Some Thoughts on the
“SOCIAL GOSPEL” MOVEMENT
A Brief Survey, by
Pastor Terry L. Reese; 11/30/24
A. Synopsis.
The basic and central idea behind the historic
Social Gospel Movement and its modern progressive off-shoots: the Church should mainly
focus upon doing good in the “real world” (i.e., the material realm of the “here-and-the-now”)
through social & political activism—as opposed to spending its
valuable energies and resources upon such idle and otherworldly-oriented
activities as personal evangelism and Bible-based theological indoctrination.
The Social Gospel Movement is famous (or should
we better say, infamous?) for advocating the perspective that human
society is best served when the Church engages primarily in practical,
meaningful, and materially-beneficial social activities, such as political
& civic involvement, legislative campaigns, and societal-reform movements—all
of which properly constitutes the Christian’s true calling and central emphasis
(i.e., “Do politics, not evangelism!”)
B. Historical Background.
Historically, the original “Social Gospel”
Movement was influenced by earlier “Christian Socialist” movements,
arising and flourishing amidst elite Protestant circles during the late 19th
& early 20th centuries. In many ways the Social Gospel Movement
was a “Progressive Era” response and reaction to the societal problems associated
with the excesses of the “Gilded Age” (c. 1870’s-1890’s) and its
ruthless Social Darwinist philosophies (i.e., “Survival of the fittest... It is the “right” of the strong to dominate and exploit the weak!”). The Social
Gospel Movement thus developed within the following historical context:
Ø The rise of rapid industrialization;
Ø The rise of urbanization
and the corresponding decline of rural America, in which our cities became lodestones
attracting cheap and readily exploitable labor (including young children);
Ø The rise of urban
rot and its accompanying social problems—including shocking levels of
poverty, along with often nightmarish and wildly inhumane working conditions;
Ø The rise of modernist
philosophies and inevitably accompanying theological liberalism.
Ø The rise of an optimistic
view of human potential through accumulated wisdom and
scientific progress.
Ø A changed America: more industrial,
more urban, more ethnically diverse, and less traditional…
C. Some General
Characteristics of the Social Gospel Movement.
1. Theological Liberalism (i.e., Modernism), to varying
degrees, captured the major mainline denominations and their seminaries in the Progressive
Era (c. 1890’s-1920’s). The Social-Gospel Movement was often
associated with such liberal modernists.
However, the influence and
perimeters of the Social Gospel Movement was not exclusively limited to
such Liberal/Modernist circles; some reform-minded evangelicals—influenced
by the Arminian Second Great Awakening—also embraced the progressive
social and humanitarian goals of the movement (e.g., three-time Democratic
Party Presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan was associated with both
the Social Gospel Movement and with Biblical Fundamentalism). Out of the
Progressive/Social Gospel Era emerged various evangelical attempts at
promoting social reform, employing such vehicles as the Salvation Army and
the YMCA.
o
With regard to Liberal/Modernism, Scriptural authority was challenged by a
destructive Higher Criticism that rejected Biblical inerrancy and
traditional views of inspiration.
o
The Historic Faith of ancient Israel was seen by Liberals
as the mere product of human historical development and evolutionary
processes—as opposed to Divine revelation. Biblical-Era Judaism and later
Christianity were fundamentally no different from any other religion, in terms
of their human origins.
o
Liberals challenged—and generally rejected—the central
doctrines of historic Christianity (e.g., the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, the
Virgin Birth, direct and supernatural Creation, and doctrines relating to Man,
Sin, and Salvation).
o
God was understood by classical Modernists to be wholly
immanent, and thus fully identified with the world and its evolutionary
processes—tending towards an impersonal pantheism (i.e., “God
is everything & everything is God”). Miracles were thus
rejected as something that originate from outside the natural order and stand
in marked defiance to its “laws.” Thus, we see the celebrated watershed
controversy arise in the early 20th century over the issue of the
Virgin Birth.
o
Anthropology (i.e., the Doctrine of Man): Theologically Liberal
Social Gospel advocates believed that Man is basically good, and that he
is thus perfectible through natural means (e.g., education, good
government, social reform, scientific discovery, etc.). Man’s problems arise
from imperfect environments, lack of education, and unjust social structures.
o
Soteriology (i.e., salvation). Liberals did not believe
that Man requires a spiritual or eschatological salvation either from personal sin,
or from the wrath of some angered Personal Deity who required an appeasing act
of propitiation (contra Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 John 2:2, 4:10). “Salvation,”
rather, is equated with social and political reform, manifest in an earthly
justice. The archaic and primitive concept of a literal “Hell” is not a
reality to be either, feared or shunned.
2. Postmillennialism (i.e., the Church—not
Christ—creates a Millennial Golden Age).
o According to firm
social-gospel theorists (both liberal and evangelical), human effort
would achieve the conditions of Matt. 6:10:
Matt. 6:10: “Thy kingdom
come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”
o Social Gospel advocates
favored the idea that the guiding and reforming hand of an enlightened Church
would bring about a new utopian age of social progress, via
social & political activism.
o The idea of a direct
& catastrophic Divine intervention in the affairs of men (cf.,
Dan. 2:34-35, 44-45; 2 Pet. 3:4) as a necessary eschatological precursor
to the millennial Kingdom Age was therefore rejected.
o A point of contrast: Contemporary Fundamentalists
of the Progressive Era, on the other hand, increasingly favored Premillennialism
(i.e., the Biblical truth that Christ will return first, and then
Personally establish the Kingdom).
3. An agenda largely focused upon practical
politics, education & social reform.
o Within Liberal Social
Gospel circles, personal evangelism & Biblical indoctrination in the
full counsel of Scripture (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; John 20:15-17; Acts
20:17-27) was to be set aside in favor of applying basic Christian
ethics unto various social problems.
o The exclusive focus of
ministry is thus to be engaged in social reform movements, battling such major
societal ills as social injustice, racism, poverty, urban blight, bad health,
poor nutrition, lack of education, alcoholism, crime, drug-abuse, marital
discord, spousal abuse, and war.
C.
The Progress & Influence of the Movement.
o Prominent clergymen such
as Washington Gladden & Walter Rauschenbusch helped to give
shape to the Movement in late 19th & early 20th
centuries.
o The Social Gospel
Movement functioned as the religious wing of the larger Progressive
Movement.
o The 20th
century horrors of the World Wars and the Holocaust dampened the
optimistic thrust of traditional Protestant Theological Liberalism, giving
way to the more pessimistic theology of neo-orthodoxy (which had a
greater degree of interest in the content of Scripture, but which was
nonetheless built upon basic liberal foundations with regard to inspiration and
inerrancy).
o The less optimistic “Christian
Realism” of Reinhold Niebuhr was an outgrowth of the Social Gospel Movement
that tempered the idea of progress with an acknowledgement of the deep human capacity
for evil (while nonetheless denying the Biblical concept of Original
Sin). Niebuhr was a strong influence upon the thought of such diverse
individuals as Martin Luther King, Jr. (who was NOT an orthodox, Bible-believing
Christian) and President Jimmy Carter.
o While the original “Movement”
waned with the First World War, it left a lasting and indelible impact
upon American political and social philosophy (e.g., the New Deal, the
Great Society, modern Progressivism, etc.). In the realm of religion,
both the modern church-affiliated Civil Rights Movement and radical Liberation
Theology were heavily indebted to the older Social Gospel Movement.
o Today’s fading neo-liberal
mainline Protestant denominations of the National Council of Churches
(NCC) and the World Council of Churches (WCC) persuasion continue to embrace a progressive
social/political “gospel,” now extending its agenda and portfolio unto Climate
Change and LGBTQ+ concerns.
o A new generation of “woke,”
Left-leaning progressive-evangelicals have picked up the torch of the
old Social Gospel impulse, championing various progressive political concerns (e.g.,
climate change activism, liberal immigration policy, etc.), and lend support to
the various branches of neo-Marxian Critical Theory. Once again, the Church is
advised to focus heavily upon social and political activism—as opposed to SOUL
WINNING and SPIRITUAL DISCIPLESHIP! So-called “Red Letter Christians”
like Tony Campolo and Shane Claiborne fall into this general category of
progressive-social justice oriented-evangelicalism. The increasingly irrelevant
and unmoored CT (Christianity Today), once the flagship publication for
the “New Evangelicalism,” is also rapidly descending further into this
territory.
D. Some SERIOUS
Biblical problems with this view…
Indeed, no Biblically-sound, orthodox,
fundamental, conservative evangelical Christian in the world can
formally endorse a viewpoint that says “Do politics, not evangelism!”
1.
A denial of the spiritual priorities of the Gospel.
a. The Social Gospel movement and its
offshoots focus upon a secular social-salvation—as opposed to the personal,
spiritual salvation of the individual.
But what does God HIMSELF say is to be first
and primary, with regard to our message unto the world?
1 Cor. 15:3-4: “For I
delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that
Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried,
that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures…”
b. Our root problem is SIN—not
imperfect social environments and institutions, or unjust political and
economic systems.
Our principle and foundational message
unto a lost world full of sin remains…
Rom. 6:23: “For the wages
of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.”
John 3:16: “For God so
loved the world, that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
c. Men need personal salvation from
the terrifying wrath that is to come—which emanates from the holiness of
God!!!
Matt. 3:7b: “O generation of
vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?”
Rom. 5:9: “Much more then,
having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God
through Him.”
1 Thess. 1:10b: “…Jesus, who
rescues us from the wrath to come.”
Rev. 6:16-17: “…and they said
to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the
presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the
great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
d. The primary responsibility of a
missionary: PREACHING THE SALVATION OF GOD AS REVEALED IN THE WORD!
Preaching Christ crucified—Good News, and a summons to repentance!
Rom. 10:13-14: “…for
"Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then
will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in
Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?”
Acts 20:21: “…testifying
both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
Matt. 3:2: “Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Mark 16:15: “Go into all the
world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.”
Acts 17:2-3: And Paul went
in, as was his custom, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the
Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to
suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to
you, is the Christ.”
1Cor. 1:22-23: “For Jews demand
signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block
to Jews and folly to Gentiles…”
1Cor. 2:1-2: “And I, when I
came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God
with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except
Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
e. The primary responsibility of a Pastor: FEEDING
AND DISCIPLING THE SHEEP! Teaching the WHOLE COUNSEL of the Word of God!
John 21:17: “Simon, son of
John, do you love me?… Feed my sheep.”
Matt. 28:19-20: “Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you.”
Acts 20:27: “…for I did not
shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”
The “whole counsel” even involves persistently
teaching upon such things as the coming millennial Kingdom of God and the finer
details of eschatology—something that is generally despised and derided by
Social Gospel-type theorists, who disdainfully boast that they “can do nothing
with the Fundamentalists and their absurd prophecy charts!”
Acts 19:8: And he entered
the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them
about the kingdom of God.
Acts 28:23: When they had
appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers.
From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of
God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from
the Prophets.
Acts 28:30-31: He lived there
two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming
the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness
and without hindrance.
2.
The progressive Social Gospel viewpoint is rooted in progressive,
unbiblical worldview-assumptions.
a. A denial of the cosmic radical
effects of the Fall…
Only the power of Christ can bring a New
Earth, uncontaminated by the effects of Adam’s sin and the Curse (Rom. 8:19-21;
Rev. 21:1-5).
b. A humanistic and absurdly optimistic view
of human potential…
John 15:4-5: "Abide in
Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in
the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the
branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from
Me you can do nothing.
i. An unrealistic concept of human &
societal perfectibility…
i.a. Society-in-general—largely unregenerate—hopelessly
misses the mark of Divine standards…
Rom. 3:23: “…for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
…And thus can only achieve very narrow
& limited results…
Matt. 7:17: "So every
good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.”
i.b. …And even if everyone
was a Christian, the world would still not be converted into the
postmillennialist’s Utopian Paradise, due to the continued presence of sin
within the believer that wars both against the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:17) and
against the believer’s own new Regenerate Nature (Rom. 7:14-25).
Gal 5:17: For the desires
of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against
the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the
things you want to do.
Rom 7:19: For I do not do
the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
i.c. Jesus did not see humanity as
being objectively “good,” when discussing the benevolence of God.
Matt. 7:11: "If you
then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much
more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”
ii. Social Gospel thinking has an unbiblically high
degree of confidence in man’s “reason” and in the human sciences. This view
ignores the noetic effects of sin (i.e., the effects of sin upon
the mind).
I Cor. 2:14: But a natural
man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
Isa 55:8: For my thoughts
are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
iii. This view ignores the Biblical data
concerning Total Depravity.
a. Aspects of Total Depravity.
1. There is nothing that Man can do
to merit saving-favor with God.
John 6:28-29: Then they said
to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
2. Depravity extends to every aspect of
Man’s being, nature, and faculties—spiritual, physical, mental, emotional.
3. This depravity is universal;
none—save for Christ—are exempt.
4. Natural Man’s inclination is towards sin and is
antagonistic towards God.
Ps. 51:5: Behold, I was
brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
Eph. 2:1: “And you were
dead in your trespasses and sins…”
Eph. 2:3b: “…and were by
nature children of wrath, even as the rest.”
b. John Calvin’s definition of
Natural Man’s depraved state:
“All
men are conceived in sin, and born the children of wrath, indisposed to all
saving good, propense to evil, dead in sin, and the slaves of sin; and without
the regenerating grace of the Holy Spirit, they neither are willing nor able to
return to God, to correct their depraved nature, or to dispose themselves to
the correction of it.”
c. The Scriptures loudly affirm the
doctrine of Total Depravity.
Gen. 6:5: Then the LORD
saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
Jer. 17:9: The heart is
more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?
Rom. 3:10-11: “…as it is
written, ‘There is none righteous, not even one;
there is none who understands,
there is none who seeks for God…”
Rom. 3:23 “…for all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Isa. 64:6: For all of us have become like one who is
unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; and all of us
wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.
iv. The Social Gospel view thus fails to
recognize that man’s heart—not his environment—is the real
& ultimate culprit, with reference to society’s ills!
o Ultimately, this will
be once-and-for-all proven when countless unregenerates born during the Kingdom
Age—a perfect environment—will rise in rebellion against the Lord Jesus Christ!
Rev. 20:8b: “…the number of them
is like the sand of the seashore.”
3.
Worldly humanism vs. Biblical charity.
Ps. 82:3-4: Give justice to
the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the
destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the
wicked.”
o There are many
Biblical passages calling for equal justice, as well as for mercy
& concern, for the poor and the weak…
o These, however, are often
distorted and removed from their original context in order to support
modern utopian & progressive political/economic/social agendas that set
aside other aspects of Biblical revelation.
o For example, a Scripture like Ex.
23:9 cannot be justly employed to support the wholesale eradication of national
borders and to promote an unlimited immigration policy!
o There is a distinction between a socialistic
egalitarianism (i.e., where an equality of economic outcomes is
enforced by the state) vs. American constitutional equality (i.e.,
the state treats everyone equally, in that everyone plays by the same rules—thus
guaranteeing unequal outcomes).
o The Biblical ethic demands
that justice before the Law be blind (Deut. 1:16-17)—but there is no
Biblical call for partiality towards the lowly or the sort of economic
leveling associated with the modern “Social Justice” movement.
o Early Christians
sometimes voluntarily shared their wealth (Acts 2:44,
4:32-37)—but this benevolence was never compulsory in
nature (Acts 5:4)!
4.
The miserable, rotten fruit of the liberal NCC (National Council of
Churches) and the WCC (World Council of Churches)…
a. The farce of the modern liberal
mainline Protestant church…
Ø False churches without
the Gospel,
hypocritically bearing historic denominational titles while opening denying the
historic creeds of their own diverse faith-traditions!
Ø Unsaved workers of
iniquity
bearing Divinely-ordained offices—in defiance of the prescribed Biblical
qualifications (1Tim. 3:1-13)!
Ø NO Biblically
prescribed ecclesiastical discipline (Matt. 18:15-20, I Cor. 5:1-13)! I Cor. 5:13b: “Purge the evil
person from among you.”
Ø Open support for gross
immorality (e.g., abortion & LGBT
lifestyles)!
b. Uncritical support for leftist
extremism & terrorism.
In the past, WCC financial support—garnered
from local church offerings—has ended up in the hands of Marxist Third
World extremist guerilla movements!
c. Consistent, systematic hostility
towards the modern state of Israel.
Foreshadowing today’s antisemitic pro-Hamas
activism, the WCC has long been unwavering in its support for Israel’s radical and
murderous enemies, and has also repeatedly condemned so-called “Christian
Zionism”—even branding Christian support for Israel’s right to the Land as
“heresy!”
Gen. 12:3: “And I will
bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.”
Gen. 15:18: “On that day the
LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "To your descendants I have given
this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river
Euphrates…”
5.
Activism without the Gospel: nothing but a “BAND-AID”
solution!
Political/civic/social involvement without the heart-regenerating,
saving-power of Gospel leads to short-term, hollow victories, at best.
i. It is TRUE that human
civil Government plays an important, Divinely-ordained role in restraining
evil (cf., p. 26; Rom. 13:1-4).
a. Employing the fear of punishment,
Civil Law acts as a curb or restraint upon the open and tangible
outbreak of evil and lawlessness that lies dormant within men’s hearts…
b. Civil government also functions as an
instructor of ethics: good laws unavoidably have an influence in informing
the citizenry as to what constitutes good and evil…
o
Consider
the responsive mindset of the people to civic legislation:
if the civil magistrate either permits or bans a given activity, it has influential
weight with the public:
Ø “Hey,
if even the government says it’s OK, then it MUST be OK!”
Ø “That’s
not good… They have LAWS against that sort of stuff!”
o Consider how legislative approval
of abortion, same-sex marriage, and marijuana usage has unwoven the moral
fabric of our nation!
ii. BUT… good laws and good government cannot
change the heart!
o If the HEART and INNER
MAN is not changed, real lasting societal change is not possible.
o If the HEART is not
changed, only an outward, begrudging, minimal, and temporary conformity
to good legislation is achieved.
o Only GOD, through the agency of
the Word (1 Pet. 1:23) by the Sovereign power of the Spirit (John 3:3-8) can
change and regenerate the heart.
2 Cor. 5:17: Therefore if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold,
new things have come.
Ezek. 11:19-20: "And I will
give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the
heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may
walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My
people, and I shall be their God.”
Ezek. 36:26: "Moreover,
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove
the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
Jer. 31:33: "But this
is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those
days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their
heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
Jer. 32:40: "I will
make an everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from them, to
do them good; and I will put the fear of Me in their hearts so that they will
not turn away from Me.”
E. FINALLY: A word to
our fellow conservative Evangelicals: The failure of politically-active
theological Liberals should serve as a caveat to US!
o
Some advocates of extreme pietism (the diametrical
opposite of the Social Gospel viewpoint, who argue against any form of Christian
civic/political involvement) have accused some politically-active and socially-concerned
conservative Evangelicals and Fundamentalists of lapsing into a sort of right-wing
“Social Gospel.”
o This is, however,
largely a hypothetical straw-man and exercise exaggerated rhetorical polemic:
absolutely NO legitimate and representative Biblically-conservative Evangelical
advocacy-group advises believers to “Do Politics, not Evangelism!”
o Consider the historic
track-record
of such theologically conservative groups as The Moral Majority, Focus
on the Family, The American Center for Law and Justice, and The
Christian Coalition…
o None have advocated setting
aside the primacy of the Gospel!
o None have claimed that a
certain politician’s success will set aside our need for God and His Word!
o None have claimed that a
particular legislative campaign will bring us ultimate Redemption or a consummate
state of societal perfection!
o None have suggested that
various political exertions (electioneering, petitions, lobbying, etc.) should
ever replace prayer, Bible Study, and personal evangelism!
o Nonetheless, politically-active conservative
Evangelicals would be well-advised to…
…carefully consider their ways,
…be ever mindful of what is primary,
…be neither overly naïve nor
optimistic when it comes to the political process,
…be shrewd in placing our confidence in
the real motives of politicians,
…be mindful of personal testimony,
…speak the truth in love
(Eph. 4:15),
…carefully choose their battles,
…and thus proceed in their involvement with
a degree of caution.
Hopefully, our political ideology is
consistent with our profession of Faith, representing an out-flow of its basic
foundational premises, presuppositions, and ethical precepts.
And yet, we should also
recognize that a general political category is not synonymous, in the absolute
sense, with the totality of our Faith—particularly regarding its
redemptive aspects. While I agree that political conservatism is more
consistent with the Judeo-Christian Worldview than various other current
political perspectives, there nonetheless remains a meaningful distinction
between a political liberal and a theological liberal. Being a
conservative Republican, in-and-of-itself, won’t get you into Heaven—and being
a moderately-liberal Democrat won’t automatically bar you from the same!
By all means, let us engage in the cultural
mandate and reasonably participate in the ongoing political process and debate…
but let us also be mindful of our testimony, and endeavor to be both gracious
and sensitive unto others when involved in the discussion! Remember that not
all of our legitimate brothers and sisters in Christ have successfully “connected-the-dots”
in terms of relating the presuppositions of the Christian world-and-life-view to
political philosophy—and should therefore be aided and instructed with care and
compassion.
