Christianizing the Social Order: With a New Introduction by Christopher H. Evans

A follow-up to his best-selling Christianity and the Social Crisis, Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianizing the Social Order is his most comprehensive study of the relationship between Christianity and social reform, particularly for political and economic justice.

First published in 1912, this pioneering work explores how the fundamental structure of society can be conformed to the moral demands of the Christian spirit. An example par excellence of what became known as public theology, Christianizing the Social Order describes the social awakening of religious institutions, subjects the then-present social order to moral analysis, and suggests methods of advance.

Christianizing the Social Order is Walter Rauschenbusch's most comprehensive study of the relationship between Christianity and social reform—most specifically for political and economic justice—and a follow-up to his best-selling Christianity and the Social Crisis. A pioneering work of what became known later in the twentieth century as “public theology,” Christianizing the Social Order asks “How can the fundamental structure of society be conformed to the moral demands of the Christian spirit?”

First published in 1912, the classic work begins describing the social awakening of religious institutions at the time, then moves subject the then-present social order to moral analysis, and, finally, suggests methods of advance. With a message that is still much in need today and now with a new introduction by Christopher H. Evans, contemporary readers may be challenged anew and reflect on the ways Rauschenbusch's legacy relates to the social, political and religious context of our time.

Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) was the major exponent of the Social Gospel movement of the early twentieth century. A pastor to a Baptist congregation of impoverished German immigrants in New York City, he also taught at Rochester Theological Seminary (now Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School).

Christopher H. Evans is Sallie Knowles Crozer Professor of Church History, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, Rochester, New York. He is the author and editor of several books, including, The Faith of Fifty Million: Baseball, Religion, and American Culture, and The Social Gospel Today. He lives in Penfield, New York.