Theology
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A New Womanhood: Vida Dutton Scudder on Women's Public Role in Advancing the Social Gospel
Published in Perspectives in Religious Studies
This article seeks to expand our understanding of social gospeler’s attitudes toward women. Scholars often criticize... more This article seeks to expand our understanding of social gospeler’s attitudes toward women. Scholars often criticize Walter Rauschenbusch, the most widely recognized social gospel theologian, for upholding Victorian attitudes toward women. However, there are other social gospel leaders to whom we should look to understand fully social gospel attitudes toward women. The notion of new womanhood that emerged from Vida Dutton Scudder’s writings provides an alternate view. Scudder thought modern women should be educated, professional, and religious. New women should draw upon their own instincts to advance a new more cooperative social order.
“IN EACH THE WORK OF ALL, AND IN ALL THE WORK OF EACH”: Schleiermacher and Rauschenbusch on Sin and Salvation
Forthcoming
Walter Rauschenbusch is remembered by contemporary scholars primarily as a student of Albrecht Ritschl whose thought... more Walter Rauschenbusch is remembered by contemporary scholars primarily as a student of Albrecht Ritschl whose thought was indirectly influenced by Friederich Schleiermacher. Many indirect influences or convergences with Schleiermacher’s thought can be detected in Rauschenbusch’s work, including the way he connected theological reflection to the lived experiences of individuals and communities seeking a higher consciousness of God, and his emphasis on the achievement of the “personality of Jesus” and solidaristic notion of redemption. In addition to examining these convergences with Schleiermacher’s thought, this essay explores the direct influence that Schleiermacher’s thought had upon Rauschenbusch’s concept of social sin. Schleiermacher’s phrase referring to the corporate nature of sin, “... in each the work of all, and in all the work of each,” remained with Rauschenbusch as he developed and articulated a social concept of sin that reflected his experience of ministering to and advocating for the working poor.
As Any Might Have Need: Envisioning Communities of Shared Partnership
Research commissioned by the World Council of Churches for the North American Regional Forum and Hearings, Calgary, Canada, November 2011
This paper draws upon theological, economic, social scientific, and political research to offer a broad picture of... more This paper draws upon theological, economic, social scientific, and political research to offer a broad picture of connections between “Poverty, Wealth, and Ecology” in the United States today. Three primary goals are undertaken here: 1) to link neoliberalism, the dominant approach to wealth creation, to the acceleration of wealth inequalities in the U.S. in the last thirty years; 2) to describe and challenge the dominant free market mentality in the U.S. as a form of market faith; and 3) to offer a description of “authentic community” based on Christian thought and practice as an alternative to the “market faith” adhered to by so many. In addition, this paper underscores the distinctive roles that Christians are playing in this debate as they envision alternative paradigms for wealth creation through movements for reform and grassroots movements to create alternatives to the dominant approaches to wealth creation. Koinonia, a Christian concept of community known in shared partnership, provides a vantage point for accountability to people living on the economic fringe of society and a strong basis for alternative paradigms of wealth creation.
The Future of the Social Gospel
Published in Theology Today
There have been a number of recent attempts to return Social Gospel theology to the center of discussions in both... more There have been a number of recent attempts to return Social Gospel theology to the center of discussions in both church and academy. This article deals with two important questions confronting those wanting to build upon the Social Gospel tradition in the 21st century: Why does Social Gospel theology still warrant a closer examination today? How can its limitations be addressed so that we can understand how its proponents brought together church, academy, and advocacy? Three strategies are offered for critically appropriating Social Gospel thought for today's social and ecclesial context.