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• social gospel
  social gospel

  noun

  a movement in America, chiefly in the early part of the 20th century, stressing the social teachings of Jesus and their applicability to public life.
• Social Gospel
  Social Gospel

  A religious movement that arose in the United States in the late nineteenth century with the goal of making the Christian churches more responsive to social problems, such as poverty and prostitution. Leaders of the movement argued that Jesus' message was as much about social reform as about individual approaches to salvation (see also salvation).

social gospel

American  

noun

Protestantism.

1. a movement in America, chiefly in the early part of the 20th century, stressing the social teachings of Jesus and their applicability to public life.

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Social Gospel Cultural  

1. A religious movement that arose in the United States in the late nineteenth century with the goal of making the Christian churches more responsive to social problems, such as poverty and prostitution. Leaders of the movement argued that Jesus' message was as much about social reform as about individual approaches to salvation (see also salvation).

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Etymology

Origin of social gospel

First recorded in 1915–20

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

social gospel Social Gospel

No. Many proponents of the early 20th century social gospel saw their efforts to help the needy as part of building a Christian society.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 17, 2024

His priestly parsimony came with a social gospel.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 9, 2020

Churches were moved to intervene through their belief in the concept of the social gospel.

From Textbooks ● Dec. 30, 2014

As Sloan’s company became a paragon of American success, his organizational approach acquired the status of social gospel.

From The New Yorker ● Nov. 24, 2014

After all, King himself was speaking, first and foremost, as a preacher, fulfilling an emerging mission of religion: preaching the social gospel of justice and equality.

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Ely’s reformist inclinations played a major role in establishing the Social Gospel movement, which ultimately came to fruition during the New Deal.

From New York Times ● Jan. 26, 2021

He was the son of Walter Rauschenbusch, a prominent theologian and key figure in the Social Gospel movement.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 18, 2020

At a women’s college in Georgia, the younger Lumpkins absorbed the teachings of John Dewey and the Social Gospel, a liberal Christianity that had particular influence on Katharine.

From New York Times ● Jun. 21, 2019

The early 20th-century Social Gospel movement put Protestant Christians at the forefront of activism on public health, labor, and wealth inequality—and offered a religious justification for action.

From Slate ● May 15, 2016

“If you weren’t so pretty, and hadn’t that delightful air of having just embraced the Social Gospel, you’d be a prig,” he said to himself.

From Man and Maid by Nesbit, E. (Edith)