Sin and Socialism: The Development of Realism in Christian Socialist Thought
In this article I investigate how Christian socialist thought has approached the problem of human nature and realism. I focus on four key figures in the tradition: F. D. Maurice, Walter Rauschenbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr, and William Temple. My account makes two claims: first, that realist grounds for...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
Political theology
Year: 2024, Volume: 25, Issue: 8, Pages: 863-882 |
| Further subjects: | B
William Temple
B Walter Rauschenbusch B F. D. Maurice B Christian realism B Christian Socialism B Reinhold Niebuhr B Economic democracy |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | In this article I investigate how Christian socialist thought has approached the problem of human nature and realism. I focus on four key figures in the tradition: F. D. Maurice, Walter Rauschenbusch, Reinhold Niebuhr, and William Temple. My account makes two claims: first, that realist grounds for the Christian socialist vision developed as the tradition matured; and second, that it is possible to reconcile a realism grounded in original sin with socialism. The core of the realist argument for socialism is simply an extension of a primary justification for political democracy: because of sinful human nature, power needs countervailing forces. Decentralized economic democracy achieves this by distributing power widely. Markets do the same by decentralizing decision-making and enabling selfishness to be “harnessed” and yet “contained” by social ownership. Christian socialism can thus be understood as not only compatible with realism but as the logical outworking of realism. |
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| ISSN: | 1743-1719 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Political theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1080/1462317X.2024.2341207 |
