This collection explores how the theological tradition of the social gospel, born within the social and cultural dislocations of late nineteenth-century America, relates to the dislocations–post-modern, denominational, social, and cultural–of the current American scene. Mindful of the difficulty of reconciling the need for change with the imperative to preserve theological integrity, the contributors argue that America’s only indigenous theological tradition remains powerfully relevant to mainline churches and to the scholars who work out of these institutions.
Christopher H. Evans is Professor of History of Christianity and Methodist Studies at Boston School of Theology in Boston, Massachusetts.