Social Christianity in Scotland and Beyond, 1800-2000

Social Christianity in Scotland and Beyond explores the multifarious initiatives known variously as 'social Christianity', 'Christian socialism', or the 'social gospel', that spanned countries, continents, decades, and denominations. Building on the scholarship of Stewart J. Brown, to whom this volume is dedicated, fourteen leading and emerging scholars of the history of Christianity consider the varying social policies and initiatives that Christians have pursued in response to industrialisation, urbanisation, expanding global trade networks, and nascent democratic politics. With a particular focus on religious communities in Scotland, the essays provide comparative lenses with which to view sociological and theological developments through examinations of similar phenomena in England, Germany, the Netherlands, and the United States. In adopting an international perspective that extends beyond Britain and the US, this volume encourages a more holistic understanding of social Christianity as part of a multifaceted and fluid belief system that evolved and shifted according to context.