THEME The transformation of American society by the rapid develop of an industrial economy and the movement of people from the countryside and from southern and eastern Europe to America's fast-growing cities created a new series of problems for Protestant churches as well as Catholic and Jewish institutions and communities. Indeed, the challenges of ethnic and religious diversity and the intellectual challenges to traditional faith were often connected to these new economic and social changes.  Critics of long established religious traditions argued that modern life required a more modern faith, that religious beliefs and practices had to adapt to modern life. Issues of economic justice, poverty, the power of large corporations, and the role of government engaged religious leaders and  thinkers as well as political leaders and led to the varied Progressive Movement for reform of national life that affected politics from the 1890s to 1920. The growth of  industrial, urban America in the five decades after 1870 made the United States a major power. It also led to two religious visions of the new America - the Gospel of Wealth or Success and the Social Gospel. This session examines both perspectives and points to ways both continue to influence American attitudes. MATERIALS Marty: 16, The Dream of One Kingdom, examines the continuing importance of the mainstream Protestant majority which maintained a faith that God was using the American people to bring on His Kingdom. Marty characterizes this mainstream Protestantism in the fifty years before  World War I as optimistic, progressive, and increasingly liberal. Porterfield:  #25, Jane Addams, A Function of the Social Settlement, is a document illustrating one way people of religious conviction attempted to deal with the growing problem of poverty in the modern urban world WEB: William Lawrence, Relation of Wealth to Morals, This document reflects one perspective on American society in an age of increasing  wealth and growing poverty. Note how this Episcopal bishop saw the role  of personal morality in dealing with the  problems of modern life. How does his perspective compare with William Rauschenbusch's in The Social Gospel?

VIRTUAL CLASS TASKS: 1. Choose two passages, one from William Lawrence, Relation of Wealth to Morals and one from Rauschenbusch's  The Social Gospel that you think are most useful for comparing their different approaches to  dealing with issues of modern life. In the Caucus item, Virtual Session, quote the passages and briefly explain your choices. 2. You are advising a  film producer who wants to  make a documentary on Part III of the course,  Challenges to Protestant America, 1870-1920. A. Which of the essays in Moore or Porterfield would you suggest has the most interesting thesis? State the thesis and explain  briefly why it would be helpful for making an interesting film. B. Which of the documents would you choose to feature? Explain your choice, quoting a brief passage you would use in the film as an illustration of the document's importance.

The Gospel of Wealth, or sometimes the Gospel of Success, was the term for a notion promoted by many successful businessmen that their massive wealth was a social benefit for all. The Gospel of Wealth was a softer and more palatable version of Social Darwinism. The advocates linked wealth with responsibility, arguing that those with great material possessions had equally great obligations to society. No formal organization existed to put forth this viewpoint, but the following individuals represent a range of viewpoints: Russell H. Conwell (1843–1925), a Baptist minister in Philadelphia, became an extremely wealthy man by delivering his stock lecture, Acres of Diamonds, to paying audiences. Conwell stressed the idea that wealth was available to all people and it was not necessary to travel afar in search of it. Opportunities existed in every village and town if only people would take the trouble to look. In his view, God was responsible for directing wealth to those who could use it for beneficial purposes. Conwell, the founder of Temple University in Philadelphia, became one of the great public speakers of his day and delivered his talk more than 6,000 times.   Horatio Alger (1834-1899) was the son of a Unitarian minister and graduated with degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Divinity. He was rejected for service in the Civil War and became a minister on Cape Cod. Alger turned to writing after losing his pulpit under somewhat mysterious circumstances. In 1867, he published the first of more than 100 short novels depicting rags-to-riches stories meant to inspire the nation’s youth. Bearing such titles as Ragged Dick and Tattered Tom, the novels traced the rise of street urchins to positions of wealth and prominence. The virtues of loyalty, hard work, faith, thrift and clean living were trumpeted. Alger’s work made no pretense of literary merit, but was intended to convey the idea that great rewards awaited those who applied themselves and followed the rules. Alger, whose name became synonymous with successful fortune-seeking, sold more than 100 million books.   Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919), one of the great financial giants of his era, published an essay titled The Gospel of Wealth in 1889, in which he argued that the accumulation of wealth was beneficial to society and the government should take no action to impede it. Carnegie believed the rich were trustees of their money, holding it until proper public uses could be discovered. Unlike many of his contemporaries, Carnegie practiced what he preached and spent his last years giving away his vast fortune. One of his many charitable ventures was the funding of more than 2,800 public libraries. Carnegie wrote, “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.” In the last third of the nineteenth century, American life once again passed through some transformations that substantially affected perspectives on the national destiny. Rapid industrialization, urbanization, and immigration both alarmed Americans who feared that such changes threatened the nation's divine mission and gave evidence that in its rise to economic power and to becoming a refuge of freedom and opportunity for the peoples of the earth, the United States was fulfilling its destiny as God's New Israel. Some preachers saw a  religious dimension to wealth and national progress. Henry Ward Beecher, in The Tendencies of American Progress, expressed the idea that poverty more often springs from sin, than sin from poverty, and that American destiny under God was inextricably intertwined with American wealth. The Episcopal Bishop of Massachusetts, William Lawrence, gave his views on  morality and wealth in Relation of Wealth to Morals,

The Social Gospel Practitioners of the Social Gospel were in general Protestant clergymen who objected to the harsher realities of late 19th century capitalism and sought to highlight the role of man as his brother’s keeper. Leading advocates: Washington Gladden (1836-1918) was a Congregational minister who criticized the excessive competition that often accompanied the growth of capitalistic ventures. He was especially outspoken when denouncing many of John D. Rockefeller's practices. Gladden served congregations in New York, Massachusetts and for many years, Columbus, Ohio. He is regarded as the founder of the Social Gospel movement and authored more than 30 books that contained biblical solutions for the problems of the industrial age.   Walter Rauschenbusch (1861-1918) ministered among the German immigrant community in the Hell’s Kitchen section of New York City. He witnessed first-hand the misery created by poverty during the depression of the 1890s. He was convinced that all social ills were somehow connected to poverty and that unrestrained capitalism was the root cause. Rauschenbusch urged his church and others to join actively in the struggle for social justice. The purveyors of the Social Gospel urged for government action to accomplish social reforms and refused to hold the poor solely responsible for their plight. These positions set them at odds with the Gospel of Wealth advocates.