Changes

The Social Gospel preached the doing of good works especially to help social problems such as crime and poverty, so that societal problems would cease. Only then would Jesus return. The notions of the social gospel appeared primarily in the United States especially among theologically liberal Protestants. The social gospel was criticized by more traditional Protestants as abandoning faith for works and not focusing on the essential matter of personal salvation.

The Social Gospel preached the doing of good works especially to help social problems such as crime and poverty, so that societal problems would cease. Only then would Jesus return. The notions of the social gospel appeared primarily in the United States especially among theologically liberal Protestants. The social gospel was criticized by more traditional Protestants as abandoning faith for works and not focusing on the essential matter of personal salvation.

===Ideology===

===Ideology===

As a general rule, the Social Gospel rejected tenets of individualism in favor of the collective.<ref name=realAgenda>[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/418476/secret-religion-american-left-jonah-goldberg Why the Left Will Never Talk about Its Real Agenda], [[National Review]]</ref>

As a general rule, the Social Gospel rejected tenets of individualism in favor of the collective.<ref name=realAgenda>[http://www.nationalreview.com/article/418476/secret-religion-american-left-jonah-goldberg Why the Left Will Never Talk about Its Real Agenda], [[National Review]]</ref><ref>[http://www.pbs.org/now/society/socialgospel.html History of the Social Gospel], [[PBS]]</ref>

 

====Rejection of the Individual====

====Rejection of the Individual====

While their theology was to preach good works to help resolve social problems, their goal was the basic transformation of the American social order by attacking what it believed to be the problem: individualism.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3xyPFA_8O0C&pg=PA354|last=Nelson|first=Clifford|title=Lutherans in North America|publisher=Fortress Press|year=1975|pages=354}}</ref>  The new emphasis on "social Christianity" did foster some criticism among some Protestants, but the Social Gospellers were able to straddle a kind of middle ground by only rejecting some aspects of individualism; primarily, those of economic and social theories.<ref name=curry>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_JUqFAXzKkC&pg=PA181|last=Curry|first=Richard|title=American Chameleon: Individualism in Trans-national Context|publisher=Kent State University Press|year=1991|pages=181}}</ref>

While their theology was to preach good works to help resolve social problems, their goal was the basic transformation of the American social order by attacking what it believed to be the problem: individualism.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3xyPFA_8O0C&pg=PA354|last=Nelson|first=Clifford|title=Lutherans in North America|publisher=Fortress Press|year=1975|pages=354}}</ref>  The new emphasis on "social Christianity" did foster some criticism among some Protestants, but the Social Gospellers were able to straddle a kind of middle ground by only rejecting some aspects of individualism; primarily, those of economic and social theories.<ref name=curry>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_JUqFAXzKkC&pg=PA181|last=Curry|first=Richard|title=American Chameleon: Individualism in Trans-national Context|publisher=Kent State University Press|year=1991|pages=181}}</ref>