Social Gospel | Description, Movement, & Facts | Britannica (original) (raw)

Lewis W. Hine: photograph of an overseer and child workers in the Yazoo City Yarn Mills

American religious movement

_verified_Cite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style

Feedback

Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).

Feedback Type

Your Feedback

Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

Written and fact-checked by

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Abbott, Lyman

Abbott, LymanLyman Abbott, American Congregationalist minister and a leading advocate of the Social Gospel movement.

Social Gospel, religious social reform movement prominent in the United States from about 1870 to 1920. Advocates of the movement interpreted the kingdom of God as requiring social as well as individual salvation and sought the betterment of industrialized society through application of the biblical principles of charity and justice. The Social Gospel was especially promulgated among liberal Protestant ministers, including Washington Gladden and Lyman Abbott, and was shaped by the persuasive works of Charles Monroe Sheldon (In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do? [1896]) and Walter Rauschenbusch (Christianity and the Social Crisis [1907]). Labour reforms—including the abolition of child labour, a shorter workweek, a living wage, and factory regulation—constituted the Social Gospel’s most prominent concerns. During the 1930s many of these ideals were realized through the rise of organized labour and the legislation of the New Deal by U.S. Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Kara Rogers.