Christian Socialism

Christian Socialism, mid-19th century movement within the Church of England that espoused the idea that socialism is a direct development and outcome of Christianity and, to be effective, must be based on Christian principles. Its main advocates were Frederick Maurice, Charles Kingsley, and John Ludlow, who in 1848 began to publish Politics for the People, a weekly journal supporting the working people and enjoining the rich to practice justice and charity in the spirit of Christian fellowship. Later the group issued Tracts on Christian Socialism, urging cooperation rather than competition among workers; as a result, various associations to aid the working classes were formed.

Efforts of Christians toward the social improvement of workers were made in other European countries and in America as well, but never with as comprehensive a philosophy of life and society. In Boston the Society of Christian Socialists was formed in 1889, but its support of socialism never took root. The social concerns found greater advocacy in the so-called Social Gospel of liberal Christianity, associated with Washington Gladden and Walter Rauschenbusch, and later in the Christian realistic theology of Reinhold Niebuhr and John Bennett.