Social Ethics in the Making

In the early 1880s, proponents of what came to be called “the social gospel” founded what is now known as social ethics. This ambitious and magisterial book describes the tradition of social ethics: one that began with the distinctly modern idea that Christianity has a social-ethical mission to transform the structures of society in the direction of social justice.

• Charts the story of social ethics - the idea that Christianity has a social-ethical mission to transform society - from its roots in the nineteenth century through to the present day
• Discusses and analyzes how different traditions of social ethics evolved in the realms of the academy, church, and general public
• Looks at the wide variety of individuals who have been prominent exponents of social ethics from academics and self-styled “public intellectuals” through to pastors and activists
• Set to become the definitive reference guide to the history and development of social ethics
• Recipient of a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title for 2009 award

Plates x

Acknowledgments xiv

Introduction 1

1. Inventing Social Ethics: Francis Greenwood Peabody, William Jewett Tucker, and Graham Taylor 6

Becoming Francis Greenwood Peabody 7

Philosophies of Moral Philosophy 10

Beyond Moral Philosophy: Social Ethics 15

The Social Question, William Jewett Tucker, and Liberal Theology 20

Jesus and the Social Question 25

Up from Slavery: The Race Problem in the Social Question 29

Retreating to the Seminaries 32

Getting Peabody Right 35

Christian Sociology: Graham Taylor 36

The Social Gospel in the Classroom and Public Square 44

2. The Social Gospel: Washington Gladden, Josiah Strong, Walter Rauschenbusch, and Harry F. Ward 60

Good Theology and the Social Good: Washington Gladden 61

The Social Gospel Difference and the Challenge of Darwinism 69

Manifest Destiny and the Crucible of Race: Fiske, Gladden, and Josiah Strong 73

The Great War and the Social Gospel 79

The Socialist Kingdom of God: Walter Rauschenbusch 83

Asking the Social Question 87

The Kingdom as Political Theology 89

German America and the Wider Kingdom 92

The Social Crisis and the Social Gospel 94

The Social Gospel Ascending 97

Christianizing the American Order 99

The Great War and the Social Gospel 104

Social Christianity and Radical Reconstruction: Harry F. Ward 109

Ward, Reinhold Niebuhr, and the Soviet Spirit 120

3. Lift Every Voice: Reverdy C. Ransom, Jane Addams, and John A. Ryan 146

Becoming Reverdy C. Ransom 147

Mainstreaming the Black Social Gospel 158

Fostering Democratic Citizenship: Jane Addams 168

Democracy, Social Ethics, and Pragmatism 175

Social Doctrine in Action: John A. Ryan 185

Mainstreaming the Catholic Social Gospel 199

4. Christian Realism: Reinhold Niebuhr, H. Richard Niebuhr, John C. Bennett, and Paul Ramsey 226

Becoming Reinhold Niebuhr 226

Rejecting Social Gospel Idealism 236

H. Richard Niebuhr, Liberal Religion, and Radical Monotheism 239

Christian Realism as Socialist Faith 244

Niebuhrian Realism, World War II, and the Cold War 259

The Niebuhrian Method and Legacy 271

Making Sense of Niebuhrian Realism: John C. Bennett and Paul Ramsey 276

A New Liberal Consensus? 287

5. Social Christianity as Public Theology: Walter G. Muelder, James Luther Adams, John Courtney Murray, and Dorothy Day 305

Socializing Personalist Theory: Walter G. Muelder 306

Moral Theory, Culture, and Christian Social Ethics 316

Personalism against the Current 320

James Luther Adams and Unitarian Christianity 324

Rethinking Religious Freedom and Pluralism: John Courtney Murray 334

The American Idea and the Catholic Presence 349

Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement 361

6. Liberationist Disruptions: Martin Luther King Jr, James H. Cone, Mary Daly, and Beverly W. Harrison 390

Martin Luther King Jr and the Beloved Community 391

James H. Cone and Black Liberation Theology 396

Beyond Patriarchal Religion: Mary Daly and the Rebirth of Feminism 411

Christian Feminist Liberation Ethics: Beverly W. Harrison 421

7. Disputing and Expanding the Tradition: Carl F. H. Henry, John Howard Yoder, Stanley Hauerwas, Michael Novak, and Jim Wallis 447

Carl F. H. Henry and the New Evangelicalism 448

John Howard Yoder and the Politics of Jesus 460

Thinking Christian Pacifism Through: Stanley M. Hauerwas 474

Ideological Americanism: The Neoconservative Reaction 488

Michael Novak and Democratic Capitalism 489

Interrogating Liberation Theology and the Catholic Bishops 503

Progressive Evangelicalism: Jim Wallis 512

8. Dealing with Modernity and Postmodernity: Charles Curran, James M. Gustafson, Gibson Winter, Cornel West, Katie G. Cannon, and Victor Anderson 533

Moral Theology and the Curran Controversy 534

Naturalistic Theocentrism: James M. Gustafson 544

Elements for a Social Ethic: Gibson Winter 549

Prophetic Public Criticism: Cornel West 563

Womanist Ethics: Katie Geneva Cannon 584

Taking Postmodernity Seriously: Victor Anderson 592

9. Economy, Sexuality, Ecology, Difference: Max L. Stackhouse, Dennis P. McCann, Lisa Sowle Cahill, Marvin M. Ellison, John B. Cobb, Jr, Larry Rasmussen, Daniel C. Maguire, Sharon Welch, Emilie M. Townes, Ada María Isasi-Díaz, María Pilar Aquino, and David Hollenbach 611

Capitalist Apologetics as Public Theology: Max Stackhouse and Dennis McCann 612

Right Ordering and Sexual Difference 616

Lisa Sowle Cahill: Sources, Norms, and Moral Reasoning 618

Marvin M. Ellison: Sexual Justice 621

Debating Economic Democracy 624

Ecology as Political Economics and Theology 626

Eco-Justice for the Sake of Everything: Larry Rasmussen and Daniel C. Maguire 630

Sharon Welch: Toward an Ethic of Risk and Conflict 637

Emilie Townes: Womanism and the Cultural Production of Evil 640

Latina Feminisms: Ada María Isasi-Díaz and María Pilar Aquino 646

Human Rights and Catholic Social Ethics: David Hollenbach 657

10. Borders of Possibility: The Necessity of “Discredited” Social Gospel Ideas 674

Social Ethics and Racial Justice 677

Foreign Policy Realism and American Empire 680

Economic Democracy: The Future of a Discredited Vision 683

Index 692

"A masterful, careful, and encyclopedic history of Christian social ethics—from the social gospel to Christian realism to liberationist theologies and beyond. It is simply the definitive history of Christian social ethics in the US—a must-read for scholars, students, and practitioners alike." (Choice)

"In this magnificent, sprawling and monumental book, Gary Dorrien maps the origins and development of Christian social ethics in the U.S. by making an insightful analysis of its three major traditions and numerous alternatives.

Social Ethics in the Making will soon be recognized as a classic. It is a captivating, expertly written and exhaustively researched pilgrimage through the changing landscape of Christian social ethics." (The Christian Century)

Gary Dorrien is the Reinhard Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and Professor of Religion at Columbia University. He is the author of 14 books and over 200 articles that range across the fields of ethics, social theory, theology, philosophy, politics, and history. In the early 1880s, proponents of what came to be called “the social gospel” founded what is now known as social ethics. This ambitious and magisterial book describes the tradition of social ethics: one that began with the distinctly modern idea that Christianity has a social-ethical mission to transform the structures of society in the direction of social justice.

This book describes the founding and development of social ethics as a discourse in the realms of the academy, church, and general public. It analyzes the three major traditions of social ethics, explains their revisions and offshoots, interprets evangelical and neoconservative alternatives, and delineates the various confessional and cultural standpoints from which religious thinkers have construed the social meaning of Christianity. Almost from the beginning, “social ethics” named a specific academic field and a way of thinking about Christian ethics that transcended the academy. Dorrien pays attention to both meanings, bringing together prominent academic voices and important exponents of social Christianity, including pastors, movement activists, and self-styled “public intellectuals”.

Engagingly written by one of the field's leading figures, this book is set to become the definitive reference guide to the history and development of social ethics.

"This book is a skillful tour de force and an indispensable resource. With his encyclopedic knowledge of the field of social ethics and his seasoned and fair analysis of issues and authors, Gary Dorrien is uniquely qualified to gift us with this masterpiece."
—Daniel C. Maguire, Marquette University

"This book amplifies the canon while also providing ethical understandings, regarding both content and method, through which to look at the classical texts in the field. Written in a spirited style, the book will be used by students and scholars for years to come."
—Dr Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz, Drew University

"Gary Dorrien once again has produced a magisterial volume that deserves to define a field. Social Ethics in the Making begins in the late 19th century with thinkers who sought to understand the ?human condition? in social terms employing the emerging discipline of scientific sociology, concerned to embrace cultural, if not biological, evolution and yet desperate to distinguish social ethics from social Darwinism's conservative congratulation of the dominance of the fittest. The pivotal figure in Dorrien's account is Reinhold Niebuhr, who triggered reactions, in different senses, from both liberationists such as Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary Daly, and Beverly W. Harrison, and conservatives and progressive-conservatives such as Carl Henry, Stanley Hauerwas, and Jim Wallis. Beginning primarily as a settlement-house/pro-labor movement, social ethics now is diversified into economic, sexual, ecological, and ethnic studies. Where many have seen the loss of power in social ethics? 'progressivism', Dorrien documents its increasing power in diversification of attention. This is a brilliant, nearly comprehensive, study of an important historical movement in American religion."
—Robert Neville, Boston University

"Social Ethics in the Making is a masterly overview of a field with immense importance for today's North American intellectual and political scene. Dorrien sorts out the complex trajectories of over a century of Christian ethics. He skillfully places scholarly currents within the cultural and ecclesial trends so essential to their interpretation. Looking forward, the book reclaims the vitality of a distinctively American brand of Christianity, one that promises to be just as energetic, provocative, and practical in this century as in the last. The scope and coherence of Dorrien's achievement find no parallel among other treatments of the subject."
—Lisa Sowle Cahill, Boston College