Christian socialism generally refers to those on the
Christian leftThe Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
whose politics are both
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include
Liberation theologyLiberation theology is a school of theology within Christianity, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church. It emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism. Its theologians consider sin the root source of poverty, the sin in...
and the doctrine of the
social gospelSocial gospel may refer to:*Spoken or written good news about the cause of achieving justice in every aspect of society.*Social Gospel, a late 19th and early 20th century Protestant Christian intellectual and social movement which applied progressive Christian ethics to dealing with social issues....
. The term "Christian Socialism" is used in this sense by organizations such as the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM). The term also pertains to such earlier figures as the nineteenth century writers Frederick Denison Maurice (
The Kingdom of Christ, 1838),
Charles KingsleyCharles Kingsley was an English clergyman, university professor, historian, and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and north-east Hampshire.-Life and character:...
(
Water-Babies, 1863),
Thomas HughesThomas Hughes was an English lawyer and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's School Days , a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford .- Biography :Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of...
(
Tom Brown's Schooldays, 1857),
Frederick James FurnivallFrederick James Furnivall , one of the co-creators of the Oxford English Dictionary , was an English philologist...
(co-creator of the
Oxford English DictionaryThe Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language...
),
Adin BallouAdin Ballou was a prominent proponent of pacifism, socialism and abolitionism, and the founder of the Hopedale Community...
(
Practical Christian Socialism, 1854), and
Francis BellamyFrancis Julius Bellamy born in Rome, NY on was an American Baptist minister and Christian Socialist who wrote the original Pledge of Allegiance in 1892...
(a Baptist minister and the author of the United States'
Pledge of AllegianceThe Pledge of Allegiance to the United States is an oath of loyalty to the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892. The Pledge has been modified four times since then, with the most recent change adding the words "under God" in 1954...
).
In Catholicism, the
Rerum NovarumRerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: "Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour"...
encyclical letter of Leo XIII (1891) was the starting point of a teaching on social questions that was expanded and updated all through the 20th century.
Christian socialism generally refers to those on the
Christian leftThe Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
whose politics are both
ChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe was the Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, and the Son of God.The term "Christian" is also used adjectivally to...
and socialist and who see these two philosophies as being interrelated. This category can include
Liberation theologyLiberation theology is a school of theology within Christianity, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church. It emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism. Its theologians consider sin the root source of poverty, the sin in...
and the doctrine of the
social gospelSocial gospel may refer to:*Spoken or written good news about the cause of achieving justice in every aspect of society.*Social Gospel, a late 19th and early 20th century Protestant Christian intellectual and social movement which applied progressive Christian ethics to dealing with social issues....
. The term "Christian Socialism" is used in this sense by organizations such as the Christian Socialist Movement (CSM). The term also pertains to such earlier figures as the nineteenth century writers Frederick Denison Maurice (
The Kingdom of Christ, 1838),
Charles KingsleyCharles Kingsley was an English clergyman, university professor, historian, and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and north-east Hampshire.-Life and character:...
(
Water-Babies, 1863),
Thomas HughesThomas Hughes was an English lawyer and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's School Days , a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford .- Biography :Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of...
(
Tom Brown's Schooldays, 1857),
Frederick James FurnivallFrederick James Furnivall , one of the co-creators of the Oxford English Dictionary , was an English philologist...
(co-creator of the
Oxford English DictionaryThe Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press , is a comprehensive dictionary of the English language...
),
Adin BallouAdin Ballou was a prominent proponent of pacifism, socialism and abolitionism, and the founder of the Hopedale Community...
(
Practical Christian Socialism, 1854), and
Francis BellamyFrancis Julius Bellamy born in Rome, NY on was an American Baptist minister and Christian Socialist who wrote the original Pledge of Allegiance in 1892...
(a Baptist minister and the author of the United States'
Pledge of AllegianceThe Pledge of Allegiance to the United States is an oath of loyalty to the republic of the United States of America, originally composed by Francis Bellamy in 1892. The Pledge has been modified four times since then, with the most recent change adding the words "under God" in 1954...
).
History
In Catholicism, the
Rerum NovarumRerum Novarum is an encyclical issued by Pope Leo XIII on May 15 1891. It was an open letter, passed to all Catholic bishops, that addressed the condition of the working classes. The encyclical is entitled: "Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour"...
encyclical letter of Leo XIII (1891) was the starting point of a teaching on social questions that was expanded and updated all through the 20th century. Despite the introduction of social thought as an object of religious thought,
Rerum Novarum explicitly rejects what it calls "the main tenet of socialism":
"Hence, it is clear that the main tenet of socialism, community of goods, must be utterly rejected, since it only injures those whom it would seem meant to benefit, is directly contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and would introduce confusion and disorder into the commonweal. The first and most fundamental principle, therefore, if one would undertake to alleviate the condition of the masses, must be the inviolability of private property."
Rerum Novarum, paragraph 16
The
encyclicalAn encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Christian church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from Latin encyclia meaning "general" or "encircling", which is also the origin...
promotes a kind of
corporatismCorporatism is a system of economic, political, and social organization where corporate groups such as business, ethnic, farmer, labour, military, patronage, or religious groups are joined together into a single governing body in which the different groups are mandated to negotiate with each other...
based on social solidarity among the classes with respects for the needs and rights of all. Despite the explicit rejection of Socialism, in the more Catholic countries of
EuropeEurope is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...
the encyclical's teaching was the inspiration that led to the formation of new
Christian-inspired Socialist partiesChristian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social teaching, and it continues to be influential in Europe and Latin America, though in a number of countries...
.
A number of Christian socialist movements and political parties throughout the world group themselves into the
International League of Religious SocialistsThe International League of Religious Socialists is an umbrella organization of religious socialist movements in political parties throughout the world. Founded in the 1920s, it has member groups in 21 countries totalling 200,000 members...
. It has member organizations in 21 countries representing 200,000 members.
Christian socialists draw parallels between what some have characterized as the egalitarian and anti-establishment message of
JesusJesus of Nazareth —also known as Jesus Christ or occasionally Jesus the Christ—is the central figure of Christianity. Within most Christian denominations...
, who–according to the
GospelA gospel is a writing that describes the life of Jesus. The word is primarily used to refer to the four canonical texts: the Gospel of Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Gospel of Luke and Gospel of John, probably written between AD 65 and 80...
–spoke against the religious authorities of his time, and the egalitarian, anti-establishment, and sometimes anti-clerical message of most contemporary socialisms. Some Christian Socialists have gone as far as to become active
CommunistsCommunism is a socioeconomic structure and political ideology that promotes the establishment of an egalitarian, classless, stateless society based on common ownership and control of the means of production and property in general. Karl Marx posited that communism would be the final stage in human...
. This phenomenon was most common among
missionariesA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
in
ChinaChina is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, the most notable being
James Gareth EndicottJames Gareth Endicott was a Canadian minister, Christian missionary and socialist.-Family and early life:He was born in Szechuan Province, China, the third of five children to a Methodist missionary family and became fluent in Chinese. His family returned to Canada in 1910...
, who became supportive of the struggle of the
Communist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and the ruling political party of the People's Republic of China and the world's largest political party...
in the 1930s and 1940s.
Christian socialism is not to be confused with certain parties with "Christian Social" in their names which are found in the
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
-speaking world, such as the contemporary Christian Social Union in Bavaria or the Christian Social Party in
Austria-HungaryAustria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe...
circa 1900. Such parties do not claim to be socialist, nor are they considered socialist by others. The term Christian Democrat is more appropriately applied to the contemporary parties.
Religious criticisms
Socialism was strongly criticized in the 1878 papal encyclical Quod Apostolici Muneris by Pope Leo XIII. It was again denounced in the 1931 letter
Quadragesimo AnnoQuadragesimo Anno is an encyclical by Pope Pius XI, issued 15 May 1931, 40 years after Rerum Novarum . Unlike Leo, who addressed the condition of workers, Pius XI discusses the ethical implications of the social and economic order...
. Socialists were accused of attempting to overthrow all existing civil society, and Christian socialism was deemed to be an
oxymoronAn oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms...
because of this. Pius XI famously wrote at the time that "no one can be at the same time a good Catholic and a true socialist".
Christian socialist parties
- Christian Democratic Union (Ecuador)
- Social Christians
Social Christians is a Christian social-democratic faction within the Democratic Party, a political party in Italy....
(Italy)
- Partido Social Cristiano
Partido Social Cristiano can refer to:* Social Christian Party * Nicaraguan Social Christian Party* Christian Social Party...
(Ecuador)
- Christian Left Party (Chile)
The Christian Left Party of Chile is a Chilean left wing political party. Founded in 1971, in its early days it was suppressed by the Pinochet dictatorship...
- Social Christian Unity Party
The Social Christian Unity Party is a political party in Costa Rica.PUSC considers itself a Christian Democratic Party and, as such, is a member of the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International....
(Costa Rica)
- Marc Sangnier
Marc Sangnier was a French Roman Catholic thinker and politician, who in 1894 founded le Sillon , a liberal Catholic movement. He aimed to bring Catholicism into a greater conformity with French Republican ideals and to provide an alternative to anticlerical labour movements...
's Le SillonLe Sillon was a French political and religious movement founded by Marc Sangnier which existed from 1894 to 1910...
and then Ligue de la jeune RépubliqueThe Young Republic League was a French political party created in 1912 by Marc Sangnier, in continuation of Le Sillon, Sangnier's Christian social movement which was disavowed by the Pope Pius IX...
(France)
- League of Christian Socialists
The League of Christian Socialists was a Dutch christian socialist political party. The BCS is historically linked to the Dutch Labour PaArty and GreenLeft.-Party History:The BCS was founded in 1907...
(the Netherlands)
- Christian Social Party (Netherlands)
The Christian Social Party was a Dutch Christian socialist political party. The CSP played only a minor role in Dutch politics and is historically linked to the Labour Party.-Party History:...
- Christian Social Party (Switzerland)
The Christian Social Party is a political party in Switzerland. The CSP is more social democratic than the CVP. With the moderate Christian left as its background, the CSP commits itself to social democratic and environmentalist political solutions...
- Christian Social Democratic Party (Brazil)
Prominent Christian socialists
The British Labour Party and
Australian Labor PartyThe Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party.Known as the ALP for short, the party is the current governing party of Australia, since the 2007 federal election...
have both been influenced by Christian socialism, and some figures from both parties could be considered to be Christian socialists, depending on the definition of "socialism" used.
Former British Labour leader
Tony BlairAnthony Charles Lynton "Tony" Blair is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
is a member of the
Christian Socialist MovementThe Christian Socialist Movement, or CSM, is a socialist society affiliated to the British Labour Party.The CSM was an amalgamation of the Society of Socialist Clergy and Ministers and the Socialist Christian League. R. H. Tawney made one of his last public appearances at the Movement's inaugural...
although his adherence to Christian Socialist ideals are highly disputed, as he is much farther to the right than most "socialists".
Australian Prime Minister
Kevin RuddKevin Michael Rudd is the 26th and current Prime Minister of Australia and federal leader of the centre-left Australian Labor Party . Under Rudd's leadership, the Labor Party won the 2007 federal election on 24 November against the incumbent centre-right Liberal/National coalition government led...
identified himself as an "old-fashioned Christian socialist" in a 2003 interview with the Australian Financial Review, later writing in 2006: "A Christian perspective, informed by a social gospel or Christian socialist tradition, should not be rejected contemptuously by secular politicians as if these views are an unwelcome intrusion into the political sphere." However he also described socialism as an "arcane, 19th century" doctrine and stated that "I am not a socialist. I have never been a socialist and I never will be a socialist."
- Benigno S. Aquino, Jr., an anti-Marcos dictatorship hero and martyr of Philippine democracy, who described himself as a "born again" Catholic and a Christian Socialist
- Karl Barth
Karl Barth was a Swiss Reformed theologian whom critics hold to be among the most important Christian thinkers of the 20th century; Pope Pius XII described him as the most important theologian since Thomas Aquinas. Beginning with his experience as a pastor, he rejected his training in the...
- Tony Benn
Anthony "Tony" Neil Wedgwood Benn , formerly 2nd Viscount Stansgate, is a British, democratic socialist politician, and the current President of the Stop the War Coalition....
- Robert Malachy Burke
Robert Malachy Burke was a noted Christian Socialist and philanthropist. He was born into a landed Church of Ireland family at Ballydugan, Loughrea, County Galway....
- Walt Brown
Walter Frederick Brown is an American politician and was the presidential candidate of the Socialist Party USA in the 2004 elections. Brown became a socialist in 1948. He served as Democratic member of the Oregon State Senate from 1975 to 1987. Brown also served as a Socialist Party of Oregon...
- Rafael Correa
Rafael Vicente Correa Delgado is the President of the Republic of Ecuador and the current President pro tempore of the Union of South American Nations. An economist educated in Ecuador, Belgium and the United States, he briefly served as his country's Finance Minister in 2005. He was elected...
- Dorothy Day
Dorothy Day was an American journalist, social activist, distributist, anarchist, and devout Catholic convert...
- Percy Dearmer
The Reverend Percy Dearmer MA , DD, was an English priest and liturgist best known as the author of The Parson's Handbook, a liturgical manual. A lifelong socialist, he was an early advocate of the ordination of women to public ministry but not to the priesthood, and very concerned with social...
- Tommy Douglas
Thomas Clement "Tommy" Douglas, PC, CC, SOM was a Scottish-born Baptist minister who became a prominent Canadian social democratic politician....
- Diane Drufenbrock
Sister Diane Joyce Drufenbrock , also known as Sister Madeleine Sophie, is a Franciscan nun of the School Sisters of St. Francis and Christian socialist. She was the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Socialist Party USA in the United States presidential election, 1980, and has served as that...
- Vekoslav Grmič, a Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north...
n Roman Catholic bishop, writer, essayist and public figure
- Thomas J. Hagerty
The Reverend Friar Thomas J. Hagerty was an American Roman Catholic priest from New Mexico, and one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World .-Biography:...
- Keir Hardie
James Keir Hardie, Sr. , best known as "Keir," was a Scottish socialist and labour leader, and was the first Independent Labour Member of Parliament elected to the Parliament of Great Britain. Hardie is regarded as one of the primary founders of the Independent Labour Party as well as the Labour...
- Thomas Hughes
Thomas Hughes was an English lawyer and author. He is most famous for his novel Tom Brown's School Days , a semi-autobiographical work set at Rugby School, which Hughes had attended. It had a lesser-known sequel, Tom Brown at Oxford .- Biography :Hughes was the second son of John Hughes, editor of...
- Sir David Fletcher Jones
Sir Fletcher Jones OBE was an Australian clothing manufacturer and retailer, and a pioneer in workforce participation...
- Charles Kingsley
Charles Kingsley was an English clergyman, university professor, historian, and novelist, particularly associated with the West Country and north-east Hampshire.-Life and character:...
- Edvard Kocbek
Edvard Kocbek was a Slovenian poet, writer, essayist, translator and political activist. He is considered as one of the best authors who have written in the Slovene language, and one of the best Slovene poets after Prešeren...
, a SloveniaSlovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central Europe bordering Italy to the west, the Adriatic Sea to the southwest, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north...
n thinker, poet and politician
- George Lansbury
George Lansbury was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935.-Early life:...
- John Ludlow
John Malcolm Forbes Ludlow was an English lawyer and leader of the Christian socialist movement.He was born in India, where his father worked for the East India Company. Ludlow was influenced by French socialism as he was educated in Paris....
- Father Walter Lini
Father Walter Hadye Lini was an Anglican priest and the founding Prime Minister of Vanuatu. He was born on Pentecost Island. During the era when Vanuatu was a condominium ruled by the United Kingdom and France, Lini formed the Vanua'aku Pati, which was principally backed by English-speakers...
, for whom Christianity and socialism held strong similarities and could be combined to form the basis of Melanesian socialismThe concept of Melanesian socialism was first advocated by Father Walter Lini of the New Hebrides , who became the country's first prime minister upon its independence from France and the United Kingdom in 1980...
- Margaret MacDonald
Margaret MacDonald, née Margaret Ethel Gladstone was a feminist, social reformer, and the wife of British politician and future Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Ramsay MacDonald from 1896 until her death from blood poisoning 15 years later in 1911...
, the wife of UK Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonaldJames Ramsay MacDonald was a British politician and twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He rose from humble origins to become the first Labour Prime Minister in 1924....
- F. O. Matthiessen
Francis Otto Matthiessen was a historian and literary critic influential in the creation of the field of American studies.-Scholarly work:...
- Frederick Maurice
John Frederick Denison Maurice, often known as F. D. Maurice was an English theologian and socialist.-Biography:...
- Jürgen Moltmann
Jürgen Moltmann is a German Protestant theologian.- Moltmann's Youth :Moltmann was born in Hamburg. He described his German upbringing as thoroughly secular. His grandfather was a grand master of the Freemasons. At sixteen, Moltmann idolized Albert Einstein, and anticipated studying mathematics...
- Brian P. Moore
Brian Patrick Moore is a democratic socialist politician from Spring Hill, Florida. He was the Socialist Party USA and Liberty Union Party candidate for President of the United States in 2008...
, a candidate for the 2008 US Presidential elections
- Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian. A Protestant, he is best known for his study of the task of relating the Christian faith to the realities of modern politics and diplomacy...
- Huub Oosterhuis
Hubertus Gerardus Josephus Henricus Oosterhuis is a Dutch theologian and poet. He is known for his poetry and contribution to liturgy and religious music which are used in both Protestant and Roman Catholic churches...
- Michael Joseph Savage
Michael Joseph Savage was the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand.- Early life :Born in Tatong, Victoria, Australia, Savage first became involved in politics while working in that state. He emigrated to New Zealand in 1907...
- Dorothee Sölle
Dorothee Sölle was a German liberation theologian and writer who coined the term Christofascism. She died at a congress in Göppingen, Germany.-Biography:...
- R. H. Tawney
Richard Henry Tawney was an English economic historian, Social critic, Christian socialist, and an important proponent of Adult education....
- Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas was a leading American socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.-Early years:...
- Paul Tillich
Paul Johannes Tillich was a German-American theologian and Christian existentialist philosopher. Tillich was, along with his contemporaries Rudolf Bultmann , Karl Barth , and Reinhold Niebuhr , one of the four most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century...
- Cornel West
Cornel Ronald West is an American philosopher, author, critic, actor, and civil rights activist, as well as a prominent member of the Democratic Socialists of America...
- Brooke Foss Westcott
Brooke Foss Westcott was an English churchman and theologian, serving as Bishop of Durham from 1890 until his death.-Early life and education:...
- Jackson Stitt Wilson
Jackson Stitt Wilson was a leading Christian Socialist in America and the mayor of the city of Berkeley, California from 1911 to 1913.-Background and Ideas:...
(1868-1942), a Methodist minister and socialist mayor of Berkeley, California from 1911-13.
- Frank P. Zeidler
Frank P. Zeidler was an American politician and Socialist Party of America mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, serving three terms from 1948 to 1960. He was the most recent Socialist mayor of any major American city....
, an ex-Milwaukee mayor, Socialist Party USA
Quotes
If we all came of the same father and mother, of Adam and Eve, how can they say or prove that they are better than we, if it be not that they make us gain for them by our toil what they spend in their pride? John BallJohn Ball was an English Lollard priest who took a prominent part in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Life:Little is known of Ball's early years. He lived in St. Albans, Hertfordshire and subsequently at Colchester during the Black Death. He also lived in Kent at the time of 1381...
Socialism which means love, cooperation and brotherhood in every department of human affairs, is the only outward expression of a Christian's faith. I am firmly convinced that whether they know it or not, all who approve and accept competition and struggle against each other as the means whereby we gain our daily bread, do indeed betray and make of no effect the "will of God." George LansburyGeorge Lansbury was a British politician, socialist, Christian pacifist and newspaper editor. He was a Member of Parliament from 1910 to 1912 and from 1922 to 1940, and leader of the Labour Party from 1932 to 1935.-Early life:...
Capitalism is the way of the devil and exploitation. If you really want to look at things through the eyes of Jesus Christ–who I think was the first socialist–only socialism can really create a genuine society. Hugo ChávezHugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the President of Venezuela. As the leader of the Bolivarian Revolution, Chávez promotes a political doctrine of participatory democracy, socialism and Latin American and Caribbean cooperation...
See also
- Agrarian socialism
Agrarian socialism is a socioeconomic political movement which seeks to combine an agrarian way of life with socialist economic policies....
- Catholic trade unions
- Catholic social teaching
Catholic social teaching is a body of social doctrine developed by several popes of the Catholic Church since the end of the Nineteenth Century on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social organization and the role of the state....
- Christian anarchism
Christian anarchism is any of several traditions which combine anarchism with Christianity. Christian anarchists believe that freedom is justified spiritually through the teachings of Jesus. This has caused them to be critical of government and Church authority. Some believe all individuals can...
- Christian communism
Christian communism is a form of religious communism based on Christianity. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compel Christians to support communism as the ideal social system...
- Christian democracy
Christian democracy is a political ideology that seeks to apply Christian principles to public policy. It emerged in nineteenth-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social teaching, and it continues to be influential in Europe and Latin America, though in a number of countries...
- Christian left
The Christian left is a term originating in the United States, used to describe a spectrum of left-wing Christian political and social movements which largely embraces social justice....
- Christian politics (index)
The subject of Christian politics is associated to many inter-related articles on Wikipedia. This alphabetical Index is intended to allow readers quick access to any or all of these subjects by providing a link to the article with the first few lines reproduced from the top of that article by way...
- Christian trade unions
- International League of Religious Socialists
The International League of Religious Socialists is an umbrella organization of religious socialist movements in political parties throughout the world. Founded in the 1920s, it has member groups in 21 countries totalling 200,000 members...
- Liberation theology
Liberation theology is a school of theology within Christianity, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church. It emphasizes the Christian mission to bring justice to the poor and oppressed, particularly through political activism. Its theologians consider sin the root source of poverty, the sin in...
- Political Catholicism
Political Catholicism is a political and cultural conception which promotes the ideas and social teaching of the Catholic Church in public life...
- Postmodern Christianity
Postmodern Christianity is an outlook of Christianity that is closely associated with the body of writings known as postmodern philosophy. Although it is a relatively recent development in the Christian religion, some Christian postmodernists assert that their style of thought has an affinity with...
- Spiritual left
Spiritual left refers to a spiritually or religiously based position that shares the social transformative vision of the Left and its commitment to social justice, peace, economic equality, and ecological consciousness, but who base their commitment on spiritual or religious traditions.- Examples...
Further reading
Primary sources
- Gray, John. The Life of Frederick Denison Maurice: Chiefly Told in His Own Letters (1885) online edition
- Kingsley, Charles. The Works of Charles Kingsley (1899) online edition
- Kingsley, Frances Eliza Grenfell. Charles Kingsley: His Letters and Memories of His Life (1877) online edition
- Leno, John Bedford
John Bedford Leno was a Chartist, Radical, Poet and printer who acted as a "bridge" between Chartism and early Labour movements, as well as between the working and ruling classes. He campaigned to give the vote to all common men and women, driven by a strong desire for "justice and freedom for all...
. The Aftermath with Autobiography of the Author, Reeves & Turner, London 1892
Secondary sources
- Bissett, Jim. Agrarian socialism in America: Marx, Jefferson, and Jesus in the Oklahoma Countryside, 1904-1920 University of Oklahoma Press
The University of Oklahoma Press is the publishing arm of the University of Oklahoma. It has been in operation for over seventy-five years, and was the first university press established in the American Southwest. It was founded by William Bennett Bizzell, the fifth president of the University of...
, 1999
- Boyer, John. Culture and Political Crisis in Vienna: Christian Socialism in Power, 1897-1918 (1995)
- Cort, John C. Christian Socialism: An Informal History (1988)
- Hopkins, Charles Howard. The Rise of the Social Gospel in American Protestantism, 1865-1915 (1940) (Chap. X "Christian Socialism")
- Phillips, Paul T. A Kingdom on Earth: Anglo-American Social Christianity, 1880-1940. (1996)
External links