Transcript American Fundamentalism and the Social Gospel

Religion in the
Gilded Age
Fundamentalism and
the Social Gospel
Two Distinct Movements

American Fundamentalism
and the Social Gospel are
two distinct religious
movements. Both began
in the early part of the
20th century. Both sprang
from Christianity's attempt
to deal with modern
problems. Yet they had
radically different goals.
Social Gospel

The Social Gospel grew
out of the abuses of
industrialism. By the
turn of the twentieth
century American cities
had become magnets
for cheap labor. Poverty
bred a new kind of
hopelessness.
Indifference

Wealthy captains of
industry, like Andrew
Carnegie and John D.
Rockefeller, were seen
as indifferent to the
sufferings of the poor.
Social Darwinism

Some of the rich were
philanthropists, but
others justified their
cruelty with a philosophy
called Social Darwinism.
If evolution favors the
survival of the fittest,
they argued, why should
the strong help the weak
to survive?
Kingdom of God

The Social Gospel arose to
combat this bleak
landscape. Many
Christians came to believe
that through reform
efforts dealing with child
labor, slums and tenement
houses, and unsafe
working conditions, they
could build the Kingdom of
God on earth.
Weeding

To counter the
argument of the Social
Darwinists, William
Jennings Bryan
compared society to a
garden. In a garden,
you don't let the weeds
triumph over the roses
simply because the
weeds are stronger.
Protect the Roses

You protect the roses
from the weeds. And
if you want a society
where you have good
people, kindness,
charity, and equality,
you have to do some
weeding.
Fundamentalism

Fundamentalism arose
from a radically different
impulse than the social
gospel. Early in the 20th
century certain
prominent Christians
began to see the Bible
as a historical text rather
than revealed truth.
Higher Criticism

The Bible, according to
these “higher critics,” had
evolved over time and
simply reflected the views
of the men who wrote it.
The Fundamentals

Fundamentalism arose
within the church to
combat this modern
view of the Bible. The
name comes from a
series of pamphlets
called “The
Fundamentals,”
published in 1912.
Back to Basics

“The Fundamentals”
outlined the bedrock
truths that all Christians
should believe.
Fundamentalists believed
in a “back to basics”
American theology: The
Bible was not something
to be interpreted, but
the revealed word of
God.
Fundamentals
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Inerrancy of the Bible
Biblical Literalism
Virgin Birth of Christ
Substitutionary
Atonement
Bodily Resurrection
Second Coming
Anti-Evolution Crusade

In the beginning,
fundamentalism did not
attempt to reach out
and change society as
a whole. It was the
anti-evolution crusade
of William Jennings
Bryan that turned
fundamentalism into a
political movement.
Tennessee

Beginning in 1922 Bryan
campaigned across
America for laws against
the teaching of Darwin's
theory. His crusade lit a
fire in the state of
Tennessee, which passed
a law outlawing the
teaching of evolution
early in 1925.
John Scopes

When John Scopes was
arrested for violating the
law, the World's
Christian Fundamentals
Organization invited
William Jennings Bryan
to go to Dayton,
Tennessee, to prosecute
Scopes. Bryan jumped
at the chance.
H. L Mencken

The Scopes Trial forever
changed Fundamentalism
in America. The national
media, led by H. L.
Mencken, mocked Bryan
and his “Bible belt”
followers.
Bryan the Charlatan

Mencken called
Bryan a charlatan
with a particular
genius for
manipulating the
“yokels” who
worshipped him.
Reports from Dayton

Mencken's reports from
Dayton influenced
historian's depictions of
Bryan, the Scopes trial,
and Fundamentalism
itself for years
afterwards.
Clarence Darrow

One of the false
assumptions of the
Scopes Trial was that
the American Civil
Liberties Union could
send a smart lawyer
from Chicago, Clarence
Darrow, and by
embarrassing Bryan,
discredit an entire
movement.
Disappeared

Historians writing in
the late 50s and early
60s thought that
Fundamentalism had
disappeared from
American culture.
Underground

But the Fundamentalist
movement had only gone
underground. Its leaders
had learned valuable
lessons from the Scopes
trial. Fundamentalism
would emerge later in the
20th century as a far
more radical and
sophisticated movement.
Charitable Works

As for the Social
Gospel, the phrase
is no longer in
currency, but the
impulse continues in
the charitable works
of religious people
throughout
America.