Progressivism and the commonly named “social gospel” are not new ideas in politics and the North American church, indeed both movements were born and flourished in both the U.S. and Canada in the 19th and early 20th centuries in concurrence with the second Industrial Revolution. Social gospellers, like Christian Socialists, share a belief in the “natural goodness of man,” and the idea that society can be perfected through the use of social programs and government intervention into the economy and family life. While the official end to the Social Gospel movement ended in the U.S. decades ago (and secularized into the New Democratic party in Canada), it has experienced a recent resurgence in modern society with the rise of the religious left. (World News) This new movement promotes critical theory and marries the original concepts of the social gospel movement with Marxism, identity politics, and the concepts of economic, social, and racial justice.

“Modern critical theory views reality through the lens of power. Each individual is seen either as oppressed or as an oppressor, depending on their race, class, gender, sexuality, and a number of other categories…. Critical theory understands all relationships in terms of power dynamics; it can’t be confined to a single issue such as class, or race, or gender…. Christians who embrace the paradigm of critical theory as a solution to racism or sexism often question a biblical understanding of gender roles, gender identity, sexual orientation, marriage, parental authority, and even the uniqueness of the Christian faith.

“Finally, critical theory claims that members of oppressed groups have special access to truth because of their ‘lived experience’ of oppression. Such insight is unavailable to members of oppressor groups, who are blinded by their privilege.” (The Gospel Coalition)

While in years past the influence of the social justice movement tended to be confined along denominational lines (United Methodist, Episcopal Church in the United States, United and Anglican Church in Canada), in the last decade the advent of the internet and social media has given rise to this ideology, quietly granting it access to members of nearly every denomination, through the outwardly benign means of family and motherhood blogs, social media, podcasts, etc.

Courtesy of The Banner of Sovereign Grace Truth. Used with permission.