Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st Century - by Walter Rauschenbusch (Paperback)

About the Book

First published in 1907, this book became the mainstay for Christians and other religious people seriously interested in social justice. New essays by leading public theologians are included in this modern edition.

Book Synopsis

The 100th Anniversary Edition of the Classic That Changed the American Church Forever

Published at the beginning of the twentieth century, Christianity and the Social Crisis is the epoch-making book that dramatically expanded the church's vision of how it could transform the world. The 100th anniversary edition updates this classic with new essays by leading preachers and theologians.

From the Back Cover

In the wake of the success of God's Politics, comes an anniversary edition of Walter Rauschenbusch's Christianity and the Social Crisis, a book which outsold every other religious volume for three years and which has become a classic and mainstay for any Christian seriously interested in social justice. PBS has named Rauschenbusch one of the most influential American religious leaders in the last 100 years, and Christianity Today named this book one of the top books of the century that have shaped contemporary religious thought. So it seems fitting on the 100th anniversary of the publication of Christianity and the Social Crisis that Rauschenbush's great-grandson should bring this classic back into print, adding a response to each chapter by a well-known contemporary author such as Jim Wallis, Tony Camplo, Cornel West, Richard Rorty, Stanley Hauerwas, and others. Between 1886 and 1897, he was pastor of the Second German Baptist Church in the ?Hell's Kitchen? area of New York City, an area of extreme poverty. As he witnessed massive economic insecurity, he began to believe that Christianity must address the physical as well as the spiritual needs of humankind. Rauschenbusch saw it as his duty as a minister and student of Christ to act with love by trying to improve social conditions.

Review Quotes

"A book which left an indelible imprint on my thinking." -- Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Republication in this form is a forceful intervention in contemporary debates in American religion and politics. -- Commonweal

Many of the societal concerns and questions of 1907, e.g., his alarm over iner-city poverty, societal injustice, crime, and ineffectual government, are just as relevant today. -- Library Journal

"Skillfully fashioned and perfectly timed, [Rauschenbusch's] book was a supercharger for a movement . . . and set a new standard for political theology. Rightly viewed from the beginning as the greatest statement of the social gospel movement." -- Christian Century

In a 100th-anniversary edition, Paul Raushenbush, the author's great-grandson, has reprinted the text with essays by Cornel West, the Rev. Jim Wallis and others to prove that one can be a dedicated Christian and a social reformer at the same time. -- The New York Times Book Review

Rightly viewed from the beginning as the greatest statement of the social gospel movement . . . and set a new standard for political theology. -- Christian Century