Changes

Quoting Josiah Royce, Rauschenbusch notes: "There are in the human world two profoundly different grades, or levels, of mental beings, - namely, the beings that we usually call human individuals, and the being that we call communities. - Any highly organized community is as truly a human being as you and I are individually human."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DHEAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA71 A Theology for the Social Gospel], p. 71</ref>  He continued: "The assimilative power they exert over their members is only their form of discipline by which they bring their collective body into smooth and efficient working order. They are the most powerful ethical forces in our communities."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DHEAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA72 A Theology for the Social Gospel], p. 72</ref>

Quoting Josiah Royce, Rauschenbusch notes: "There are in the human world two profoundly different grades, or levels, of mental beings, - namely, the beings that we usually call human individuals, and the being that we call communities. - Any highly organized community is as truly a human being as you and I are individually human."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DHEAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA71 A Theology for the Social Gospel], p. 71</ref>  He continued: "The assimilative power they exert over their members is only their form of discipline by which they bring their collective body into smooth and efficient working order. They are the most powerful ethical forces in our communities."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=DHEAAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA72 A Theology for the Social Gospel], p. 72</ref>

This view of the superiority of the collective over was a common theme for Rauschenbusch.  In ''Christianizing the Social Order'' he wrote: "Christianizing the social order means bringing it into harmony with the ethical convictions which we identify with Christ. A fairly definite body of moral convictions has taken shape in modern humanity. They express our collective conscience, our working religion. The present social order denies and flouts many of these principles of our ethical life and compels us in practice to outrage our better self. We demand therefore that the moral sense of humanity shall be put in control and shall be allowed to reshape the institutions of social life. We call this "christianizing" the social order because these moral principles find their highest expression in the teachings, the life, and the spirit of Jesus Christ."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=f8z9hCMTGOwC&pg=PA125 Christianizing the Social Order]</ref>

This view of the superiority of the collective over was a common theme for Rauschenbusch.  In an article he wrote regarding the establishment of the Brotherhood of the Kingdom, he explained his conception of the Kingdom of God: "Because the individualistic conception of personal salvation has pushed out sight the collective idea of a Kingdom God on earth, Christian men seek for the Salvation of individuals and are comparatively indifferent to the spread of the Spirit of Christ in the political, industrial, social, scientific and artistic life of humanity, and have left these as the undisturbed possession of the spirit of the world."<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=22GYC-1niMkC&pg=PA207&lpg=PA207 Brotherhood of the Kingdom]</ref>

So in his view "christianizing" the social order means "collectivising" the social order - they are one in the same.

 

 

So in his view "Christianizing" the social order means "collectivising" the social order - they are one in the same.

Rauschenbusch's most forceful statements regarding collectivism come from his speech on ''The Trend Toward Collectivism'', where he says of collectivism that we "we ought to move in that direction."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/TrendCollectivismRauschenbusch The Trend Toward Collectivism]</ref>

Rauschenbusch's most forceful statements regarding collectivism come from his speech on ''The Trend Toward Collectivism'', where he says of collectivism that we "we ought to move in that direction."<ref>[https://archive.org/details/TrendCollectivismRauschenbusch The Trend Toward Collectivism]</ref>

==Works==

==Works==

* [https://archive.org/details/jstor-2761664 ''The Ideals of Social Reformers''] (1896)

* [https://archive.org/details/jstor-2761664 ''The Ideals of Social Reformers''] (1896)

* [https://archive.org/details/evang00raus ''Evangeliums-Lieder 1 & 2 (Gospel Hymns) mit Deutschen Kernliedern''] (1904)

* [https://archive.org/details/evang00raus ''Evangeliums-Lieder 1 & 2 (Gospel Hymns) mit Deutschen Kernliedern''] (1904)

==References==

==References==

{{reflist|3}}

{{reflist|2}}

==External Links==

==External Links==

* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/34246 Works by Walter Rauschenbusch] at [[Project Gutenberg]]

* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/34246 Works by Walter Rauschenbusch] at [[Project Gutenberg]]

[[Category:Theologians]]

[[Category:Theologians]]

[[Category:Baptists]]

[[Category:Baptists]]

[[Category:Progressive Era]]

[[Category:Progressive Era]]