He was born 160 years ago on October 4, 1861, the first year of the Civil War, and died in 1918, a few months before the end of World War I, but Walter Rauschenbusch hated militarism and other societal problems that cause human suffering and the degradation of human life.
Acknowledgment of Rauschenbusch’s Social Gospel
In all three of my “theological” books, I wrote about
Rauschenbusch. In Fed Up with Fundamentalism (2007, 2020) I wrote that
the Social Gospel was “the third factor [after Darwinism and biblical criticism]
which helped instigate the fundamentalist movement.”
And I explained, “The most significant leader of the Social Gospel
was the prominent Baptist historian Walter Rauschenbusch” (p. 30).
In The Limits of Liberalism (2010, 2020), one
sub-section is “The Liberalism of Rauschenbusch” (pp. 31~35), and later I wrote
that for many “the main religious appeal of liberalism is found in its ethical
stance, which has often been shaped by the emphasis of Walter Rauschenbusch and
the Social Gospel” (p. 109).
Then in #5 of Thirty True Things Everyone Needs to Know
Now (2018), I wrote about Rauschenbusch’s “strong emphasis on the idea that
the kingdom of God is both here now and also coming in the future” (p. 36).
In his book Christianizing the Social Order (1912),
Rauschenbusch used the phrase “the kingdom is always but coming,” and that
became the title of the superb 2004 biography of Rauschenbusch by Christopher
H. Evans.
Formation of Rauschenbusch’s Social Gospel
Walter Rauschenbusch was the son of German parents who had
immigrated to New York. After graduating from Rochester Theological Seminary, from
1886 to 1897 he served as the pastor of the Second German Baptist Church,
located in the slum section of New York City known as Hell’s Kitchen.
That was at the apex of the Gilded Age when there was great
and growing inequality between the upper and lower classes. For example, at the
time when so many lived in crowded, vermin-infested tenements in Hell’s
Kitchen, rich industrialists lived in luxury on 5th Avenue and
Madison Avenue.
John D. Rockefeller’s NYC home was less than a mile from Second German Baptist Church, and J.P. Morgan as well as William K. Vanderbilt and his flamboyant wife Alva lived only 1.2 miles from Rauschenbusch’s church. Here is a picture of the Vanderbilt mansion, completed in 1882.
Rauschenbusch said that he went to his new pastorate “to
save souls in the ordinarily accepted religious sense.” But in the area where
his church was located, unemployment, poverty, malnutrition, disease, and crime
were rampant.
He came to understand that Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount spoke more
about how to live in the present rather than how to prepare for life after
death. Further, he came to realize that Jesus’ key teaching about the Kingdom
of God was also for the here and now, not just about the “sweet by and by.”
Affirmation of Rauschenbusch’s Social Gospel
Even though I have remained critical of some aspects of
Rauschenbusch’s “liberal” theology, such as his being overly optimistic about
the possibility of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth by human effort,
through the years I have increasingly come to affirm his basic theological
ideas.
Here are some of the most important emphases in Rauschenbusch’s
Social Gospel.
* Jesus’ core teachings are found in the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew 5~7) and in his parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46).
* The basis of Jesus’ teachings was his understanding of the
Kingdom of God, which Rauschenbusch rightly understood as “always but coming.”
* In addition to the reality and seriousness of “personal”
sins, the pervasiveness and destructiveness of social sin and sinful social
structures must be recognized and adamantly opposed.
The crux of Rauschenbusch’s Social Gospel is still sorely
needed now as it was in the 1890s and in 1917 when he published his last book, A
Theology for the Social Gospel.
Can we and will we affirm, accept, and implement that Gospel?
It is truly good news for the multitude of people who are suffering deprivation,
discrimination, and destructive social structures right now.
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Thank you Leroy for this interesting article. I, of course, have never heard of this writer/pastor but appreciate his views. To me, the Gospel is not the Good News without a clear social stand on the systemic sins of our day. It seems that so much of the church has become mired in the "personal" sins and while enjoying them, still preaching against them.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lonnie, for reading and responding to this morning's post. As you indicate, Rauschenbusch's emphasis on the reality of systemic sins is as important for the present day as it was during his lifetime. And it is amazing that currently there is opposition to his theology by many conservative Christians as there was during his lifetime.
DeleteI agree with Lonnie, that I was unfamiliar with Walter Rauschenbusch, but fully agree with his basic concept of the Social Gospel. I'm not sure about all the details, and the parts you disagree with, Leroy. In my mind it is opposition to the Prosperity Gospel and the Protestant Ethic, but I'm fuzzy on both of those, actually. I hope, Leroy, you can point me to some good commentaries about all of these.
DeleteAs a tangent to all of this, I have been pondering the idea of social entrepreneurship and social research. It seems to me we support non-profit organizations based on our intuition that they will accomplish the goals they seek. Whether there is any good evidence for the methods they use, and whether some unintended consequences may defeat their stated goals is usually not considered. The reason I say this, I have been pondering the long-term value of the civil rights movement, and MLK, Jr.'s advocacy of integration. White flight and private schools and income inequality seem to have blocked progress in civil rights. Otherwise, why do we have Derek Chauvins and the death of George Floyd, for instance?
If MLK, Jr. was a very visible proponent of the social gospel, and our race issues have still persisted more than 50 years after his assassination, is the basic flaw in the social gospel theology? I am pondering the idea that what has been missing is hard-headed social research to discover what works and how to manage unintended consequences.
Just as climate science has brought into question the wisdom of exploiting fossil fuels and all the physical engineering devoted to that, we need some high level of social science to make corrections to our various efforts of social engineering.
Here may be where theology and science intersect.
Thanks for your meaty comments, Phil.
DeleteFor learning more about Rauschenbusch, I especially recommend Christopher Evans's book mentioned in the article. (Used copies are available at Amazon.com for a bit over $7.)
MLK, Jr., did write affirmative words about Rauschenbusch and did seek to promote a social gospel. But in spite of some definite success(es), the main problem is not that it was tried and found wanting but that it was not tried (implemented) widely enough.
I appreciate local Thinking Friend Bruce Morgan sharing the following comments:
ReplyDelete"Rauschenbusch has always been, and will always be, a hero of the Christian faith, for me. Thanks for reminding us of his importance as a voice for social justice, which he found rooted in Jesus' Sermon on the Mount."
Rauschenbusch has always been a favorite of mine. I once contracted to write a book on The Great Reversal, examining colonial America's religious thinkers, such as Edwards et al., in comparison to the Social Gospelers. But, alas, I didn't complete the book.
ReplyDeleteIt might be worthwhile to point out that Rauschenbusch was a contemporary of Emile Durkheim and Max Weber, two of the three most leading founders of sociology which, in trying to understand the modernizing world, recognized the reality of systemic social problems.
Anton, I am not surprised you have positive views about Rauschenbusch, but I am surprised you posted comments this morning as it is your birthday. Happy Birthday!
DeleteI remember reading a book by David O. Moberg back in the late 1970s that was titled "The Great Reversal: Evangelism and Social Concern" (1977). Early in the book he wrote briefly about Rauschenbusch. I would like to have read what you would have said in a book by that title (with, I assume, a quite different subtitle).
I don't know how much Rauschenbusch may have read Durkheim (1858~1917) or Weber (1864~1920), but I am sure he was much more likely to have read them than the conservative evangelicals (fundamentalists) who attacked his theology.
I agree with your comments and Bible Scripture about the Kingdom here and Now and in the future.
ReplyDeleteAfter completing my doctoral work at SBTS, I taught three years (1968-1971) at North American Baptist College, a German Baptist institution in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. One day in faculty meeting I mentioned Walter Rauschenbusch as a German Baptist hero. I was met by cold silence. This evangelical institution wanted nothing to do with WR's Social Gospel.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this, Charles. Yes, from 1920 and before many Baptists in the old Northern Baptist Convention were opposed to Rauschenbusch, and I am not surprised that the German Baptists in Canada were although I did not know that.
DeleteHere are comments from Thinking Friend Eric Dollard in Chicago:
ReplyDelete"Rauschenbusch was absolutely correct about 'social gospel.' I am amused when evangelicals, when confronted with Matthew 19:16-22, say the passage is metaphoric and not to be taken literally. But actually it is to be taken literally and it constitutes a serious challenge to those of us, who are relatively well-off, to help the less fortunate.
"Rauschenbusch was concerned about the gulf between the rich and poor in his day. We still have it and it is getting worse."
Thanks for your comments, Eric. Yes, I think the gulf between the rich and the poor currently in the U.S. is getting worse--but perhaps it is not quite as bad now as it was when Rauschenbusch was serving as a pastor in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan. And what surprised me when I was working on this article was learning how close the slum area known as Hell's Kitchen was to where the multimillionaires lived, just a mile or a little more to the east in Manhattan.
DeleteI agree with Eric Dollard's comment. Having taught Baptist History in the university, I have found with students that they needed to understand how threatening the word "social" has been among "evangelicals" and others, (including many Baptists before they were willing to allow they could be evangelicals, too). The historic American fear of "socialism" bumps against the European "Christian Socialism" that influenced Rauschenbusch and has tainted our interpretations and assessment of his Kingdom-motivated work. That fear of "socialism" reveals our unhealthy unconscious and practical commitment to individualism.
DeleteLeroy:
ReplyDeleteWalter Rauschenbusch is one of my favorite religious leaders. My dad had his famous book in his library and it eventually became a part of my library. Southern Baptists have unfairly misinterpreted his "social Gospel" movement to claim that Rauschenbusch believed that works alone was the road to salvation. His book was re-published in 2008 under the title, "Christianity and the Social Gospel in the Twenty-first Century. It contains the same message as the first edition except that a modern theologian or Bible scholar has written his own comments following each chapter. I had the book at one time and enjoyed the modern assessments of the German pastor and theologian' comments applying Christian ethics to the Gospel. Baptists have been show to recognize the important role of the relationship between faith and works. Tony Compolo wrote his comments following the first chapter in the book and made the comment which was titled, "A Response by an Evangelical." In his remarks the wrote, "It has taken Evangelicals like me for too long to come around to embracing Rauschenbusch's kind of holistic Gospel that not only promises eternal life to individuals, but also offers hope for dramatic positive change in our present social order." (p. 75) How can we not understand such verses as Jesus' instruction, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." (Matt. 5:16) Makes sense to me.
Truett
Baker
Thanks for these significant comments, Truett. I had forgotten about the book you mentioned, "Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st Century: The Classic that Woke Up the Church," which was copyrighted in 2007, one hundred years after Rauschenbusch's original work "Christianity and the Social Crisis." I have met and/or heard five of the seven contemporary Christians who wrote responses to Rauschenbusch's original chapters, and I wish I had re-read the book before writing this article.
DeleteRauschenbusch's 1907 book is available online (at no charge) at the following link:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Christianity_and_the_Social_Crisis/mug-AAAAYAAJ
A few minutes ago I received the following good words from local Thinking Friend Marilyn Peot:
ReplyDelete"Thank you again. When will come the day our faiths/churches put the emphasis on Jesus' words to live out the values of Social Justice...and provide a church that follows the Church in California that actually made their commitment to the street gangs...and got involved! Fr. Boyle, SJ, was the spearhead and the parish is still, over all these years, continuing to 'make a difference.'
"I believe Jesus was calling us to such involvement. Ah! To bring about the kingdom here and now!
"I'm sure you have heard John Dear who is also very intent on living out Jesus' words and example! I've heard his talks and enthusiasm and encouragement and challenge. He left the Jesuits...by invitation, I believe.
"Then, of course, there's John Lewis, Mother Teresa, etc. etc. 'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done.'
I'm minded of the words of my 3rd grade teacher: 'It's not what you are doing that makes a difference...it's how much love with which you are doing it.'"
Thanks for sharing your comments, Marilyn. It is always good to hear from you--and your comments are especially important as I have few women and even fewer Catholics who read and comment on my blog posts.
DeleteI don't know anything about Fr. Boyle, but I have been an admirer of John Dear for quite some time, and June and I enjoyed hearing him speak and chatting with him briefly several years ago in Kansas City. Here is the link to the blog article I posted about him in April 2014:
https://theviewfromthisseat.blogspot.com/2014/04/in-admiration-of-john-dear.html