impact the work of mainline Christian churches. There is much that we can learn from this theology and incorporate into the lives of our modern churches.
- Introduction to Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel
Over the course of last fall and early this winter, I studied Rauschenbusch’s works and wrote a modest paper introducing some of the important concepts behind his theology and the criticisms of it. I’m making the paper available to those who might want a short introduction to a part of American church history that is often overlooked. There are some excellent resources referenced in the footnotes for those interested in learning more.
Click here to download Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel.
