Rauschenbusch: A Man Ahead of His Time :: essays research papers

Rauschenbusch: A Man Ahead of His Time â€Å"Theology is the esoteric thought of the Church.† (WR 15) What is meant by this is that theology is a part of the Church that is very mysterious and confusing to most laymen. Rauschenbusch has introduced many new ideas into the theological point of view. Rauschenbusch tries to explain that the social gospel is here to help people pull more from theology than just jargon that they don’t understand. One of Rauschenbuch’s main points throughout his book A Theology for the Social Gospel is that man uses the thought of Adam being responsible for original sin and therefore everyone is born into sin. Jonathan Kozol, the author of Amazing Grace, went to the impoverished city of Mott Haven to observe the motivation of the citizens amidst a town where sin is around every street corner. He examined the meaning of life and the little opportunity the citizens of Mott Haven had to escape their unfortunate circumstances. Through Walter Rauschenbusch’s A Theology for the Social Gospel one can find the answers to the questions of sin and the heavy presence of sin. The excuse of using Adam as a reason to rid men of their responsibilities is one of the biggest mistakes theologians make, but Rauschenbusch has tried to set things straight by pointing out that those sinful behaviors are learned through your lifestyle and surroundings. Rauschenbusch has introduced many new ideas into the theological point of view. He still uses many of the same ideas of the â€Å"old theology†, but has just made some important changes to add his own thoughts on what theology should be about and how it should be used to influence people’s daily lives throughout the world. Rauschenbusch says, â€Å"Theology is not superior to the gospel. It exists to aid the preaching of salvation. Its business is to make the essential facts and principles of Christianity so simple and clear†¦that all who preach or teach the gospel†¦can draw on its stores and deliver a complete and unclouded Christian message. When the progress of humanity creates new tasks†¦or new problems†¦theology must connect these old fundamentals of our faith and make them Christian tasks and problems.† (WR 6) He is saying that basically the social gospel is an aid to help people understand what their salvation is and how to achieve salvation, but while doing this not using complicated jargon to confuse the laymen.