试论美国“社会福音”运动的兴起

Towards an Understanding of the Rise of the Social Gospel Movement in the USA

19世纪末20世纪初,美国在工业化、城市化两股力量的冲击下产生了大量的社会问题;这一时期蜂拥而入的东、南欧移民使众多社会矛盾日益加剧。面对这一局面,美国新教进步派在欧洲基督教社会主义和＂高级批评＂思想的影响下,在汲取美国新教传统精神的基础上,提出了以基督教博爱精神和社会公正为根本的思想观点,并主张运用这一思想去应对和解决当时的各种社会弊病。以此为基点,新教进步派在与其他社会进步力量的互相声援中掀起了一场旨在匡正社会弊端、提升社会公正、扶助社会弱势群体的＂社会福音＂运动。

At the turn of the 20th century, a host of social problems deteriorated in the United States as a result of industrialization and urbanization, which got further exacerbated by a new wave of immigrants from Eastern and Southern European countries. In the face of all this, progressive/liberal Protestants, influenced by British Christian socialism and German＂Higher Criticism＂, drew upon the traditions of old Protestantism in the United States to make a case for their Social Gospel Movement, which, among other things, includes demands for the public ownership of natural monopolies and better treatment of workers and the poor. Based on the spirit of Christian brotherhood and justice, these Social Gospelers called upon Christian believers to join in their effort to eradicate the social ills, to help the underprivileged, and to create a more just and harmonious society.