The following is written by Michael Lofton, author of the website www.consolamini.org
What is the Social Gospel?
The Social Gospel is the view that the main purpose of the Church is to address the temporal needs of man. Thus, according to this view, the Church should primarily concern itself with poverty and social injustices.
The Social Gospel Today:
It has become common place to hear Church leaders wax eloquently on the need to feed the poor, open the borders and turn off one’s air-conditioners to save the environment, but seldom does one hear the need to repent of one’s sins, believe in Christ and unite oneself to His Church. The fact of the matter is, many in the Church no longer believe the Gospel proclaimed by Christ and the Apostles; rather, they believe a Gospel they have invented. For this reason, it is necessary to offer a brief critique of the Social Gospel.
Problems with the Social Gospel
Contrary to Scripture: A major component of the Social Gospel is the elimination of poverty and hunger. The view that it is possible to eliminate poverty and hunger is completely contrary to Scripture, as Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you” (Matthew 26:11) Also, the Book of Revelation notes a fourth of mankind will die of poverty before the second coming, as it says:
“I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” (Revelation 6:8)
Thus, it is not possible to entirely eliminate poverty and hunger according to Our Lord and prophecy about the end times.
Elevating Man Over God: The view that the Church should primarily concern itself with social issues is simply anthropocentrism, which emphasizes man’s temporal needs over God. This view essentially turns man into an idol by making his temporal concerns paramount, while displacing the worship of God and His rightful place as the end towards which man should strive.
A Lack of Charity: Charity is defined as “to will the good of another” (CCC 1766). The greatest good an individual may attain is the beatific vision (heaven). However, the Social Gospel doesn’t concern itself with helping people attain this end; rather, it concerns itself primarily with helping man meet his temporal needs. There is no question that charity demands one to be concerned about feeding the poor, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, etc. However, to make this the purpose of the Church, to the exclusion of the greatest need of man (i.e. eternal salvation) is, in fact, uncharitable, as it fails to “will the good of another”.
A False Gospel: The Social Gospel is not the Gospel to which Christ commissioned the Church to proclaim. Jesus said to the Apostles: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:19-20) Simply put, the Church is primarily commissioned to convert the nations, not to bring about a society that Scripture says is impossible to realize.
A Protestant Doctrine: As odd as it may seem, Catholic who espouse the Social Gospel are in fact espousing a Protestant doctrine that began in the 20th century by Protestants who held to the eschatological view know as post-millennialism, which is the view that the second coming of Christ will only occur after the world has essentially been made into a utopia.
A Counterfeit Doctrine: As the Social Gospel is Protestant in origin, it should be noted that the real Catholic teaching on social justice is ignored by those who espouse the Social Gospel. For an examination of the authentic Catholic Social Tradition, read Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum novarum as well as this article.
Final Thought
Imagine for a moment, the condition of an individual who is a victim of the Social Gospel. In other words, imagine that their temporal needs have been met (i.e. they have sufficient food, shelter and employment) while their spiritual needs have been neglected. We know that those who are not in Christ are under the wrath of God (Romans 1:17-32, Ephesians 2:4) and under the domain of Satan (Ephesians 2:1-3). Given that this is the condition of mankind, what profit would it be for a person to have their temporal needs met and yet go to hell for eternity when they die? Jesus put it this way, “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” (Mark 8:36)
May God grant those in the Church who have bought into this false Gospel eyes to see and ears to hear the truth.
Michael Lofton is a Latin Rite Catholic in the Diocese of Shreveport, Louisiana and is also a member of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, in full communion with the Bishop of Rome. He is a Catholic convert from Protestantism (his conversion story can be found here) and is an author of over a dozen books on Sacred Scripture, Catholic Theology and Apologetics as well as the editor of the St. Jerome Study Bible, found here. He is occasionally a guest on Radio Maria and is the author of the website www.consolamini.org
The very FIRST PROPONENT of the Social Gospel, was JUDAS!! Please remember, even then, Jesus warned us!!! When “the woman washed His feet with her tears & dried them with her hair, she Anointed His Head with the most Costly Oils….”. REMEMBER WHAT JUDAS SAID, & HOW JESUS RESPONDED!! “The Poor will Always be with you……”!!! Jesus, THE WORD OF GOD, IS THE SAME YESTERDAY, TODAY, & TOMORROW! Every Generation must make its Own Choice….Ours is NO Different!!!
I have been reading across the internet that the Vatican has commissioned a new establishment: ‘Scholas’ that have books published promoting ‘gender ideology’. Pope Francis’ picture on the cover of the book: ‘With Francis At My Side’. The Argentine newspaper company, ‘Clarin’ has been promoting his books and ‘Scholas’ is now working with other countries to publish and market in other languages (other than Spanish). Reportedly they ‘normalize’ homosexuality, transgender orientation. We need to check this out to see what exactly is going on here. Just when you thought the insanity could not become more insane……….it seemingly has.
Nothing for now. Just checking to see how often this particular website thinks it knows better than Pope Francis – like so many others.
It would seem that Francis thinks he knows better than Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We know what we read from trustworthy sources and we know what Catholic leaders, including the Pope, actually do. So, its not a matter of knowing anything better than the Pope or the bishops, its questioning, “Where is he?” “Where are they?” Do you see them in D.C? Do you see them in your city in front of abortion provider agencies? Do you see them in your local churches talking to Catholics? The answer is NO — and believe me, I’ve looked for them. Then, when they finally expound on an issue — their observations are so murky and insipid its better they did not speak out at all. The Pope is especially bad — and has caused some significant confusion among the faithful with some of his “off the cuff” comments about marriage, homosexuality, remarriage and economics. There almost seems to be a conspiracy of silence among our catholic leaders today and I don’t think we should settle for it as caring lay people on the front lines. We need to pray and fast and scream bloody murder to wake our shephers up before the wolves eat us all. The Pope and bishops are our shepherds and we are the sheep. The sheep are being left to face the wolves alone regarding moral issues — and this is occurring worldwide.
Correction to name.
“It is a mistake to state that political, economic, and social liberation coincide with salvation in Jesus Christ”. John Paul One
REMEMBER…JUDAS WAS THE 1st to CRITICIZE Jesus Himself, on the World’s View of Social Justice!! “That Oil Could have been sold, & the money given to the poor…”….Christ’s Response ro Judas is the Christo Centric View of Social Justice!!!
The “poor” never get the money, because “Judas” holds the purse strings!!!
I firmly believe that many things in the Christian faith involve an (at times delicate) balance between seeming, or possible, contradictories, and that if we go too far in any one direction, we go “off-balance”, and end up in something bad and dangerous; this is a case in point. Too far towards purely-this-worldly concerns, the human condition now, and we’re in the Social Gospel (rightly condemned by this article); but if we go too far in the other direction … and we are thinking only about our own spiritual and eternal state, and caring nought for other people; we may take the view “think only of their souls, and their eternal destiny – never mind the fact that they are starving”. This second abuse is also condemned by Jesus’s words.
Unfortunately, “going to far spirituality” has NOT been a problem since the French Revolution. The Industrial Revolution, Atheistic Humanism, & Liberal Welfare Reforms have brought us to the Brink! If we actually had a Republic, based on Authentic Judeo, Christian Teachings….The Christians & Jews would be “feeding the poor” & helping those in need to become independent.
The trouble with the Social Justice Gospel is that it is entirely man centered or lately Earth Centered or both. The true Gospel of Jesus Christ is about Mission and Evangelization not just about making a Utopia on Earth although helping the lowly and poor is important it is NOT the great Commision.
Amen Janet.. “Social Justice” begins in individual Heart’s, formed & practiced 1st in Families….If it’s NOT Christo-Centric, the results will be a form of slavery, & an unhealthy dependence, that results in a Dictator ..Hitler is a Perfect Model of the outcome of Social Justice without God….
I have been enormously blessed and impressed reading this brief critique of the social gospel because it is almost in perfect sync with my own perspective on this deceptive movement.Although I’m not a Catholic,the views here could have been written by most Protestants,give or take a few points.This view should be a central plank of a Christian response to the social gospel.”Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…”,our Lord commanded. Thanks very much for a much-needed insight.