secularization of postmillenialism

7/27/2019 Secularization of Postmillenialism

1/21


2/21

JEAN B. QUANDTPrinceton, . J.

Religion ndSocialThought:The SecularizationfPostmillennialismIN THE PROCESS OF DEFINING LATE 19TH AND EARLY 20TH CENTURYAmericanculture,historians ave attributedncreasingmportance o therole of religion n social thought. tudiesof academics and reformershownot so mucha sharpbreak withthereligious ertaintiesf thepre-Dar-winian ge as a merging f new scientificdeas with lder Protestant ensi-bilities.n The Paradoxof Progressive hought, avid Noble demonstratesthe continuinglements f belief n moral absolutes, n spiritual rogressand in theismwithin n evolutionaryramework. etween1890and 1919,men ikeH. D. Lloyd,Herbert roly nd Simon Pattenvisualized istory stheprogressiveealization f socialsolidarity hrough cience, ndustrynda religiouslynspired ltruism.R. JacksonWilson's tudy f ntellectualsnsearch of community eveals the part played by religious deas in thethought f social scientistsike JamesMark Baldwin nd G. StanleyHall.Finally,Clyde Griffen as argued thatwhat distinguished rogressive e-formers romothergroupswas the combination f a religious r quasi-religious deal of democracywith a piecemeal attitude o social change;moreover, e links his yndrome ith hecontinuingnfluence f an earlierevangelical rotestantism.'This kindof approach does not deny the modernity f these thinkers.Rather, t putssome of the salientfeatures f social thought, uchas thesearch for scientificolutions o social problems,within largerculturalframework here lderreligiousmpulseswere tillpowerful.

'David Noble,The ParadoxofProgressive houghtMinneapolis:Univ.ofMinnesota ress,1958); R. JacksonWilson, n Quest ofCommunity:ocial Philosophy n theUnited tates,1860-1920 New York: JohnWiley,1968);ClydeGriffen,The Progressive thos," n TheDe-velopment f an AmericanCulture, eds. StanleyCoben and Lorman Ratner EnglewoodCliffs, .J.:Prentice-Hall, 970),pp. 120-49.

This content downloaded from 173.255.37.170 on Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:14:24 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsphttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp


3/21


4/21

392 AmericanQuarterlyshift n emphasis, ommonto clerical and lay figures like,was consistentwith he growingmoralism f late 19th entury rotestant ulture; t alsoreflected he ncreasing onfidence f ntellectualsn the natural nd socialsciences s agents fprogress.AlthoughAmerican ptimismwasmuchtoo pervasive obemonopolizedby anyone tradition,hesemireligious ostmillennialismfthepost-CivilWar era bore a remarkable esemblance oearlier vangelical opesfor heredemptionftheworld: hebelief n the mminence fthetransformation,therelianceon providentialgencies, nd the confidence ut in the totalspiritualregenerationf society. n severalways, religious hought ndsocial thoughtwereso interwovens to suggest commonorigin r, atleast, sharing f common ttitudes.

The central rgument f the present aper s thatthepostmillennialm-pulse persistednto theearly20thcentury,while ccommodatingtself omodern ntellectualnfluences nd changedsocial conditions. his can beshown yestablishingconnectionetween he vangelical rotestantismfthemiddledecades and variousexpressionsfeschatological hemes fterthe CivilWar. The argument an also be demonstrated y analyzing heideas of such religious eaders as WashingtonGladden,JosiahStrong,Gerald B. Smith and Lyman Abbott, s well as those of suchleading n-tellectuals s RichardT. Ely, JohnDewey,JohnR. CommonsandAlbionW. Small. Finally, t can be seen in the attitudes f those reformers hooperated nassumptionsimilar othose f more ystematichinkers.Thebest starting ointfor racing hepermutationsfpostmillennialismis the mid-l9th century. Although the postmillennialist radition nAmerican Protestantism oes back farther hanthis, he midcentury er-sion saw the emergence f certainthemeswhichwould later become ofcentralmportance or ocialthought. he most significantfthesewastheconvergencef eschatological opeswith hecelebrationfcivil nstitutionsandtechnologicaldvances s agentsfor hecomingkingdom.6 ne can seethis s early s 1835 nLymanBeecher'sA Pleaforthe West. What nationis blessedwith uch experimental nowledge ffree nstitutions,ith uchfacilities nd resources fcommunication,nobstructed yso few bstaclesas ourown?There snot a nationuponearthwhich,nfifty ears, anbyallpossiblereformationlace itself ncircumstances o favorable s our own... toevangelize heworld."7Beecher, "Revivalistic alvinist," resident6RaymondH. Merritt, ngineeringnAmerican ociety. 1850-1875 Lexington:Univ.Pressof Kentucky, 969),pp. 23-24; PerryMiller,TheLifeof theMind nAmerica:From theRevo-lution o the CivilWar New York: Harcourt,Brace & World, 1965), pp. 52-58. Postmillen-nialism ppeared as early s the colonial period,most mportantlynJonathan dwards.SeeDavidE. Smith, Millenarian cholarship," p. 539-41.7Lyman eecher,A Pleafor the West Cincinnati: ruman& Smith,1835),p. 7.



5/21

Religion nd Social Thought 393of Lane Theological Seminary and one of the leaders of the homemissionarymovement,was a forerunnerf the kingdom heology f the1850s.8This theology ooked to evangelicalChristianitys the means tousher n God's kingdom n earth.Cutting cross denominationalines, tcombinedherevivalist elief n personal onversion ith he ocialvision fa redeemedworld.Revivalswereto result nregeneratedocialinstitutionsas wellas regeneratedndividuals nd thus bring n the age of peace andrighteousness.9This religious isiondid not exclude the use of secular instrumentsorhastening henew era. Although iberalclergymen ike the New SchoolPresbyterianlbertBarnesdepended rimarilyn thework f thechurchesandtheChristian enevolentocieties, heywelcomed cience, nventionndcultureas God-given agencies" of the kingdom.'0Pointing o the be-nevolent ocieties nd theapplication fsteamto printing,arnesrejoicedthatmen were"bringinghecombined nfluence f these agencieson thewidestpossible scale to bear on theunconverted ortions f therace.""Lyman Beecher's on, Edward, ook a similarly ptimistic ttitude owardworldlynstrumentsf the kingdom.He, too, saw art, cience, ivilgovern-ment and commerce as agents of theworld's redemption. ut Beechersubordinatedheseculturalforces o the nfluencefregeneration.e sawthem s tools which rueChristianswould use to furtherhekingdom. orthecomingof thekingdom, eecherargued, can onlybe effectedytheuniversalndwelling f God in the ndividuals fwhom humansociety scomposed,ncliningndenabling hem o act on hisprinciples.. in all de-partments f life."' Midcentury vangelistsike Barnes and Beecherre-garded the steam engineand the press as instrumentsf the kingdominsofar s they nlarged he scopeofthe"great enterprisesfChristian e-nevolence"'3-theAmerican Bible Society,American Tract SocietyandAmericanHome Missionary ociety.Secular forces nd institutions ouldplaya much argerpart n theminds f a latergeneration.The apocalyptic renzyeached tsheight uring he 1850s;theCivilWar

8Barbara M. Cross, "Introduction,"The Autobiography f Lyman Beecher Cambridge:HarvardUniv.Press,1961),pp. xi-xxvi.9Smith, evivalism.'0Smith, evivalism, . 230;AlbertBarnes,Life at Three-Score: Sermon Delivered n theFirst PresbyterianChurch, Philadelphia, November 28, 1858 (Philadelphia: Parry &McMillan,1859),pp.21-23. See also "The Christian rrandonEarth," ndependent, uly 6,1855,p. 236 and "IndividualResponsibility,"ndependent, ug. 23, 1855,p. 268, which ave apredominantlace toChristian ietynbringingnthekingdom."Life,p. 22.'2EdwardBeecher, The Scriptural hilosophyfCongregationalismnd ofCouncils," Bib-liotheca acra, 22 Apr. 1865),287. ItalicsBeecher's.'3Barnrs, ife,p. 31.See also Beecher, ScripturalPhilosophy," p. 284-91.



6/21

394 AmericanQuarterlyintroduced soberingnote, but the postmillennialmpulse persisted.'4Many of its spokesmen nterpretedhe-war as a specialtestofAmerica'sability o surmount evere rials n itsdrive obringn thegolden ge. Andolderthemes urvived hewar.JohnMotley, iplomat ndhistorian,esur-rected familiar dea whenhe addressed heNew York HistoricalSocietyin 1868:Americawas the ogicalharbingerf theNew Jerusalemecause ofthefortunate lliance of spiritual, eographical nd technological dvan-tageswhich healone enjoyed.15Among the clergy, vangelistsikeEdward Beecher,George Ladd, Gil-bertHaven and Samuel Harrisretained heir opesfor he omingkingdomduring he 1860s nd 70s. Haven, a leading bolitionist,rged ll Methodiststo speed the "Grand Sabbatic Year" by working or social equality andtemperance.1 n 1870, Harris gave his ectures n TheKingdom f Christon Earth at Andover Theological Seminary, n whichhe expressedhisconfidence hat Christ's pirit nd man's activitieswould soon bring boutthetriumph f thekingdom.'7 y the 1880s, heNew Theology,whosehead-quarterswereat Andover,put forthtsversion f postmillennialxpecta-tions. The Andover iberalsweremore cautious about theimminence fChrist's piritual ule,butmanyofthemagreedthatthe "age to come isseenagain .. as a coming rder fthingsn earth."'AlthoughAndovermencontinued heevangelical nterestn regeneratingsociety, heyworkedwithnew deas whichwouldgrow venmore mportantinthe Social Gospel movement. he immanence f God in nature nd so-ciety, conceptderived npart from he doctrine f evolution,was one ofthese deas. Anotherwas the natureof Christian onversion: onversioncame moreandmore to mean the gradual moral mprovementf the ndi-vidual.19 hus Andover's dentificationf God with ll theregeneratingndcivilizing orces n society, ogetherwith ts Arminian mphasison man'smoral achievements, ointed toward an increasingly ecular version ofAmerica'stransfiguration.Outsidetheological ircles, he postmillennialradition ppeared n the

'4Smith,Revivalism,pp. 230-35; MartinE. Marty, Righteous Empire: The ProtestantExperiencenAmerica NewYork: Dial, 1970),p. 180.15ErnestLee Tuveson,RedeemerNation Chicago: Univ.of ChicagoPress, 1968),pp. 192-96.'6Smith, evivalism, p.235-37;Charles HowardHopkins,TheRiseofthe ocial Gospel nAmericanProtestantism:865-1915 New Haven: Yale Univ.Press, 1940),pp. 19-21;WilliamA. Clebsch,From Sacred to ProfaneAmerica: The Role of Religion nAmericanHistory(NewYork: Harper& Row,1968),pp. 168-70.'7H. RichardNiebuhr,TheKingdom f God in America New York: Harper's, 1937),pp.160-61.'8Daniel Day Williams,TheAndoverLiberals:A Study nAmericanTheologyNew York:King'sCrown, 941),p. 127.'9Ibid., p. 48,68.



7/21

Religion nd Social Thought 395utopiannovels of EdwardBellamyand IgnatiusDonnelly, s well as in anumber f otherbookswhichbelonged n the utopiancategory.20 s JohnThomas argues convincinglyn hisnew ntroductiono Looking Backward(1887), the novel can be construed as a prophetic account of theregenerationf American ociety, ne paralleledby theconversion fthehero,JulianWest,to thereligionfsolidarity.21His second novel,Equality(1897), was more explicitlyChristianand millennial n substanceandrhetoric.ts central vent, The Great Revival"of the20thcentury,ookedto "the establishmentn brotherlyove of thekingdom f God on earthwhichChrist bade men hope and work for."22 he affinityf Bellamy'sthemeswiththose ofChristian schatology nd evangelicalperfectionismhas often eenobscured y an excessive oncentrationn theorganizationalandtechnologicalspectsof his utopia,butThomas redirects urattentionto those aspects ofhis thoughtwhich inkBellamyto pre-CivilWar post-millennialism.Another xampleof this genrewas IgnatiusDonnelly'sutopiannovel,TheGoldenBottle 1892). Written n the middle f a political ampaign, twas the tory f EphraimBenezet, Kansasfarmer ecome President, homiraculouslyncreasedthe nation's moneysupplyfor the economicandmoralbettermentf society.Dissatisfied ith heresults f even thorough-going ocialreform, enezetfinally ecognized hatonly rebirth f Chris-tianity ouldbring o civilizationhosethousandyearsofpeace and usticewhich heBible had foretold; e thenproceededto unite ll the Christianchurchesn the workof regeneratinghe world. Since thenovel's avowedaim was to help Donnelly's Populist campaign in Minnesota, the es-chatologicalframeworknd evangelical diomwere at thevery east ac-ceptable iteraryonventions.23

20Vernon ouis Parrington r.,AmericanDreams: A Study of American Utopias NewYork: Russell& Russell,1964),p. 179, lludes brieflyo this heme nconnectionwith everalothernovelsof the 1890s.Also see WilliamT. Stead, If ChristCame to Chicago (Chicago:Lairdand Lee, 1894),pp.339,343,444 for statementf themillennialistheme.2lThomas, Introduction," p.50-57.22Edward ellamy,Equality New York: D. Appleton,1897), p. 340. The Christian om-monwealthf Georgia, n intentionalommunityoundedn 1897whosephilosophy aspost-millennialist,asbased on thetheories f Bellamy,Blissand Herron.JamesDombrowski, heEarlyDaysof Christianocialism nA mericaNew York: Octagon,1936),pp. 132-139.23IgnatiusDonnelly,TheGoldenBottle Or theStoryof EphraimBenezetof Kansas (NewYork: Merrill, 892). Donnellyhimself,houghnot rreligious, as critical forganized eli-gion.MartinRidge, gnatiusDonnelly:ThePortrait f a PoliticianChicago:Univ.ofChicagoPress,1962),p. 266. Donnelly's therwritings ereclosertopremillennialism.redericJaher,Doubtersand Dissenters.CataclysmicThought n America, 1885-1918 (New York: FreePress, 1964), chap. 6. However,thereappear to havebeenpostmillennialists well as pre-millennialistmpulseswithinPopulism.See PeterH. Argersinger,Pentecostal Politics nKansas: Religion, heFarmer'sAlliance,and theGospelofPopulism,"Kansas Quarterly,(1969),24-35.



8/21

396 AmericanQuarterlyIn the novels of Bellamy and Donnelly, he authors used theutopianframework s a device for underscoring he crucial role of religiousregenerationnbringingbout thenewera. It was thisbelief nthe piritualrevival fsociety s a wholewhich inkedmen ikeBellamy nd Donnelly,who weretheologicallynorthodoxnd evenanticlerical, o theexponentsoftheNewTheology.A final xample ofthe continuationf thepostmillennialraditionnthepostbellum eriodwas the deology f abor eaders nthe GildedAge. Ar-guing that the perfectionism f prewarProtestantism ersisted mongworkers in the later 19th century,HerbertGutman describes manyinstancesn which aborspokesmen sed the hope forthekingdom f God

on earthas a justificationor trenuous ffortsoward conomic ustice onthepartofworkingmen.24If a measureofcontinuityxisted etween heevangelical rotestantismofthemidcenturynd some of thepost-CivilWar movementsntheologyand social thought, decided hiftwithin hepostmillennialistradition asalso taking lace.As an examination f certainkeyfigureswillmake clear,theshift onsisted fa secularization ftheeschatological ision.The out-pouringsftheHoly Spiritwhichweretousher nthekingdom fthe 1850swere replaced, n theGildedAge and theProgressivera, byadvances nknowledge, ulture and ethical Christianity.Whereas evangelicalProt-estantism ad insisted hatthekingdomwouldcomebythegraceof Godacting nhistoryndnotbyanynaturalprocess, he aterversion ften ub-stituted heprovidential ift fscienceforredeeming race.Thesechangestoward morenaturalisticiew f theworld'sprogresswereparalleled yachangingttitude oward heagencies fredemption.he churches nd thebenevolent ocietiesconnectedwiththem werestill consideredmportant

instrumentsf the coming kingdom, ut greatsignificance as now at-tachedto such impersonalmessianicagenciesas the natural and socialsciences.The spirit flove andbrotherhood as stillgiven majorrole nperfectingheworld, ut twasoften egarded s an achievementf humanevolutionwith nly enuous ies o a transcendenteity.This secularization f thepostmillennialraditionn the late 19thandearly20thcenturies ut across the ineswhichdivided heology nd socialscience, lergymennd intellectuals.t represented blendingfreligious,social and scientificdeas intoa teleologicalmodelofhistorical hange nwhich, s RobertWiebeargues,theboundaries etween topian nd prag-maticthinking ere onsiderably lurred.25his process, s weshall see, oc-curredwithinheological ircles s well s outside hem.24"ProtestantismndtheLaborMovement," p.74-101.25TheearchforOrder.1877-1920 NewYork: Hill& Wang,1967),pp. 137-45.



9/21

Religion ndSocial Thought 397Lookingfirst o thosewhoweretheologiansnd ministersn theperiodbetween1880 and 1914,we can see the processof secularization t workwithinheframeworkf iberal heologytself.26neway tolook at thisde-velopment s to compare the viewsof two leadingSocial Gospellers-WashingtonGladden (1836-1918) and Josiah Strong 1847-1916). Bothmenwere spokesmen orthepostmillennialisttrainwithin ost-CivilWarProtestantism,ut they ifferedntheir iews boutwhatwould hasten he"fullerbringingn of thegloryof thekingdom."27n some waysGladdenwas a transitionaligure.His vision f the comingkingdom lwaysretainedmuchof theearlierevangelical mphasison God's changing he heartsofmen, nd on thepreeminentole ofthechurchesnusheringn"the dawnof

thisnewday"whose igns nd traceswerevisible or ll to see. His espousalof social Christianity, hich ed himto support heAmericanEconomicAssociation nd thenew social sciences, omplemented isconvictionhatthegoal of Christianity as thetotaland imminentransformationfso-ciety.28or Gladden,who focusedhisreformistnergies n the conflictfcapitaland abor,theGoldenAgewouldbefully ealizedwhen heChristianlaw of ovewas appliedto this ndotherproblems f an industrial ociety.The chief gencyforthisChristianization as the church,whose responsi-bilitywas totransformnstitutions,aws and sentimentsn accordancewiththe principlesf cooperation nd love. Secular agencies uchas education,science ndgovernment ereefficaciousftheywere nfusedwithChristiansentiment.29nd Gladden agreed with the revivalist lergyof earlierdecades thatregeneratendividualswere n thebestposition o transformtheorganized ctivitiesfmen ntothekingdom f God onearth.Gladden'spostmillennial ision, then,clearlyresembled n importantways the es-chatological opesof themiddle ecades.The transitionrom he evangelicalpostmillennialismfGladdento themore rationalistic ersionof JosiahStrongis apparent n several ways.First, trong'sconception f the natureof Christiannfluencesnrealizingthekingdom ifferedromGladden's.Theneedforpersonal egenerationr

26The erm iberal heologysusedhere nthe ense nwhichNiebuhr ses t nTheKingdomof God inAmerica, .e.,to refer o a theologywhichwas freewillist, ptimisticndfriendlyoscience nd modern ulture.27WashingtonGladden,Toolsand theMan: Propertynd ndustryUnder heChristian aw(Boston: HoughtonMifflin,893), p. 22. Gladdenhad been greatly ffectedn hisyouthbyWilliamMiller'spremillennialism,utby 1853hewasmoving oward postmillennialosition.JacobHenryDorn,Washington ladden:Prophet fthe ocial Gospel Columbus:OhioStateUniv.Press,1966),pp. 7,9, 193-94.28Tools, p. 18,20-23; AppliedChristianity: oral AspectsofSocial Questions Boston:HoughtonMifflin,886),p. 214.29Tools, p. 19,22; Ruling deas of thePresentAge (Boston:HoughtonMifflin,895),pp.97-135; Social Facts and Forces (New York: Putnam's,1897),pp. 199-204,223; Social Sal-vation Boston:HoughtonMifflin,902),pp.207-37.



10/21

398 AmericanQuarterlyspiritualrebirth,tillpresent n Gladden,was eclipsed by the notionofmoral improvement. econdly, the balance betweensacred and secularagenciesofsocial salvationhad shifted. he churches tillplayed centralrole for Strong,but he was also convinced hat science,communicationsand industry ad their wn redemptive ower.The increasingmoralism fthe Christian xperiencend the ncreasing aithncultural nstitutionssthe meansto progress, oth typical f the ate 19thcentury, elped pushStrong toward the secularizationof the postmillennial radition.30 etended o investhuman nstitutionsnd humannaturewith heredemptivepowerwhich ad earlier elonged o Christ's piritualnfluence.Strong'smove towarda moralistic nd culturalpostmillennialismasmade against the backgroundof the evangelical and missionary rot-estantism n which he beganhis work.A graduateof Lane TheologicalSeminary, ne of theevangelizing ollegesoftheWest,hisfirstmportantbook,OurCountry 1885),was a rewritef one of themany ractsputoutbytheAmericanHome Missionary ociety.The Society,foundedn 1826,was devoted oevangelizingheWest and therebypeeding heworld owardthe millennium.3' trong'sbook was dedicatedto this same mission: tdescribed he perils to the West, and therefore o thenation,of immi-gration,ntemperance,ocialism,wealth ndespecially hecity, or hecitymagnifiedll theotherproblems.AndOur Country tressed hechurches'need to overcome these perils ftheywere "to hasten .. the comingofChrist'skingdomntheworld."32 ere and nhis aterwritings,e conveyeda sense of urgency, f the imminence f thekingdom nd of the specialresponsibilityfhisgeneration o usher n thenew ra.33Strong'smillennialistxpectationswere closely tied to the missionarywork of the churches. Secretary of the revivalist-orientedvangelicalAllianceuntil 1898,he worked ut a plan forthesystematic ersonalvisi-tation f all city esidentsoconvert heunchurchedntheurbanwildernessto a Christianife nd to influence ublicopinion n social issues. n theseefforts,ehadthecooperation fGladden swellas otherprominentocialGospelministersnd ay reformers. hentheAlliancewithdrewts upportfrom thisprogram,Strong founded he League for Social Service, andlater,theAmerican nstitute orSocial Service, o carry n his work. For

30Niebuhr,ingdom fGod inAmerica,pp. 179-84.3'Jurgen erbst, Introduction,"Josiah trong,Our Country: ts PossibleFutureand ItsPresentCrisis (Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press, 1963), pp. ix-xxvi; Tuveson,RedeemerNation,pp.83-84.

320ur Country,.180.330urCountry, . 179;TheNewEra or theComingKingdomNewYork: Baker& Taylor,1893),pp. 11,20,354-55;TheTwentiethentury ity New York:Baker & Taylor,1898),pp.123,158,180-81;Our World: The New World-LifeNew York: Doubleday,Page, 1913),pp.79-81.



11/21

Religion ndSocial Thought 399he was convinced hat the spirit ffraternityreatedbyeconomic nterde-pendence, houghpowerful, ad to be nourished y a Christian thic fbrotherhood ere to be achieved.He therefore riticized ocialismfor tsobsessionwith heenvironmento theneglect f the spiritual mprovementof society. Society could not be regenerated, he argued, withoutregeneratinghe ndividualsn t.34So far,Strongdoes not sound muchdifferentromhisevangelicalpre-decessors,but the resemblance topshere.When he spokeof the need toregeneratendividuals, e meant heneed to improve heirmoralcharacter.Christas thegiverof grace and the lord of history ecame Christtheteacher nd example.Conversionwas replacedby moral effort.35nd theway to the kingdomwas through he efforts f menennobledby Anglo-Saxon culture, hristianmoralityndorganizational enius.Strongalso movedtowarda morenaturalistic ostmillennialismn hisreliance on secular agencies for the redemption f the world. This de-pendence n secularculturewas not new; it was a midcenturyvangelistwhoproclaimed hat Christianity as. . . secured hepress.... It nowem-ploys t intheworkofdiffusinghetruths frevelation."36trongagreed,but he also attributedosteamandelectricitynefficacy hichwas all theirown: the dvances ntransportation,ommunicationnd ndustryncreasedsocial solidarity y makingmenmoreconsciousofthe commongood. In-sofar s they ncreased ympathy,hese ulturaldevelopments erecrucialfor herealization fthekingdom.37Technologicaldevelopmentswereparticularly ignificantorhasteningthe arrivalof the new era. Man's progress owardthekingdomhad here-toforebeenslowbecause individual evelopmentnd social solidarityl-ways worked t cross-purposes.Withthe comingof steam and electricity,Strongargued,both deals werefostered imultaneously.hus far,he ex-plained, herace "has hobbled long now on one foot nd now ontheother.It shall yet run n the way of God's commandments, hich s thepathofswiftest rogress."38 hus the mminence fGod's kingdom n earthwasassured hrough hebeneficenceftechnology.

34New ra, pp. 39, 117-31,296-317, 342-63; Twentieth entury ity,pp. 117-22, 161;OurWorld,pp. 14, 79-81; Dorothea A. Muller,"Josiah Strong and the Social Gospel: A Chris-tian's Response o theChallengeof theCity,"Journal f thePresbyterian istorical ociety,34(Sept. 1961), 150-74.35New ra, p. 117-19.36AlbertBarnes,Lectureson theEvidences f Christianityn theNineteenth enturyNewYork: Harper's, 1868),p. 395.37New ra, pp. 1-3, 135-63, 342-63; Twentieth enturyCity,pp. 117-22;Our World, p.11-17; ExpansionUnderNew World-ConditionsNewYork: Baker& Taylor, 1900),pp. 271-72.38New ra, pp. 27-28. Italics Strong's.



12/21

400 American QuarterlyIn visualizing rogress oward hemillennium,trong lsogavea centralrole to modern cience. cientificmethods fgatheringnformation,uchascensus statistics, ould help men deviserational nd effectiveocial policyfor hebettermentfsociety.But thispractical ttitude oward ciencewasonly partofthe story.For Strong, ciencewas an agentofprovidence,form frevelation nda guarantee fprogress.As a providentialgent, ciencewas partofGod's planfor heperfectionof theworld.The laws ofscience,he believed, are God's laws, as truly s ifwritten n tablesof stone nd delivered o us by a second Moses.And all ofGod's laws, physical s well as spiritual.. are laws of theKingdom, ndwere undoubtedlyntended o minister o the perfectionndblessedness f

its citizens."39 or Strong, hepracticalutility f sciencerested s muchonsuch metaphysical ssumptionss on theproven sefulnessfthe scientificmethod.The secularization f his millennialistxpectationswas also apparent nthe meaninggiven to terms ike revelation. trong spoke of scienceasanotherrevelation, nother ableofdivine awsbecause it revealedGod'sorderingf the universe. n so doing,he obliterated he traditionalinebe-tweenwhat God discloses nd what man's reasoncan discover y tself.Healso encouraged n optimism bout the future asedon theconvictionhatthe guidelines o the holyutopiawereembedded nreality,o thatall menneeded o do was "fall ntohis God's] plans ntentionallynd toco-operatewithhim intelligentlyor the perfecting f mankind."40 uch a confidentmerger f man'seffortsndhistory'smomentum,o typical fmuch post-Darwinian nd evolutionaryhought, haracterized trong's schatologicalscheme.Strong's cultural postmillennialismwas shared by other liberalclergymenike Gerald B. Smith 1868-1929). Smithwas one of a groupofliberal and Social Gospel theologians t Chicago University's ivinitySchool who alliedthemselveswithAlbionW. Small and other ociologiststo develop he mplicationsf socialChristianity.4'ikeStrong, mith awgreatvalue "in theemploymentf secular' means for heestablishmentftheKingdom"on earth.42 mongthese sciencewas preeminent.With the"natural means" of salvation t theirdisposal,Christians ould abandontheir ge-old onging or heheavenly ityn favor fthemoretangibleatis-factions f a transformedarthly ity. Despitethese naturalistic redilec-

30New ra, p. 230.See also pp. 37,285.40Ibid., . 30. See also pp. 12,37.4'DarnellRucker,The ChicagoPragmatistsMinneapolis:Univ.of MinnesotaPress,1969),pp. 130-33.42Gerald irney mith, ocial Idealism and theChanging heology New York: Macmillan,1913),p. 132.



13/21

Religion nd Social Thought 401tions, mithkept a role forreligionn bringingn thekingdom. cience andlegislation lone were not quite up to the task. A "moral heroism," a"strongreligious ife,"however aguely efined, as necessary fmenwereto consecrate theirnewfound ower to bringing he blessingsof God'srighteousnesso earth.43A final nd extreme xample of a semisecularpostmillennialismithinthe Protestant hurcheswas the positionof LymanAbbott 1835-1922),Congregationalist inisternd eading ocial Gospeller.Thoughhe workedwith Gladden and shared many of his social views,Abbott's postmillen-nialism was far removed from an evangelicalvision of the kingdom."Perhapsthe moststrikingignof the hiftwas Abbott'sconvictionhatthekingdomwould come solely hrough heaction of "resident orces"withinthe historical rocess.These forces ncluded ivilizingnstitutionsuch asthe schools,thesciences, egislation, ublicopinion nd thechurches.Ab-bottdid not banishGod; God was immanentnall good andprogressiven-stitutions,s wellas inthesoul of man.45 ut such a thoroughgoingmma-nentism wallowed he supernatural nto the natural,God intohistory. fAbbotthad eliminated heChristian ocabularyt wouldnothave matteredmuch,forhisviewswere s compatiblewith dealismor the eculardoctrineofprogresss theywerewith hristianity.If we recognizeGladden's positionas a way stationtowarda quasi-religious schatology,we can see howmuchStrong, mithand Abbotthadmoved toward a culturalutopianismwhose nspiration as Christian utwhose substancewas in large part secular. A similardevelopmentwas oc-curringutside fclerical ircles, nd t sto thismilieuwhichwe mustnowturnnorder oassess theplaceofpostmillennialismn ntellectualife.

The Protestantmoralism fmanyacademic intellectuals t the turnofthe centuryhas been remarked on more than once.46 n some cases,

43Social dealism,pp. 110,113-23,145-54; "TheologicalThinkingnAmerica," nReligiousThoughtn theLast Quarter-Century,d. Gerald Birney mith Chicago: Univ.of ChicagoPress,1927),p. 109.44Abbott's "scientificmodernism" lso wentbeyond iberal heologyn its efforto groundfaith nhistory, volution nd reason, o thenearly omplete xclusion f theBible. RobertT.Handy,"Fundamentalism nd Modernism n Perspective,"Religion n Life, 24 (Summer1955),385-87.45Lyman bbott,The Evolution f ChristianityBoston:HoughtonMifflin,892),pp. 182-86, 193,199-200,246, 254; Ira V. Brown, ymanAbbott:Christian volutionist: Study nReligious iberalismCambridge:Harvard Univ.Press,1953),pp. 100, 108-9.46Roscoe . Hinkle nd GiselaJ. Hinkle,TheDevelopment f Modern ociology: ts Natureand Growthnthe United tates Garden City,N.Y.: Doubleday,1954),p. 3. The religiousmo-tivations f academics in thisperiodbear furthernvestigation. he extentto which ometransferredeligious oncerns o their cholarlynvironments demonstratedyBenjaminG.Rader,The AcademicMind and Reform.TheInfluence f RichardT. Ely inAmericanLife(Lexington:Univ. of KentuckyPress, 1966); Daniel M. Fox, The Discovery fAbundance:



14/21

402 AmericanQuarterlyhowever,he hrustftheirhoughtas notonly thical ndreligious,utalso postmillennialist.he socialthoughtfEly,Dewey, ommons ndSmall exhibitedhis mpulsen waysnotunlike hoseof their lericalcontemporaries.Richard . Ely 1854-1943) adparticularlylose tieswith he lericalspokesmenor hekingdomheology. hile eachingconomicst JohnsHopkins, nd then t theUniversityfWisconsin,e helpedGladden ndAbbottntroduceheconceptsfsocialChristianitynto heChautauquamovement.n 1885, ssisted y Gladden,J. B. Clarkand others, lyfounded he AmericanEconomicAssociationn orderto enlistthecooperationfthe hurch,fthe tate ndof ciencen olvingocialprob-lems.47hortlyhereafter,ly ndStrong rganizedhe nstitutefChris-tian ociology, ledgedto present.. [God's]kingdoms the ompleteideal fhumanocietyobe realized nearth."48In hiswritingsneconomicsnd ocial olicy, lyworked ut hewaysnwhich eligionnd ocial cienceouldhelp bring o passthe olden ge nthe utureorwhich e allhope ndpray."49orEly, he hurches ere fcrucialmportancen thewarfare n evil.Theirmission asto mount anever-ceasingttack n everywrongnstitution,ntil he arth ecomesnewearth, nd all its cities, ities fGod."50n order o succeed, hechurchesmustput moreweight ehindGod's injunctionto lovethyneighbor,"orChristianity'srimaryoncernwas notthefuturetate fthe oul but thefuture erfectionfsociety. hiskind fexhortation,would rgue,was not the use of a resonant ut outgrownanguage oconvey secular eliefnprogress. hetoricndmeaning ere losely e-lated n Ely's hought. oreover, ly haredwith trong he onventionalpostmillennialistiew hathistoryasata turningoint, hat hekingdomwas rapidly oming loser.51 ot surprisingly,owever, ly attributedsomewhat ore fficacyothe ecular ources f alvationhan id trong.Sometimes lyviewedhe tate s thegreatestedemptiveorcenso-Simon N. Patten nd theTransformationfSocial Theory Ithaca, N.Y.: CornellUniv.Press,1967); A. W. Coats, "Henry Carter Adams: A Case Study n theEmergence f the SocialSciences nthe UnitedStates,"Journal fAmerican tudies,2 (Oct. 1968), 177-97;DorothyRoss, G. StanleyHall: The Psychologists Prophet Chicago: Univ.ofChicago Press,1972).47Rader, ly, pp. 35-39, 58-59, 62, 64, 121; RichardT. Ely,GroundUnderOur Feet: AnAutobiographyNewYork: Macmillan,1938),pp. 135-40.48"Note on The American Instituteof ChristianSociology," Annals of theAmericanAcademy f Political ndSocial Science,4 (1894),491.49The abor Movement nAmerica NewYork: Crowell,1886),p. 319.50The ocial Aspectsof Christianitynd OtherEssays New York,Crowell,1889),p. 73. Seealso, Labor Movement, p. 319-26.5"LaborMovement, . 319; "The Studyof Social Scienceand theChristianMinister," heNorthwesternongregationalist,(Oct. 7, 1892), -5; "Christianitys a Social Force," in TheWorld'sParliament fReligions, d. JohnHenry Barrows Chicago: ParliamentPublishing,



15/21

Religion nd Social Thought 403ciety. peaking n The Needs of the City n 1889,he pointed ut theineffectualityfmuch f theworkwhich hristianoluntaryssociationsdid. Tractdistributionndrevivalsn henarrowense,renot nough;n-vironment ustbe changed,"52e insisted. nd environmentould bechangedmost ffectivelyy thegovernment.lthough ymanBeecher'sgenerationuttheir aith n exactlywhatEly'sgenerationabeled nade-quate, oth ought heregeneration,heChristianization,f thewhole o-ciety.n Ely'seyes,governmentas the God-givennstrumenthroughwhich ehadto work. ts preeminences a divinenstrumentasbased nthepost-Reformationbolition f thedivision etweenhe acred nd thesecular ndon theState'spower oimplementthical olutionsopublicproblems.he same dentificationf sacred nd secularwhich ookplaceamong iberal lergynabled ly to bothdivinizehe tate nd socializeChristianity:e thoughtf governments God's main nstrumentfre-demption;nd he definedheneeded religious evival"n thecities s adeepeningense f thical bligationnthe art f he itizenry.53Anotherspect fa semisecularizedostmillennialismppearednEly'sviews n the volutionf ocietyndon the ole fthe ocial ciences. ikethe iberallergy,esawthendustrialevolutionspart f he reat volu-tionary rama,which y ncreasingnterdependencendsolidarityouldsoonusher nthekingdom.ecausehistoricalvolution as thedomain fthe ocial ciences,twasthe ask f hese isciplineso teach he omplexi-ties f heChristianuty fbrotherhoodoa worldwhose onsciousnessfinterdependenceasnotyet ully eveloped.54husEly ouldyoke ogetherthenewearningftheuniversitiesndtheNew Jerusalemwhichwearealleagerlywaiting."55nanaddress n TheComing ity1902),Ely alledforuniversityrainedmen nmunicipal overnmentomakethecity awell-orderedousehold, work f art,and a religiousnstitutionnthetruestense f hewordreligious.'56Ely nce aid hat isviews nthe mportancefreligionor eformametohim by n ndependentoute s a social cientist."57fnothinglse, his1893), I, 1061;TheComingCity New York: Crowell, 1902), pp. 15, 72; Studies n theEvo-lution fan Industrial ociety New York: Macmillan,1903), pp.429-30. In The Social As-pects of Christianity,. 147,ElyrefersnthusiasticallyoStrong'spostmillennialistopes.52TheNeeds of theCity:An Address DeliveredBejore theBoston Conference f theEvan-gelicalAlliance NewYork: EvangelicalAlliancefor heUnited tates,Dec. 4, 1889),p. 8.

53Ibid:,pp. 3-5; The Social Law ofService New York: Eaton& Mains, 1896),pp. 162-71.54LaborMovement, p. 312-13, 331;Social Aspectsof Christianity,p. 8-9, 19,21, 24-25;Social Law of Service, pp. 139, 162; An Introduction o Political Economy (New York:Chautauqua Press, 1889),pp. 50, 68,430-31:55The omingCity, . 56.56Ibid., . 72.57LaborMovement, . 321.



16/21

404 AmericanQuarterlystatementhows he affinityf his religiousdeas to the categoriesfaseeminglyutonomousnd ecular iscipline.WhileElyexpounded social scientist'sersion f postmillennialismwithin frameworkimilar o that f theSocialGospel, heyoung ohnDewey ook moreunorthodoxosition. heearlyDewey, owever, asnot he ecular ragmatisthich e would ecome fter he1890s. houghnot conventionalrotestant,ewas still theist,mixing hristiandeaswithdealistichilosophy.nd twas hismixturehat haped he emisecu-larized ostmillennialismhich eexpoundedeforeheStudents' hris-tianAssociationt theUniversityfMichiganuringhe1890s.What s strikingn Dewey's ddresses o this roup s the imilaritye-tween isvision fthenew ra andthose fthemen lready iscussed. orthose ccustomed o thinkingfDeweyn terms f his aternaturalisticphilosophyheparallelmay eembizarre,ut for hose amiliar ith isearly hilosophicalevelopmentt should otbe. Hisearlyntellectuale-velopment,n fact, xhibitedcontinuousialogue etween eligiousndphilosophicalategories.58Dewey's alkson religiont Michigan, herehe was a professorfphilosophyrom 884 o1894,how hewaynwhich ecombineddealisticphilosophy,odernciencend iberal rotestantismntohisownversionof thecomingkingdom. ewey rgued hat thebiblicalnotion f thekingdomf God eventuallyome o earthwasa valuable ruth hich adbeen argelyost o theworld ecausehistoryadnotbeen eady o turn tfrom n dea nto reality. utwith he rowthf ciencenmodernimes,alongwithhe nventionfways o distributeruthmorewidely,onditionswere inallyipe or he emporal ealizationf he Kingdom fGod,"therealization f the "common incarnateLife,the purpose . . animating llmen ndbindinghemogethernto neharmonioushole f ympathy."59IfGod struthnd he ruthmakesmen ree,hen the piritualnificationofhumanity,he realization fthebrotherhoodfman, ll thatChristcalled heKingdomf God sbut hefurtherxpressionfthis reedomftruth,"60e said.Andthe ruth as freedwhen t brokeoose, s modernscience ad,from he estraintsforganizedeligion,ustomnd he ealmof hemetaphysical.emocracyharedhehonors ithcience, eweyx-plained, ecause t brokedown hebarriersetweenmen: throughhis

58John ewey: The Early Works,1882-1898,eds. Jo Ann Boydston t al. (Carbondale:Southern llinoisUniv.Press,1969-71), I, 227-49; III, 155-73.This aspectofDewey'searlythought as beengenerallystablished.ee JohnBlewett, .J., "Democracyas Religion:Unityin Human Relations," nJohnDewey:His Thought nd Influence,d. BlewettNew York:FordhamUniv.Press,1960),pp.33-58.59"Reconstruction," MonthlyBulletin of the Students' Christian Association of theUniversityf Michigan, 5 June1894),152.See also pp. 149-56.60Dewey,arlyWorks,V, 8.



17/21

Religion nd Social Thought 405doing waywith estrictions,hateverruth, hateverealityhere s inman's ife sfreed oexpresstself.'"61eligionmust e reconstructedofitthe ealitiesfsciencenddemocracy,e argued n 1894, or hen tcouldinspirell those who re sincerelytrivingohelp n theKingdomfGodonearth."62Alongwithther atter-dayostmillennialists,he arlyDewey utgreatemphasisn historicalorces obringbout henewworld. hereconstruc-tion f religion hich e talked f reallymeant he bsorptionf Chris-tianitynto cience. oing eyondhe iberal heologiansho upplementedbiblical evelation ith ontinuousevelationn man's history, eweydeniedhatJesus adany pecial ruthso reveal.He argued, ather,hatJesusimplyointed o what adbecomevidentver ime,hat ruth asincarnaten the ndividual,hat t was accessible o all men.Therefore,revelation,s Deweydefinedt, wasman'sprogressiveiscoveryfthemeaningf ife. hetruth asnot evealedo him ut inhim."63No great istanceeparated hisnotionfDewey's romtrong's eliefthatsciencewas thenewrevelationr fromAbbott's onvictionhatrevelation asprimarilyhat ecame nownhroughgrowthnman's a-pacities orunderstanding.n each case, reasonbecamemodernman'srevelation;n achcase,reasonwasa primarynstrumentor ringingn hekingdom.Whatdifferentiatedewey's eachingsromhatof theotherswas his nsistencehat reconstructedeligion adehistoricalhristianityobsolete.The functionf the hurchstouniversalizetself,"ewroten1893, tand huspassout of existence."64ndDewey oonmoved eyondthis ositiono anevenmore ecular ne n whichheismlayed opart.But thework hathedidon educationndonsocialphilosophyfter 900representedtranslationfhis arlier ostmillennialisionnto vestigialreligiousaithnprogressowardocialharmony.cience,nd n educationrootedn cience, ere o servehe deal fdemocraticommunity.ndforDewey, oth cience ndcommunitylways ad sacred urawhichinkedthemohis arly ision f hekingdom.65ElyandDeweywerenottheonly nestocarry semisecularizedost-

6"Ibid. ee also pp. 3-10.62"Reconstruction,". 156.63EarlyWorks,V, 5. Italics Dewey's.See also "Reconstruction," . 153.64"TheRelationof Philosophy o Theology,"MonthlyBulletin f the Students'ChristianAssociation, 4 Jan.1893),67.65Jpan. Quandt,From theSmall Townto theGreat Community: heSocial Thought fProgressiventellectualsNew Brunswick, .J.: RutgersUniv. Press, 1970),pp. 108-16.Forexamples, ee JohnDewey,"Religion and Our Schools," Charactersand Events:PopularEssays n Social andPoliticalPhilosophy,d. JosephRatner New York: Holt, 1929), I, 515;Democracyand Education:An Introduction o thePhilosophy f Education New York:Macmillan,1916),p. 100;A CommonFaith New Haven:Yale Univ.Press,1934),pp.26, 83-87.



18/21

406 AmericanQuarterlymillennialismeyond he pheref he hurches.ohn .Commons1862-1945), labor conomist,colleague f Ely's nd n active ayProtestant,also representedhisviewpoint.n Social Reform nd the Church 1894),written hen e was the ecretaryf the nstitutefChristianociology,Commonsrgued hat ocial cience nda governmentasedonitwerecrucial or ringingnGod'skingdom.ogetherhey ould eachmanhowto lovehisneighbornmodernerms nd howto implementhat ove nsocialrelations.66hen econfrontedheproblemfthe ities, ommonsagain efinedheproblemnboth eligiousndpoliticalerms.If wecouldonly ee that ities an be madeas powerfulnstrumentsf salvationschurches,hen heir eform ould e mminent,"67e arguedn1898.Butfirsthe itizenry ust e nspiredy heChristianpiritfbrotherhood.AlbionW. Small 1854-1926),hairmanfthe ociology epartmenttthe Universityf Chicagoandeditor ftheAmericanJournal fSociologyfrom 895to 1925,was another cademicwithmarked ostmillennialistovertoneso his thought. ociologists ave generallyeenhis work sreform indedndoptimisticoncerninghe esolutionf ocial onflict.68But it was not only hat; t timeshissocial thought as expressednspecificallyhristianndpostmillennialerms.n an address t theWorld'sParliamentf Religions n 1893, Small spoke of the churches s apotentiallyreatnfluencen the ransformationf he ity; e lsoequatedthe social aspectsof Christianityith heprinciplesf social science.Writingn theAmericanJournal fSociology n 1920, mall's professionalviews n the volutionf ocietyonvergedxplicitlyith is schatologicalexpectations.oting he ncreasingnterdependencendcommunicationnmodern ociety,e argued hat hese endencieslso heightenedhristianconsciousnessnd unifiedhe ranks fChristians, homore nd moredefinedheirmissions the edemptionftheworld.69mall oncludedhe

66SocialReform nd theChurch NewYork:Crowell,1894),pp. 13-26,39, 78,83. Thebookis mainly collection f talksgiven o Protestant roups. n hisautobiography, yselfNewYork: Macmillan,1934),pp.8-16, 51-52,Commonsconnects isreligious pbringing ithhislaterwork.SidneyFine,Laissez Faire and theGeneralWelfare tate: A Study ofConflictnAmericanThoughtAnnArbor: Univ.of MichiganPress,1956), pp. 170-71, 181-82,brieflydiscusseshisreligiouspproach o socialproblems.67The o-operative ityNew York:Truths or heTimes,1898),p.9.68Lewis . Coser, TheFunctions fSocial ConflictGlencoe, ll.: FreePress,1956),pp. 15-20; Hinkles,ModernSociology, pp. 7-8. See Albion W. Small, GeneralSociology:An Ex-positionof the Main Development n Sociological Theory rom Spencer to Ratzenhofer(Chicago: Univ.ofChicago Press, 1905),pp. 361-62, 369; "Points ofAgreementmongSo-ciologists," ublications f theA merican ociologicalSociety,1 1907),71.69AlbionW. Small, "The Churches nd CityProblems," nThe World'sParliament f Reli-gions, d. JohnHenryBarrows Chicago: Parliament ublishing, 893), I, 1080-82; "Chris-tianity nd Industry," mericanJournal fSociology,25 (May 1920),673-94. Thispaperwasoriginallyartofa lecture eries nChristianityt theUniversityfChicagoinwhich mallparticipated.



19/21

Religion ndSocial Thought 407essay byappealing o all menof Christian onscience o applytheknowl-edgeof facts nd thespirit f ove to the".settlementfthose ssuesofeco-nomicrighteousness hich tandbetween urgenerationndthekingdomofGod."70These comments n Small andCommons,togetherwith heanalysis fElyand Dewey, are meant to suggest heways nwhich eligious lementssometimes ecame intertwined ith hesubstance f academicthoughtnthe ate 19th ndearly20thcentury. he tendency o divinize ocietywas astrong ne, and it often estedon theassumption hat thesacred and thesecular were one. The work of the sociologistCharles H. Cooley, thephilosopher osiahRoyce and thepsychologist . StanleyHall, also cometo mind nthisconnection. ut ust howextensive uch a processwas is amatter orfurthernvestigation.

In addition oforming artofa pattern fthought, hepostmillennialm-pulsealso influencedheactionsofvariousgroups nd individualsngagedindifferentinds freform,muchof tcenteredroundthecity.The city sthesubjectofredemptionwas, ofcourse, ust one aspectof themunicipalreformmovement, ut it revealedthe religiousdimension nd culturalanxiety f some urbanreformers ho faced thechallengeof the moderncity.71The groups whichwereorganized yJosiah trongandother xponentsof thecomingkingdommade up one category. n 1897, the EvangelicalAlliance adopted Strong's plan for convertingnd purifyinghe cities,therebyaving he nation nd realizingGod's kingdom n earth.72 mongthe seriesofleaflets utout bytheAlliancewas onebyCommons on TheCo-operative ity 1898), nwhichhe calledfor nurban religious evival"to be represented y reforms n housing, ducation, abor and utilities.73Here theevangelizingrogram f thechurches, he millennialxpectations

70"Christianitynd ndustry," . 694.71RoyLubove,"The Twentieth enturyCity:The Progressive s MunicipalReformer,"Mid-America, 1 (Oct. 1959), 195-209;Maxwell H. Bloomfield, larmsand Diversions. heAmericanMind ThroughAmericanMagazines, 1900-1914 (The Hague: Moulton, 1967).Warren usman, "The Humanistand the City,"CarnegieReview,22 (Apr. 1970), 3-6, dis-cussestheseveralreligious magesof thecity n 19th enturyhought. or examplesofpost-millennialistxpectationsnconnectionwithurbanreform, ee HudsonMaxim, "Man's Ma-chine-MadeMillennium," osmopolitan, 5 (Nov. 1908),572, 576,andRayStannardBaker,"The Faithof theUnchurched," mericanMagazine,68 Sept. 1909), 39-49.72Muller,Josiah Strong," p. 159. On the work of theAlliance, ee Winthrop . Hudson,American rotestantismChicago: Univ.ofChicago Press,1961),p. 115.73The Co-operativeCity,pp. 3-16. By the 90s, summer choolsas well as seminaries adbegun o study herelation freligion o socialphilosophy,nd Commonsdirected ne of thesesummer nstitutes n 1894. LafayetteG. Harter Jr.,JohnR. Commons: His Assault onLaissez-FaireCorvallis:OregonStateUniv.Press, 1962),p. 39.



20/21

408 AmericanQuarterlyof clergymen nd laymen,and the conventional ims of the municipalreformmovementemporarilyonverged.When theAlliancepulledoutof thisprogramn 1898,Strongwent n toorganize thergroupsto carry ut hispurposes.One of thesewas The Re-ligious Citizenship eague, foundedn 1913 byStrong,Gladden,WalterRauschenbusch, aneAddams andW. D. P. Bliss. The legislative rogramof the League,whichwas based on thephilosophyfthecomingkingdom,includedmunicipal eforms,abor laws, temperance eform nd theabo-lition f poverty.74n its tatement f principles,heLeague sought omobi-lize "the forceswhichmake forrighteousness" ehind he enactment f awidevariety f aws at thenational, tateand ocal level.75

Besides organizations hereweremany ndividual eformers ho fittedthedescriptionf latter-day ostmillennialists.mongthesewas GrahamTaylor 1851-1938),minister, ounderf theChicagoCommonssettlementhouse, civic reformer nd labor arbitrator.76o all of his activitieshebrought senseof the mminence f the kingdom,nd the overlappingfsacred and secular agencies nworking oward his nd.Taylor nsisted hatthekingdomouldfinallye realizedbecauseChristianityas at last substi-tuting ocial bettermentor ts traditional therworldliness.nd likemanyof the social scientists ithwhomheassociated,he was convinced hat thegospelof theKingdom s sociologywithGod left nit,with he MessianicSpiritas the bond of unity";sociology, n turn,was "the science of thekingdom.'77 Anotheractivistwas R. FultonCutting 1852-1934), civicreformer nd founder n 1907 of theNew York Bureau of MunicipalRe-search.78n hisbook,TheChurch ndSociety 1912),Cutting xpressed isvery practicalprogram of social reform n termsof the "spread of theKingdom of God" and the "evangelizationof the world in this gen-74"ANew Step Forward:The ReligiousCitizenship eague for Social ProgressthroughPoliticalAction," The Gospel of the Kingdom,Jan. 1914, pp. 11-15. Similar organizationswerethe League forSocial Service 1898) and itssuccessor, he American nstitute f SocialService1902). Muller, Josiah trong,"pp. 162-63.75"ANew Step Forward,"p. 12.76Louise . Wade, GrahamTaylor:Pioneer orSocial Justice: 851-1938 Chicago: Univ.ofChicago Press, 1964),pp. 10-18,28-30, 100, 126,204.77Grahamaylor,Religion nSocial ActionNewYork: Dodd, Mead, 1913),p. 104. See alsopp. 100, 104, 110-11, 224,236-38. Allen F. Davis,Spearheadsfor Reform:The Social Settle-ments nd theProgressiveMovementNew York: OxfordUniv.Press,1967),pp. 27-28, 170-71, demonstrates he close connection etween hesettlementmovement,he Social Gospel,

urban ociology ndeconomics.Forexample, nTaylor'scase,theboard ofhisChicago Schoolof CivicsandPhilanthropyncludedEly,CharlesH. Cooleyand JaneAddams.Wade, Taylor,pp. 161, 166-69.78"Cutting, . Fulton,"National Cyclopedia ofAmericanBiography1962), XLV, 459.Cuttingwas also associatedwith he Men and ReligionForwardMovement, n evangelizingand reformistroup. R. FultonCutting,The Church and Society New York: Macmillan,1912),p. iv.



21/21

Religion ndSocial Thought 409eration."79This evangelizationwould occur throughthe now familiarcooperation etween hurches ndsecular nstitutions. final xamplewillsuffice. elosWilcox 1873-1928), once a student fDewey's,was a utilitiesexpert, ity dministratornd municipal eformernGrand Rapids,Detroitand New YorkCity.80Wilcoxdid not peak nterms f the omingkingdomin hisAmericanCity.A Problem nDemocracy 1904), but he did attribute"the ultimate alvation f society" o thepractical pplication f theChris-tian awof ove,while ndorsing osiah trong'svision fthecity.8' houghobviouslydilutedand pragmatic n comparison with Strong's or Ely'spassionatediscussion f the New Jerusalem,Wilcox's viewof the cityhadenough n commonwith hatof theothermendiscussedhereto qualify imas a borderlineiguren thecamp ofthemodern ostmillennialists.Certainly otall reformers hobelievednsome form fprogress haredin the optimism f a religious r secularizedpostmillennialism.here weresome, iketheSouthernministerndProgressive, dgarGardnerMurphey,whosebelief n social improvement as so qualified y his viewson humannaturethat his hopes forprogresswere minimal.82 randWhitlock, heProgressivemayorofToledo, also advocated social Christianity,utwasskeptical f whathe thought fas thetypical eformer's erfectionism.believer n small gains, Whitlockwas convinced hat"this is a world ofrelativities."83here werealso nonreligious dvocatesof social progress,likethe ociologist ndRooseveltProgressive, . A. Ross, whosepessimismabout theresults f changewas considerable.84ut theydidnotbelongtothe mainstream f reform houghtn the decadeswhichsurrounded hestart fthe20thcentury. hebelieversn a this-worldlytopiadidbelong othe mainstream.And these modernpostmillennialistsent to reformthoughtmuchof tsoptimism,tsperfectionismndits faithnthe bilityfbrotherhood, nited o the modern cientificpirit, o conquerall the evilsof theworld.79The hurch nd Society,pp. 10,69. See also pp. 12,26, 35, 60-61, 171.80Wilcox, ho graduatedfromMichigan n 1894, aid thatDewey had a profoundnfluenceon him. Wilcox, Delos Franklin,"Dictionary fAmericanBiography 1936), XX, 202-3. Hisyears herewere those n whichDewey gavehis addresses o the Students'ChristianAssocia-tion, f whichWilcox was a member, n democracy, cience nd the kingdom. ee MonthlyBulletin f theStudents'Christian ssociation, 4 Jan. 1893),89-90."The AmericanCity:A Problem nDemocracy NewYork: Macmillan,1904),pp. 16-19.82Daniel evine, Varieties f ReformThought Madison: State HistoricalSocietyofWis-consin, 964),pp. 84-86.83Whitlock,orty Years of t (New York:Appleton, 913),p. 313. See also pp. 41, 48, 238-39, 314-19; Jack Tager, The IntellectualAs Urban Reformer:Brand Whitlock nd theProgressiveMovement Cleveland: Press ofCase WesternReserve Univ., 1968), pp. 67-69,106-7.84Edward lsworthRoss, SeventyYears of It: An AutobiographyNew York: Appleton-Century, 936),pp. 115-19;Social Control.A Survey ftheFoundations f Order, ds. JuliusWeinberg t al. (Cleveland: Press of Case WesternReserveUniv., 1969), pp. 205-12,237.OnRoss, see Wilson, n Quest of Community, p.87-113.

secularization of postmillenialism

Documents