six sins, all of a public nature, which combined to kill Jesus. He bore their crushing attack in his body and soul. He bore them, not by sympathy, but by direct experience. Insofar as the personal sins of men have contributed to the existence of these public sins, he came into collision with the totality of evil in mankind. It requires no legal fiction of imputation to explain that "he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities." Solidarity explains it.
These six "social sins" which Jesus, according to Rauschenbusch, bore on the cross:
Religious bigotry, the combination of graft and political power, the corruption of justice, the mob spirit [being "the social group gone mad"] and mob action, militarism, and class contempt – every student of history will recognize that these sum up constitutional forces in the Kingdom of Evil. Jesus bore these sins in no legal or artificial sense, but in their impact on his own body and soul. He had not contributed to them, as we have, and yet they were laid on him. They were not only the sins of Caiaphas, Pilate, or Judas, but the social sin of all mankind, to which all who ever lived have contributed, and under which all who ever lived have suffered.
Rauschenbusch also devoted considerable effort to explicating the problem of evil, which he saw embodied not in individuals, but in "suprapersonal entities", which were socio-economic and political institutions. He found four major loci of suprapersonal evil: militarism, individualism, capitalism, and nationalism. To these he juxtaposed four institutional embodiments of good: pacifism, collectivism, socialism, and internationalism. [38]
A Theology for the Social Gospel
The social gospel movement was not a unified and well-focused movement, as it contained members who disagreed with the conclusions of others within the movement. [39] Rauschenbusch stated that the movement needed "a theology to make it effective" and likewise "theology needs the social gospel to vitalize it." [40] In A Theology for the Social Gospel (1917), Rauschenbusch took up the task of creating "a systematic theology large enough to match [our social gospel] and vital enough to back it." [40] He believed that the social gospel would be "a permanent addition to our spiritual outlook and that its arrival constitute[d] a state in the development of the Christian religion", [41] and thus a systematic tool for using it was necessary.
In A Theology for the Social Gospel, Rauschenbusch wrote that the individualistic gospel had made the sinfulness of the individual clear, but it had 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." [42] This ideology would be inherited by liberation theologians and civil rights advocates and leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr.
The idea of the Kingdom of God is crucial to Rauschenbusch's proposed theology of the social gospel. He stated that the ideology and "doctrine of the Kingdom of God" of which Jesus Christ "always spoke" [43] had 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 called Christians to return to the doctrine of the Kingdom of God. [44] 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. [45] Rauschenbusch saw four practical advantages in emphasizing the Kingdom of God rather than the Church: The Kingdom of God is not subject to the pitfalls of the Church; it can test and correct the Church; it 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. [46]
Works
- "Das Leben Jesu". Cleveland, 1895.
- Evangeliums-Lieder 1 & 2 (Gospel Hymns) mit Deutschen Kernliedern. Edited with Ira Sankey. Chicago: Bigelow and Main Co., 1904.
- Christianity and the Social Crisis. New York: Macmillan, 1907.
- For God and the People: Prayers of the Social Awakening. Boston: The Pilgrim Press, 1910.
- "Unto Me." Boston: The Pilgrim Press, 1912.
- Christianizing the Social Order. New York: Macmillan, 1912.
- "Some Moral Aspects of the 'Woman Movement,'" The Biblical World, vol. 42 (Oct. 1, 1913), pp. 195–199.
- Dare We Be Christians. Boston: The Pilgrim Press, 1914.
- A Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917.
- The Social Principles of Jesus." New York: The Association Press, 1918.
Contributions
- Freedom and the Churches (chapter one: The Baptist Contribution), 1913
- The Path of Labor (chapter six: Justice and Brotherhood), 1918
See also
Notes
- ↑ Pronounced /ˈwɔːltərˈraʊʃənbʊʃ/ .
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References
Footnotes
- ↑ Evans 2001, p. 57.
- ↑ Minus 1988, p. 53.
- 1 2 3 Evans 2005, p. 2010.
- ↑ McNab 1972, p. 201; Evans 2005, p. 2010; Piott 2006, pp. 78–79.
- ↑ McNab 1972, p. 201; Evans 2005, p. 2010; Piott 2006, p. 78.
- 1 2 McNab 1972, p. 201; Evans 2005, p. 2010.
- ↑ Schwarz 2005, pp. 144–145.
- 1 2 3 4 McNab 1972, p. 201.
- ↑ Hinson-Hasty 2013, p. 370; Schwarz 2005, pp. 144–145.
- ↑ Hinson-Hasty 2013, pp. 371–372; Schwarz 2005, pp. 144–145.
- ↑ Dorn 1993, p. 91.
- ↑ McLean 2012.
- ↑ Holland 2004.
- ↑ O'Donnell, Paul. "Wrestling with Rauschenbusch". SoMA Review. Retrieved November 29, 2012.
- ↑ "Bio: Paul Raushenbush". Beliefnet. 7 September 2007. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- ↑ McNab 1972, p. 156.
- ↑ Ramsay 1986.
- 1 2 Kindell & Demers 2014, p. 594.
- ↑ Donovan Ebersole Smucker, Origins of Walter Rauschenbusch's Social Ethics, McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP, Canada, 1994, p. 15
- ↑ Dorrien 2010, p. 15.
- ↑ Evans 2017, p. 121.
- ↑ Gorrell 1988, p. 18.
- ↑ Schwarz 2005, p. 145.
- ↑ Garrett 2009, p. 315.
- ↑ Evans 2017, p. 78.
- ↑ Cairns 1996, p. 439.
- ↑ Curtis 2001, p. 111.
- ↑ Evans 2005, p. 2011.
- ↑ Bawer 1997, p. 91; Ramsay 1986, p. 98.
- ↑ Bawer 1997, p. 91.
- ↑ Storrs 2000, p. 24.
- ↑ Rice 2013, p. 80.
- ↑ Rice 2013, p. 80; Steven 2008, p. 316.
- ↑ Madsen, Anna (October 24, 2012). "The Piquant Social Gospel of Senator George McGovern". OMG: Center for Theological Conversation.
- ↑ Bernstein, Adam (June 11, 2007). "Richard Rorty, 75; Leading U.S. Pragmatist Philosopher". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- ↑ Bawer 1997, p. 93.
- ↑ Bawer 1997, p. 95.
- ↑ Rauschenbusch 1917.
- ↑ Kee et al. 1998, p. 478.
- 1 2 Rauschenbusch 1917, p. 1.
- ↑ Rauschenbusch 1917, p. 2.
- ↑ Rauschenbusch 1917, p. 5.
- ↑ Rauschenbusch 1917, p. 131.
- ↑ Rauschenbusch 1917, p. 132.
- ↑ Rauschenbusch 1917, pp. 133–134.
- ↑ Rauschenbusch 1917, pp. 134–137.
Bibliography
- Bawer, Bruce (1997). Stealing Jesus: How Fundamentalism Betrays Christianity . New York: Three Rivers Press. ISBN 978-0-609-80222-9 . Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- Cairns, Earle E. (1996). Christianity Through the Centuries: A History of the Christian Church (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan.
- Curtis, Susan (2001). A Consuming Faith: The Social Gospel and Modern American Culture. University of Missouri Press.
- Dorn, Jacob H. (1993). "The Social Gospel and Socialism: A Comparison of the Thought of Francis Greenwood Peabody, Washington Gladden, and Walter Rauschenbusch". Church History. 62 (1): 82–100. doi:10.2307/3168417. ISSN 1755-2613. JSTOR 3168417. S2CID 154191803 . Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- Dorrien, Gary (2010). Economy, Difference, Empire: Social Ethics for Social Justice. New York: Columbia University Press.
- Evans, Christopher H. (2001). "Gender and the Kingdom of God: The Values of Walter Rauschenbusch". In Evans, Christopher H. (ed.). The Social Gospel Today. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 53–66. ISBN 978-0-664-22252-9.
- ——— (2005). "Rauschenbusch, Walter (1861–1918)". In Shook, John R. (ed.). The Dictionary of Modern American Philosophers . Vol. 4. Bristol, England: Thoemmes Continuum. ISBN 978-1-84371-037-0.
- ——— (2017). The Social Gospel in American Religion: A History. NYU Press.
- Garrett, James Leo Jr. (2009). Baptist Theology: A Four-Century Study. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press.
- Gorrell, Donald K. (1988). The Age of Social Responsibility: The Social Gospel in the Progressive Era, 1900–1920. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press.
- Hinson-Hasty, Elizabeth (2013). "'In Each the Work of All, and in All the Work of Each': Sin and Salvation in Schleiermacher and Rauschenbusch". In Wilcox, Jeffrey A.; Tice, Terrence N.; Kelsey, Catherine L. (eds.). Schleiermacher's Influences on American Thought and Religious Life (1835–1920). Vol. 1. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Publications. pp. 370–392. ISBN 978-1-60608-005-4.
- Holland, Scott (2004). "The Coming Only Is Sacred: Self-Creation and Social Solidarity in Richard Rorty's Secular Eschatology". CrossCurrents. 53 (4). ISSN 1939-3881 . Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- McLean, Pamela (2012). The Completely Revised Handbook of Coaching: A Developmental Approach. San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-1-118-23507-2.
- Kee, Howard C.; Albu, Emily; Lindberg, Carter; Frost, Jerry W.; Robert, Dana L. (1998). Christianity: A Social and Cultural History (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
- Kindell, Alexandra; Demers, Elizabeth S., eds. (2014). Encyclopedia of Populism in America: A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO.
- McNab, John (1972). Towards a Theology of Social Concern: A Comparative Study of the Elements for Social Concern in the Writings of Frederick D. Maurice and Walter Rauschenbusch (PhD thesis). Montreal: McGill University. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- Minus, Paul M. (1988). Walter Rauschenbusch: American Reformer . New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-02-896470-6 . Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- Piott, Steven L. (2006). American Reformers, 1870–1920: Progressives in Word and Deed. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Litlefield Publishers. ISBN 978-0-7425-2763-8.
- Ramsay, William M. (1986). Four Modern Prophets: Walter Rauschenbusch, Martin Luther King, Jr., Gustavo Gutiérrez, Rosemary Radford Ruether . Atlanta: John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-8042-0811-6 . Retrieved February 2, 2020.
- Rauschenbusch, Walter (1917). A Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press.
- Rice, Daniel F. (2013). Reinhold Niebuhr and His Circle of Influence. New York: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139207737. ISBN 978-1-107-02642-1.
- Schwarz, Hans (2005). Theology in a Global Context: The Last Two Hundred Years . Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-2986-3.
- Steven, Cassedy (2008). "Walter Rauschenbusch, the Social Gospel Movement, and How Julius Wellhausen Unwittingly Helped Create American Progressivism in the Twentieth Century". In Dolansky, Shawna (ed.). Sacred History, Sacred Literature: Essays on Ancient Israel, the Bible, and Religion in Honor of R. E. Friedman on His Sixtieth Birthday. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns. pp. 315–324. ISBN 978-1-57506-151-1.
- Storrs, Landon R. Y. (2000). Civilizing Capitalism: The National Consumers' League, Women's Activism, and Labor Standards in the New Deal Era . Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-6099-1 . Retrieved February 2, 2020.
Further reading
- Baker, Ray Stannard (1910) [1909]. The Spiritual Unrest. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Company. Retrieved January 30, 2019.
- Evans, Christopher H. (2004). The Kingdom Is Always but Coming: A Life of Walter Rauschenbusch . Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-4736-2.
- Frederick, Peter J. (1976). Knights of the Golden Rule: The Intellectual as Christian Social Reformer in the 1890s. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 978-0-8131-1345-6.
- Handy, Robert T. (1958). "Walter Rauschenbusch". In Hunt, George L. (ed.). Ten Makers of Modern Protestant Thought. New York: Association Press. pp. 31–39. LCCN 58-6478 . Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- Piott, Steven L. American Reformers, 1870-1920: Progressives in Word and Deed (2006); see chapter 5 for Rauschenbusch.
- Sharpe, Dores Robinson (1942). Walter Rauschenbusch . New York: Macmillan Company.
- Rauschenbusch, Walter (2018). Brackney, William H. (ed.). Walter Rauschenbusch: Published Works and Selected Writings. Vol. 1–3. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press.
- Smucker, Donovan E. The Origins of Walter Rauschenbusch's Social Ethics (McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994) 173 pp.
External links
- Works by Walter Rauschenbusch at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Walter Rauschenbusch at Internet Archive
- Works by Walter Rauschenbusch at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Walter Rauschenbusch | |
|---|---|
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| Born | October 4, 1861 |
| Died | July 25, 1918 (aged 56) |
| Spouse | Pauline Rother (m. 1893) |
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| Ecclesiastical career | |
| Religion | Christianity (Baptist) |
| Ordained | 1886 [2] |
| Academic background | |
| Alma mater | University of Rochester Rochester Theological Seminary |
| Influences |
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| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
