Social Christianity in Britain, Germany and the United States, 1848-1930 [ECHS08009] Course Manager: Tutors: Professor Stewart J Brown s.j.brown@ed.ac.uk; 0131 650 8951; Room 2.07 New College Office Hours: By appointment To be arranged Class Contact Hours: Semester 2 Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:10-3:00 pm Class Venue: Initial Class Meeting: Martin Hall Monday, 12 January 2015, 2:10 pm, Martin Hall Description of Course: How has the Christian faith responded to the problems of modern urban-industrial societies? Is it possible to have a Christian society amid the complexities of industrialisation, urbanisation, global trade networks, and democratic politics? How much influence can the Churches as institutions exercise in the multi-ethnic cultures created by the mass migrations of peoples in the emerging global economy? This course will explore these questions by considering the responses of the Churches to modernisation in the world s three most advanced industrial nations Great Britain, Germany and the United States during the later nineteenth and early twentieth century. In particular, the course will investigate the complex movement known as social Christianity, Christian socialism, or the social gospel, in which Christians struggled to revive the idea of the Kingdom of God amid the turmoil of class strife, racial and ethnic tensions, mass deprivation, rapid social and economic change, the struggle for women s rights, international rivalries, and world war. We will give special attention to Christian social thought as illustrated by certain key proponents of social Christianity, including F.D. Maurice and William Temple in Great Britain, Adolph Harnack and Karl Barth in German-speaking Europe, and Walter Rauschenbusch and Reinhold Niebuhr in the United States. Prerequisites for Course: This is a second-level course aimed primarily at undergraduates in the second year of their degree; also available to non-graduating students. Learning Outcomes: The course will provide a broad overview of social Christianity within its social context, and it will give an understanding of how the social gospel played a major role in shaping Christian thought in the modern Western world. The lectures will promote a critical understanding of the past and will introduce some of the historical interpretations of the period, while seminar meetings and blogging exercises will enhance skills in the analysis of
primary documents and in orderly and accurate oral presentation of ideas. The preparation of the essay will strengthen writing skills and enhance abilities in research and in the development of arguments. 2 Requirements and Assessment: The assessment will have three components: a 2000-word essay (counting 30% of the final course mark), on a theme chosen from a number of recommended topics, to be submitted by Monday, 2 March), quality of contributions to the blogging exercises and seminar discussions (counting 10%), and a final examination in the June diet lasting two hours and consisting of nine questions (three questions from the British section, three questions from the German section, and three questions from the United States section) with three questions to be answered, one from each section (counting 60%). Attendance at the weekly seminars is required, and students are expected to complete the blogging exercises and assigned reading. Assessment Criteria: The assessment criteria for the degree examination, seminar participation and essay include: 1. knowledge of the required readings for the course 2. appreciation of the religious, social, political and economic context of the North Atlantic World in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries 3. understanding of the issues raised by the Churches efforts to respond to the problems of industrialisation, urbanisation, social class and ethnic tensions them in terms of Christian self-understanding 4. awareness both of the achievements and of the failings of key Christian thinkers and activists in confronting these social challenges. Outline Week 1: The Social and Intellectual Background 1. Introduction to the Course (12 January) 2. The Making of Mature Industrial Society in the North Atlantic World (13 January) 3. The Nature and Development of Socialism in the Nineteenth Century (15 January) E. J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Capital, 1848-1875 (1975), chaps. 2, 12 E. J. Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire, 1875-1914 (1987), chaps. 2, 5 A. Briggs and P. Clavin, Modern Europe, 1789-1989 (1997), chaps. 3-4 J. Joll, Europe since 1870: An International History (1973), chaps. 2-3 D. S. Landes, The Unbound Prometheus (1972), chap. 5 Edmund Wilson, To the Finland Station (1940) Week 2: Social Christianity in Mid-Victorian Britain 1. The First Christian Socialist Movement 1848-1854 (19 January) 2. The Social Conscience in Mid-Victorian Britain 1854-1877 (20 January) 3. Seminar: Charles Kingsley and Christian Socialism (22 January) [Seminar groups will meet in rooms to be notified]
3 S. J. Brown, Providence and Empire: Religion, Politics and Society in the United Kingdom, 1815-1914 (2008), pp. 159-170 C. E. Raven, Christian Socialism 1848-1854 (1920) T. Christensen, Origin and History of Christian Socialism (1962) G. C. Binyon, The Christian Socialist Movement in England (1931), pp. 74-91 D. O. Wagner, The Church of England and Social Reform (1930), pp. 50-60, chap. 3 J. C. Cort, Christian Socialism (1988), pp. 139-53 E. R. Norman, The Victorian Christian Socialists (1987), chaps. 1-5 D. L. Edwards, Leaders of the Church of England 1828-1944 (1971), chap. 4 Week 3: Social Christianity in Late-Victorian Britain 1. The Christian Socialist Revival: The Guild of St Matthew and the Settlement Movement (26 January) 2. Into the Mainstream: The Christian Social Union and the Church Socialist League (27 January) 3. Seminar: William Booth, the Salvation Army and Darkest England (1891) (29 January) S. J. Brown, Providence and Empire: Religion, Politics and Society in the United Kingdom, 1815-1914 (2008), pp. 325-358 P. d A. Jones, The Christian Socialist Revival (1968), chaps V-VI G. C. Binyon, The Christian Socialist Movement in England (1931), pp 112-96 D. O. Wagner, The Church of England and Social Reform since 1854 (1930), chaps. 5-6. E. R. Norman, The Victorian Christian Socialists (1987), chaps. 6, 9 J. C. Cort, Christian Socialism (1988), pp 153-69 S. Meacham, Toynbee Hall and Social Reform 1880-1914 (1987) Nigel Scotland, Squires in the Slums: Settlements and Missions in Late Victorian London (London, 2007) K. S. Inglis, Churches and the Working Classes in Victorian England (1963), chaps. 4-5 A. Wilkinson, Christian Socialism: Scott Holland to Tony Blair (1998), chaps. 2-3. R. Hattersley, Blood and Fire: William and Catherine Booth and their Salvation Army (1999), chaps. 18-19. Week 4: The Social Crisis in Early Twentieth-Century Britain 1. From Parish Community to Christian Socialism: The Social Gospel in Scotland 1870-1914 (2 February) 2. The First World War and Reconstruction (3 February) 3. Seminar: William Temple and the Kingdom of God (1912) (5 February) S. J. Brown, Providence and Empire: Religion, Politics and Society in the United Kingdom, 1815-1914 (2008), pp. 424-32. D. C. Smith, Passive Obedience and Prophetic Protest: Social Criticism in the Scottish Church 1830-1945 (1987), chap. 9 A. C. Cheyne, The Transforming of the Kirk (1983), chap. 5. S. J. Brown, Reform, Reconstruction, Reaction: The Social Vision of Scottish Presbyterianism c1830-c1930, Scottish Journal of Theology, vol 44 (1991), pp 489-517 A. Hastings, A History of English Christianity (1991), chaps. 8-10, 14, 17. J. Kent, William Temple (1992) A. Wilkinson, Christian Socialism: Scott Holland to Tony Blair (1998), chap. 5.
4 Week 5: German-Speaking Europe 1. The Awakening of Social Christianity in German-Speaking Europe (9 February) 2. Johann Wichern, the Revolution of 1848 and the Inner Mission (10 February) 3. Seminar: The Religion of Socialism: K. Marx and F. Engels, The Communist Manifesto (1848) (12 February) A. L. Drummond, German Protestantism since Luther (1951), chap. 3 J. C. Cort, Christian Socialism (1988), pp 184-99 K. S. Latourette, Christianity in a Revolutionary Age, vol 2 (1959), chap. 10 W. O. Shanahan, German Protestants Face the Social Question, vol 1 (1954) H. Lehmann, Pietism and Nationalism: The Relationship between Protestant Revivalism and National Renewal in Nineteenth-Century Germany, Church History, 51 (1982), pp. 39-53. Week 6: Innovative Learning Week [no class meetings] Week 7: German-Speaking Europe 1. Harnack, Liberal Protestantism and Imperial Germany (23 February) 2. The Urban Social Gospel, Stöcker and Anti-Semitism (24 February) 3. Seminar: Adolph von Harnack and the Social Mission of the Church (26 February) C. Welch, Protestant Thought in the Nineteenth Century, vol 2, 1870-1914 (1985), pp 239-45 H. McLeod, Poverty and Piety (1996), chap. 1 P. Göhre, The Evangelical-Social Movement in Germany (1898), chaps. i, iv, vi J. Bentley, Between Marx and Christ: The Dialogue in German-Speaking Europe 1870-1970 (1982) R. L. Massanari, Christian Socialism in Nineteenth-Century Germany, Union Seminary Quarterly Review, vol. 29 (Fall 1973), pp 17-25 (in New College Library) Week 8: German-Speaking Europe 1. Wilhelm von Ketteler and Social Catholicism in Industrial Germany (2 March) 2. Religious Socialism and the Theology of Crisis: Ragaz, Barth and the Great War (3 March) 3. Seminar: The Red Pastor of Safenwil : Karl Barth and the Social Gospel (5 March) J. C. Cort, Christian Socialism (1988) F. S. Nitti, Catholic Socialism (1895), chap. 5 A. R. Vidler, A Century of Social Catholicism (1964), chap. 5 H. Daniel-Rops, History of the Church of Christ, vol. 9 (1966) J. Bentley, Between Marx and Christ (1982) J. Bentley, Christoph Blumhardt: Preacher of Hope, Theology, 78 (1975), pp. 577-82 E. Busch, Karl Barth, 2nd edn (1976) J. Pasztor, Leonard Ragaz: Pioneer Social Theologian, Union Seminary Quarterly Review, vol. 29 (Fall 1973), pp. 27-33 (in New College Library) Week 9: The United States 1. Christianity and Slavery (9 March) 2. The Churches, Abolition and the Civil War (10 March)
5 3. Seminar: Christianity and Slavery: Frederick Douglass and American Slavery (12 March) M. A. Noll, America s God: From Jonathan Edwards to Abraham Lincoln (2002), chap 19-21 P. Kolchin, American Slavery (1993), chaps 4-6 E. D. Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (1976), pp. 159-284 E. Fox-Genovese and E. D. Genovese, The Divine Sanction of Social Order: Religious Foundations of the Southern Slaveholders World, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 55 (1987) M. A. Noll, The Bible and Slavery in R. M. Miller, H. S. Stout, and C. R. Wilson (eds.), Religion and the American Civil War (1998) J. R. McKivigan and M. Snay (eds.), Religion and the Antebellum Debate over Slavery (1998) F. Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, written by Himself (1845) Week 10: The United States 1. The Industrialisation of the United States and the Crisis of the Protestant State (16 March) 2. The New Social Conscience in the American Churches: The Prophetic Voice of Washington Gladden (17 March) 3. Seminar: Washington Gladden and Social Salvation (19 March) C. H. Hopkins, The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism 1865-1915 (1940) H. F. May, Protestant Churches and Industrial America (1949) R. T. Handy (ed.), The Social Gospel in America 1870-1920 (1966), pp 3-32 J. C. Waldmeir, Poetry, Prose and Art in the American Social Gospel Movement, 1880-1910 (2002) S. Curtis, A Consuming Faith: The Social Gospel and Modern American Culture (2001) H. McLeod, Poverty and Piety, chap. 3 J. F. Findlay, Dwight L. Moody: American Evangelist 1837-1899 (1969) J. H. Dorn, Washington Gladden: Prophet of the Social Gospel (1967) J. C. Cort, Christian Socialism (1988), pp. 222-36 K. J. Christiano, Religious Diversity and Social Change: American Cities 1890-1906 (1987) W. R. Hutchison, The Americanness of the Social Gospel, Church History, vol 44 (Sept. 1975), pp 367-81 William Dean Howells, A Hazard of New Fortunes (1890). A novel of urban social criticism. Week 11: The United States 1. The Radical Social Gospel of the 1890s: George D. Herron and the Kingdom Movement; Women and the Social Gospel (23 March) 2. The Kingdom in the Urban Slum: Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Crisis (24 March) 3. Seminar: Walter Rauschenbusch: Christianity and the Social Crisis (26 March) C. H. Hopkins, The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism 1865-1915 (1940), chh 11, 13 R. T. Handy (ed.), The Social Gospel in America 1870-1920 (1966), pp. 253-63. R. T. Handy, George D. Herron and the Kingdom Movement, Church History, vol. 19 (June 1950), pp. 97-115 M. E. Marty (ed.), Protestantism and Social Christianity (1992), pp. 114-44
6 C. H. Evans, The Kingdom is Always But Coming: A Life of Walter Rauschenbusch (2004) V. P. Bodein, The Social Gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch and its Relation to Religious Education (1944) J. C. Cort, Christian Socialism (1988), pp. 236-65 R. E. Luker, The Social Gospel and the Failure of Racial Reform, 1877-1898, Church History, vol 46 (March 1977), pp. 80-99 T. F. Gossett, Race: The History of an Idea in America (1965), chap. 8. Stephen Crane, Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (1893). A novella exploring the American slum environment and prostitution Week 12: The United States 1. A Divided Country, the Waning of the Social Gospel, and Reinhold Niebuhr (30 March) 2. Review Session (31 March) 3. Seminar: Reinhold Niebuhr: Race and Class in Detroit (2 April) R. Fox, Reinhold Niebuhr: A Biography (1985) W. G. Chrystal, Reinhold Niebuhr and the First World War in M. E. Marty (ed.) Protestantism and Social Christianity (1992), pp. 194-207 R. M. Miller, American Protestantism and Social Issues 1919-1939 (1958) J. M. Schmidt, Souls or the Social Order: The Two-Party System in American Protestantism (1991)