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Bibliography: Evangelism and Social Reform

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Written By Tim Brister

Tim has a missionary heart for his hometown to love those close to him yet far from God. He is husband to Dusti and father to Nolan, Aiden, and Adelyn - fellow pilgrims to our celestial city.

Alright.  I haven’t posted a bibliography in some time, but I thought I’d provide this one because I think it is particularly relevant today.  I am writing a paper on one of two things.  The first would carry the title of something like “An Examination of the Vacillating Relationship Between Evangelism and Social Reform in Evangelical Life, 1880-1980” where my thesis would carry the idea that theological initiative (primarily kingdom eschatology) and cultural reflection created tension between evangelism and social reform during the rise and fall of the fundamentalist movement.  There are three main eras that I have broken down: the revivalist movement (1880-1910); the fundamentalist movement (1910-1945); and the neo-evangelical movement (1945-1980).  The second possible paper is simply diving into the passion and concern of Carl F. H. Henry and examine his “uneasy conscience.”  As you will see in the bibliography, being the editor of Christianity Today gave Henry many opportunities to speak out on social issues, and I found it remarkable of that of all the things he could write about, social reform dominated much of what he wrote.  If you care to comment, I would be interested in hearing which topic interests you more – the first or the second?

In any case, below is my bibliography.  It is not comprehensive (also some entries are not complete), nor do I recommend all the books or articles.  The bibliography is to provide resources of every theological stripe and see how social reform and evangelism was handled from conservatives and liberals alike.  I will throw out one thought I have been thinking for what it’s worth.  Since 1980, fundamentalists and the conservative right under the direction of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson once again dichotomized evangelism and social concern (contra Stott and Henry).  What we have seen in recent years is modern-day theological liberalism embrace social reform while many conservatives find it taboo.  In other words, from 1980-2000, modern fundamentalism turned aside from social reform, and 2000-present, social reform, under the leadership of liberal theologians particularly in the emerging church movement, have embraced social reform as protest to contemporary fundamentalism and push a more radical orthodoxy by equating it with orthopraxy (giving a poor man bread = gospel).  So it is like we are back to 1910 all over again with Walter Rauschenbusch, and we are needing the voice of Henry today.  Just a thought.  I might be wrong on my analysis, but I will tentatively hold it as I do further research.  Now to the bibliography . . .

BOOKS

Abell, Aaron I. Urban Impact on American Protestantism 1865-1900. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1943.

Anderson, Clifford V. The Christian and Social Concern. Evanston, IL: Harvest Publications, 1971.

Bennett, John C. Christian Ethics and Social Policy. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1946.

Cairns, Earle B. Saints and Society. Chicago: Moody Press, 1973.

Campbell, Ernest T. Christian Manifesto. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.

Carnell, Edward J. The Case for Orthodoxy. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1959.

Carpenter, Joel A. Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Carter, Craig A. Rethinking Christ and Culture: A Post-Christendom Perspective. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2006.

Carter, Paul A. The Decline and Revival of the Social Gospel: Social and Political Liberalism in American Protestant Churches, 1920-1940. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1954.

Clairborne, Shane. The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006.

Clydesdale, Timothy T. “Soul-winning and Social Work: Giving and Caring in the Evangelical Tradition” in Faith and Philanthropy in America: Exploring the Role of Religion in America’s Voluntary Sector. eds. Robert Wunthnow and Virginia A. Hodgkinson, 187-210. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1990.

Dayton, Donald W. Discovering an Evangelical Heritage. New York: Harper & Row, 1976.

Dixon, A. C. Evangelism Old and New: God’s Search for Man in All Ages. New York: American Tract Society, 1905.

_________. Milk and Meat: Twenty-Four Sermons. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1893.

_________. Present Day Life and Religion: A Series of Sermons on Cardinal Doctrines and Popular Sins. Chicago: The Bible Institute Colportage Association, 1905.

_________. The Person and Ministry of the Holy Spirit. Baltimore: Wharton, Barrow & Company, 1890.

_________. Through Night to Morning. London: Robert Scott Roxburghe House, 1913.

“Evangelism and Social Responsibility: CRESR ’82 Report” in Church in Response to Human Need. 439-87. Monrovia, CA: Missions Advanced Research & Communications Center, 1983.

Ford, Leighton. Only One Way to Change the World. New York: Harper & Row, 1970.

Hancock, Robert L., ed. Ministry of Development in Evangelical Perspective: A Symposium on the Social and Spiritual Mandate. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1979.

Heasman, Kathleen. Evangelicals in Action: An Appraisal of Their Social Work in the Victorian Era. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1962.

Henry, Carl F.H. Aspects of Christian Social Ethics. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964.

_________. “Biblical Authority and the Social Crisis” in Authority and Interpretation: A Baptist Perspective. ed. Duane A. Garrett, 203-220. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1987.

_________. Confessions of a Theologian: An Autobiography. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1986.

_________. “Evangelicals and the Social Scene: God’s Plan for Salvation and Justice” in Ministry of Development in Evangelical Perspective. 96-104. Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, 1979.

_________. Evangelicals in Search of Identity. Waco, TX: Word Books, 1976.

_________. God, Revelation, and Authority. Vol. 5. Wheaton: Crossway, 1999.

_________. Quest for Reality: Christianity and the Counter Culture. Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1973.

_________. Remaking the Modern Mind. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1946.

_________. The Uneasy Conscience of Modern Fundamentalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1947.

Henry, Carl F. H. and Kenneth Kantzer. Evangelical Affirmations. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1990.

Hofstadter, Richard. Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. New York: Vintage Books, 1963.

Kantzer, Kenneth S., ed. Evangelical Roots: A Tribute to Wilbur Smith. Nashville: Nelson, 1978.

Keith-Lucas, Alan. The Church and Social Welfare. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962.

Kirk, J. Andrew. The Good News of the Kingdom Coming: The Marriage of Evangelicalism and Social Responsibility. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1985.

Linder, Robert D. “The Resurgence of Evangelical Social Concern” in The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Who They Are, Where They Are Changing. eds. David F. Wells and John D. Woodbridge, 209-30. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1975.

Linder, Robert D. and Richard V. Pierard., eds. Protest and Politics: Christianity and Contemporary Affairs. Greenwood, SC: Attic Press, 1968.

Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. What Is an Evangelical? Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1992.

Machen, J. Gresham. Christianity and Liberalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1923.

Magnuson, Norris. Salvation in the Slums: Evangelical Social Work, 1865-1920. Metuchen, NJ: Sacred Cow Press, 1977.

Marsden, George M. Fundamentalism and American Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.

_________. Reforming Fundamentalism: Fuller Seminary and the New Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

_________. The Evangelical Mind and the New School of Presbyterian Experience: A Case Study of Thought and Theology in 19th Century America. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970.

_________. Understanding Fundamentalism & Evangelicalism. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.

_________, ed. Evangelicalism and Modern America. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984.

Marty, Martin E. and Scott R. Appleby. Accounting for Fundamentalisms: The Dynamic Character of Movements. Chicago: Chicago University Press, 1994.

McLoughlin, William G. Modern Revivalism: Charles Grandison Finney to Billy Graham. New York: The Ronald Press Company, 1959.

_________. Revivals, Awakenings, and Reform. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1978.

Miller, Robert M. American Protestantism and Social Issues, 1919-1939. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 1958.

Moberg, David. Inasmuch: Christian Social Responsibility in the Twentieth Century. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965.

_________. The Church as a Social Institution. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1962.

_________. The Great Reversal: Evangelism versus Social Concern. Philadelphia: J.P. Lippincott Company, 1972. 

Montgomery, John Warwick. “Evangelical Social Responsibility in Theological Perspective” in Our Society in Turmoil. ed. Gary R. Collins. Carol Stream, IL: Creation House, 1970.

Nash, Ronald H. “The Two Faces of Social Concern” in Piety and Politics: Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Confront the World. eds. Richard John Neuhaus and Michael Cromartie, 125-42. Washington D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1987.

Neuhaus, Richard John and Michael Cromartie, eds. Piety and Politics: Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Confront the World. Washington D.C.: Ethics and Public Policy Center, 1987.

Nichols, Bruce. In Word and Deed: Evangelism and Social Responsibility. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.

Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ & Culture. New York: Harper SanFrancisco, 1951.

Noll, Mark A., David W. Bebbington, and George A. Rawlyk, eds. Evangelicalism: Comparative Studies of Popular Protestantism in North America, the British Isles, and Beyond, 1700-1990. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.

Ockenga, Harold J. “Evangelism and the Journey Onward” in Evangelism Now. ed. George M. Wilson. Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1970.

_________. “From Fundamentalism, Through New Evangelicalism, to Evangelicalism” in Evangelical Roots: A Tribute to Wilbur Smith. ed. Kenneth S. Kantzer, 35-46. Nashville: Nelson, 1978.

Orr, James Edwin. “Evangelical Dynamic and Social Action” in God, Man, and Church Growth: A Festschrift in Honor of Donald Anderson McGavarn. ed. Alan Richard Tippett, 273-80. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973.

Pannell, William. “Evangelicals and Social Concern: The Present and the Future” in The Chicago Declaration. ed. Ronald J. Sider, 43-56. Carol Stream, IL: Creation House, 1974.

Pierard, Richard V. The Unequal Yoke. Philadelphia, J. P. Lippincott Co., 1970.

Pinson, William M., Jr. A Program of Application for a Local Church. Nashville: Christian Life Commission, 1974.

_________. The Local Church in Ministry. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1973.

Rauschenbusch, Walter. Christianity and the Social Crisis. New York, MacMillan, 1907.

_________. Christianizing the Social Order. New York: MacMillan, 1912.

_________. Dare We Be Christians? Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press, 1914.

_________. The Social Principles of Jesus. New York: Association Press, 1916.

_________. Theology for the Social Gospel. New York: Abingdon Press, 1917.

Samuel, Vinay and Chris Sugden. The Church in Response to Human Need. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Sandeen, Ernest R. The Roots of Fundamentalism: British and American Millenarianism, 1800-1930. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970.

Scott, Ernest F. Man and Society in the New Testament. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1946.

Sider, Ronald J. “An Historic Moment for Biblical Concern” in The Chicago Declaration. ed. Ronald J. Sider, 11-42. Carol Stream, IL: Creation House, 1974.

_________. “Christian Ethics and the Good News of the Kingdom” in Proclaiming Christ in Christ’s Way. eds., Vinay K. Smauel and Albrecht Hauser, 122-43. Oxford: Regnum Books, 1989.

_________. Cry Justice: The Bible on Hungary and Poverty. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1980.

_________. Cup of Water, Bread of Life: Inspiring Stories About Overcoming Lopsided Christianity. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1994.

_________. Doing Evangelism Jesus’ Way: How Christians Demonstrate the Good News. Nappanee, IN: Evangelical Publishing House, 2003.

_________. Evangelicals and Development: Toward a Theology of Social Change. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1981.

_________. Evangelism and Social Action: Uniting the Church to Heal a Lost and Broken World. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1993.

_________. Evangelism, Salvation, and Social Justice: Response to John R. W. Stott. Nottingham: Grove Books, 1977.

_________. Good News and Good Works: A Theology for the Whole Gospel. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1999.

_________. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity. Dallas, Word, 1997.

_________. The Chicago Declaration. Carol Stream, IL: Creation House, 1974.

Sider, Ronald J. and John R. W. Stott. Evangelism, Salvation and Social Justice: Definitions and Interrelationships. Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches, 1975.

Smith, Timothy L. Called Unto Holiness: The Story of the Nazarenes: The Formative Years. Kansas City, MO, Beacon Hill Press, 1962.

_________. Revivalism and Social Reform. New York: The John Hopkins University Press, 1965.

Stead, William T. If Christ Came to Chicago. Chicago: Liard & Lee, 1894.

Stott, John R. W. Christ the Controversialist. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1970.

_________. Christian Mission in the Modern World. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 1975.

Strong, Josiah. The New Era or The Coming Kingdom. New York: The Baker & Taylor Company, 1893.

Tippett, Alan Richard, ed. God, Man, and Church Growth: A Festschrift in Honor of Donald Anderson McGavarn. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973.

Toms, Paul E. “Evangelical Christians and Social Responsibility” in Evangelicals and Jews in Conversation on Scripture, Theology, and History. eds. Marc H. Tanenbaum and Marvin R. Wilson, 233-47. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978.

Tseng, Timothy. “The Reawakening of the Evangelical Social Consciousness” in Social Gospel Today. eds. Christopher H. Evans and Thomas G. Halbrooks, 114-25, 193-96. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2001.

Tyng, Stephen, Sr. He Will Come; Or, Meditations Upon the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ to Reign Over the Earth. New York: n.p. 1878.

Vinay, Samuel and Chris Sugden. The Church in Response to Human Need. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1987.

Webber, Robert E. The Secular Saint: A Case for Evangelical Social Responsibility. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1979.

Wells, David F. and John D. Woodbridge, eds. The Evangelicals: What They Believe, Who They Are, Where They Are Changing. Grand Rapids: Baker, 1975.

Wilson, George M. Evangelism Now. Minneapolis: World Wide Publications, 1970.

Wirt, Sherwood Eliot. The Social Conscience of the Evangelical. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.

ARTICLES

Adeyemo, Tokunboh and Vinay Smauel. “Social Concern and Evangelization: Papers from Lausanne II at Manila July 1989.” Transformation 7/1 (1990): 1-32.

Biggar, Nigel. “The Church’s Witness in Evangelism and Social Praxis.” Evangelical Review of Theology 16 (July 1992): 296-309.

Branson, Roy. “Time to Meet the Evangelicals.” Christian Century 86 (December 24, 1969): 1640-43.

Buss, Dietrich. “The Millennial Vision as Motive for Religious Benevolence and Reform: Timothy Dwight and the New England Evangelicals Reconsidered.” Fides et historia 16 (Fall-Winter 1983): 18-34.

Carr, Dhyanchand. “Social Action and Communicating Christ.” Evangelical Review of Theology 15 (July 1991): 233-50.

Cerillo, Augustus. “Survey of Recent Evangelical Social Thought.” Christian Scholar’s Review 5/3 (1976): 272-80.

“Church’s Role Spiritual, Not Social, Free Church Told.” The Lutheran Layman 37/8 (August 1966): 6.

Cray, Graham. “A Theology of the Kingdom.” Transformation 5/4 (1988): 24-31.

Edge, Findley B. “The Evangelical Concern for Social Justice.” Religious Education 74 (September-October 1979): 481-89.

Elliot, Daryl M. “Evangelicalism’s Expectation of the Kingdom in Mid-Nineteenth-Century America.” Evangelical Journal 13 (Spring 1995): 22-28.

Escobar, Samuel. “Conditions for World Evangelism.” The Times (May 13, 1974): 18.

“Evangelicals Demonstrate Unity on Urgency of World Evangelization.” Home Missions 38/1 (January 1967): 21.

Foster, Graham. “Making Sense of Matthew 25:31-46.” Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology 16 (Autumn 1998): 128-39.

France, R. T. “God and Mammon.” Evangelical Quarterly 51 (January-March 1979): 3-21.

Gladwin, John. “Evangelism and Social Action.” International Review of Mission 69 (April 1980): 194-204.

Handy, Robert T. “Fundamentalism and Modernism in Perspective.” Religion in Life 24 (Summer 1955): 381-94.

_________. “The American Religious Depression.” Church History 29 (March 1960): 3-16.

_________. “The Protestant Quest for a Christian America.” Church History 12 (March 1953): 8-12.

Heideman, Eugene P. “Toward Renewed Evangelical Unity.” Reformed Review 33 (Spring 1980): 158-63.

Henry, Carl F. H. “A Summons to Justice.” Christianity Today 36 (July 20, 1992): 40.

_________. “Agenda for Evangelical Advance.” Christianity Today 21 (November 5, 1976): 38.

_________. “Christian Theology and Social Revolution.” Perkins School of Theology Journal 21 (Winter-Spring 1967-1968): 13-23.

_________. “Christianity and Social Reform.” Moravian Theological Seminary Bulletin (1960): 17-33.

_________. “Church and Social Concern.” Christianity Today 11 (April 14, 1967): 3-7.

_________. “Communicating Biblical Social Concern to the Evangelical Community.” Trinity Journal 4 (Spring 1975): 71-81.

_________. “Dare We Renew the Modernist Fundamentalist Controversy?” Christianity Today 1 (June 10, 1957): 3-6.

_________. “Dare We Renew the Modernist Fundamentalist Controversy?” Christianity Today 1 (June 24, 1957): 23-26.

_________. “Dare We Renew the Modernist Fundamentalist Controversy?” Christianity Today 1 (July 8, 1957): 15-18.

_________. “Dare We Renew the Modernist Fundamentalist Controversy?” Christianity Today 1 (July 22, 1957): 23-26.

_________. “Doing Your Own Thing.” Theology Today 32 (January 1976): 403-410.

_________. “Evangelical Social Concern.” Christianity Today 18 (March 1, 1974): 99-100.

_________. “Evangelicals in Search of Identity.” Christianity Today 20 (January 16, 1976): 32-33.

_________. “Evangelicals in the Social Struggle.” Christianity Today 10 (October 8, 1965): 3-11.

_________. “Evangelicals Jump on the Political Bandwagon: Their Involvement May Become as Misguided as Was the Earlier Activism of Liberal Christianity.” Christianity Today 24 (October 24, 1980): 21-22.

_________. “Gospel and Society.” Christianity Today 18 (September 13, 1974): 66-67.

_________. “Henry on Gallup: Faith and Social Concerns.” Christianity Today 24 (October 10, 1980): 38-43.

_________. “How May ‘Non-Evangelists” Fulfill the Great Commission?” Southern Baptist Journal of Theology 1/4 (Winter 1997): 72-77.

_________. “Jesus and Political Justice.” Christianity Today 19 (December 6, 1974): 34-35.

_________. “Justification by Ignorance: A Neo-Protestant Motif?” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 11/1 (1968): 3-12.

_________. “New Consciousness.” Christianity Today 16 (October 8, 1971): 28-29.

_________. “Perspective for Social Action.” Christianity Today 3 (January 19, 1959): 9-11.

_________. “Perspective for Social Action.” Christianity Today 3 (February 2, 1959): 13-16.

_________. “Resurgence of Evangelical Christianity.” Christianity Today 3 (March 30, 1959): 3-6.

_________. “Revolt on Evangelical Frontiers.” Christianity Today 18 (April 26, 1974): 4-8.

_________. “State of Welfare Work.” Christianity Today 4 (January 18, 1960): 20-23.

_________. “The Bible and the Conscience of Our Age.” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 25 (December 1982): 403-07.

_________. “The Concerns and Considerations of Carl F. H. Henry.” Christianity Today 25 (March 13, 1981): 18-23.

_________. “The Fundamentalist Phenomenon: The Ricochet of Silver Bullets.” Christianity Today 25 (September 4, 1981): 30-31.

_________. “The New Evangelicals.” Newsweek (May 6, 1974): 86.

_________. “The Tensions Between Evangelism and the Christian Demand for Social Justice.” Fides et historia 2 (Spring 1972): 3-10.

_________. “The Vigor of the New Evangelicalism.” Christian Life (January 1948): ******.

_________. “The Vigor of the New Evangelicalism.” Christian Life (March 1948): ******.

_________. “The Vigor of the New Evangelicalism.” Christian Life (April 1948): ******.

_________. “Question of Identity.” Christianity Today 15 (August, 6, 1971): 30.

_________. “Who Are the Evangelicals?” Christianity Today 16 (February 4, 1972): 23-24.

Heideman, Eugene P. “Toward Renewed Evangelical Unity.” Reformed Review 33 (Spring 1980): 158-63.

Kucharsky, David E. “Much Given—Much Required: US Congress on Evangelism.” Christianity Today 13 (September 26, 1969): 40-41.

Marsden, George. “Evangelical Social Concern—Dusting Off the Heritage.” Christianity Today (May 12, 1972): 8-11.

Marty, Martin E. “Renewal in the Inner City.” Christian Century (December 5, 1956): 1417-20.

Marshall, I. Howard. “The Theology of Social Ethics.” Evangelical Quarterly 62 (January 1990): 5-86.

McAllister, James L. “Evangelical Faith and Billy Graham.” Social Action 19/5 (1953): 3-36.

McIntyre, Michael. “Evangelical Protestants Turn Political.” Washington Post (December 28, 1973): C13.

_________. “Religionists on the Campaign Trail.” Christian Century (December 27, 1972): 1319-22.

McSwain, Larry L. “Foundations for Ministry of Community Transformation.” Review & Expositor 77 (Spring 1980): 253-70.

Meehan, Brenda M. “A. C. Dixon: An Early Fundamentalist.” Foundations 10/1 (January-March 1967): 53.

Moberg, David O. and Norris A. Magnuson. “Current Trends in Evangelism.” Journal of Pastoral Care 10/1 (Spring 1956): 16-26.

Nichols, Alan. “Ethical Issues in Evangelism and Justice Among the Poor.” Evangelical Review of Theology 18 (April 1994): 137-51.

Nicholls, Bruce J. “William Carey—Our Contemporary.” Evangelical Review of Theology 17 (July 1993): 293-400.

Ockenga, Harold. “Can Christians Win America?” Christian Life and Times (June 1947): ******.

_________. “Reformation and Revival.” Bibliotheca Sacra 104/415 (July-September 1947): 337-49.

_________. “Resurgent Evangelical Leadership.” Christianity Today 5 (October 10, 1960): 11-14.

_________. “The New Reformation.” Bibliotheca Sacra 105/417 (January-March 1948): 89-101.

Padilla, Rene C. “Evangelicalism and Social Responsibility from Wheaton ’66 to Wheaton ’83.” Transformation 2/3 (July-September 1985): 27-32.

Pipkin, H. Wayne. “The Neo-Evangelical Alternative: (Re)Discovering a Social Gospel.” Mid-Stream 22 (July-October 1983): 386-400.

Pura, Murray. “The Spirituality of William Wilberforce.” Crux 20/4 (December 1984): 12-20.

Rooy, Sidney H. “Righteousness and Justice.” Evangelical Review of Theology 6/2 (October 1982): 260-74.

Runia, Klaas. “Evangelical Responsibility for a Secularized World.” Christianity Today 14/19 (June 19, 1970): 851-54.

Sider, Ronald J. “Evangelism or Social Justice: Eliminating the Options.” Christianity Today 21 (October 8, 1976): 26-29.

_________. “Evangelism, Salvation, and Social Justice: Definitions and Interrelationships.” International Review of Mission 64 (July 1975): 251-67.

_________. “Jesus’ Resurrection and the Search for Peace and Justice.” Christian Century 99 (November 3, 1982): 1103-1108.

_________. “Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger—Revisited.” Christian Scholar’s Review 26/3 (1997): 322-35.

_________. “What Is the Gospel?” Transformation 16 (January-March 1999): 31-34.

_________. “Words and Deeds.” Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 29 (December 1979): 31-50.

Taylor, Richard K. “Implementing Evangelical Social Action.” Christian Century 95 (March 8, 1978): 241-42.

Thompson, Claude. “Social Reform: An Evangelical Imperative.” Christianity Today 15 (March 26, 1971): 8-12.

Weatherspoon, J.B. “Ethical Note in Preaching.” Review and Expositor 27 (October 1930): 293-406.

White, James B. “Jubilee: The Basis for Social Action.” The Reformed Journal 21/5 (May-June 1971): 8-11.

5 thoughts on “Bibliography: Evangelism and Social Reform”

  1. Timmy,

    These are both excellent topics, and either will make a contribution to my own thinking these days. I would probably find the first subject most helpful because I’m working through some eschatological stuff which has to do with the issue of maturity of the Church, committment to community (all kinds…which is to say *the* kind), and the (re)appearing of Christ. The time period which you mentioned has been of particular interest since it is, in many ways, the latest measurable period.

    Looking forward to reading which ever one develops.

  2. Well, I hope I can offer something worth reading in the future! 🙂

    Historically, a person’s eschatology plays a major role in how you relate evangelism with social work. Those who are in the post-mil tradition were very pro-social work because they were in a sense bettering society and desiring to make a Christian civilization. Pre-mil folks, particularly dispensational pre-tribs are usually very pessimistic about transforming culture and see little to no value in social reform. In their mind, the ship is sinking, and social reform is like rearranging the chairs while not caring about saving lives (as one historian put it). Fundamentalism, especially in early 20th century, looked at the events they saw (two word wars, communism, Hitler, economic crisis) through the grid of their dispensationalism, predicting that all this would lead to the imminent return of Christ. Consequently, they gathered the holy remnant and held the fort until Jesus returned. Many of them have been doing that now for over 100 years.

    Anyway, this relationship of evangelism and social reform is a dicy topic to say the least. I want to be as charitable and objective as possible, offering critique on both sides and hopefully presenting current application to our ethos and convictions today.

    I like Henry a lot, and writing on him would be easier to work with in a short paper (15 or so pages). So, depending on what I find, I will have to decide what would be best and be a more suitable delimiter to adequately and clearly present my argument. I am still early on my research, so I will probably chime back in when I get further along.

  3. Tim,

    I would like to talk with you more about these issues at some time. I’ve been invited to deliver four talks on personal holiness and social action at a singles retreat this summer. It would be beneficial for me to discuss ideas with you.

  4. John,

    I would love to brother. Currently I am looking at the debate between John Stott and Ronald Sider in the 70s. From the sheer number of articles and books, these issues were huge during the 60s adn 70s. I would definitely be interested in hearing your study and thoughts on the subject.

    One of the things I found interesting is that in the late 19th century, conservative Christians saw personal holiness both inward and outward; inward being fighting the flesh, person sin, etc., and outward, fighting injustice, evil, and oppression. In other words, caring for the poor, ministering to the oppressed, and the like was considered as much a call to holiness and Christ-likeness as say overcoming lust.

  5. Great bibliography…you might be interest in a recent paper I delievered at ETS this past Nov…it is called Wasted Evangelism, it centers on Mark 4, evangelism and social action…email me if you want a pdf file of it…peace, chip [email protected] and merry Christmas 2008

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