Not exact matches
The Church will not, for example, be able to baptize an African chieftain who wants to keep his harem; yet she may, in certain circumstances, judge that he has a subjectively good conscience (though he has heard the message of the
gospel and is willing in principle to believe in it), because in his actual
social and human circumstances he can not yet realize the moral
demand of monogamy, as little as formerly king David and king Solomon.
Because all people do not respond to the preaching of the
gospel and its concomitant call to discipleship, however, the
gospel itself
demands that Christians both encourage society to» «make serious and positive use of the
social theories» of Jesus Christ and the Scriptures,» and help society to heal
social injustices by loving our neighbors as ourselves.21 Toward this end, the church must first of all proclaim to the world the Bible's perfect rule not only for faith but also for practice.
As the changing socio - economic conditions of nineteenth - century urban, industrial America
demanded of the church a reassessment of its understanding of people in society, it was the
Social Gospel movement which arose to take seriously the reality of corporate sin and the need for corporate response.
Many young people in Latin America, who were motivated by the
Gospel to love their neighbor and be concerned for justice and freedom in their society, have often become Marxists simply because their churches did not provide biblical instruction about Christian discipleship, or because they [their churches] were blind to clear
demands from the Bible and opportunities and challenges provided by new
social situations.80
Lutheran ethics, following certain tendencies in Luther's own thought but neglecting his main intention, conceived the
social orders outside the Church as necessary bulwarks against sin, but obeying principles of a different order from the
demands of the
Gospel of love.
(27) To push this further, the
gospel calls us to turn away from sin in all its manifestations — personal, of course, but also
social and structural — and also
demands responsible stewardship against the raping of our natural environment.
There the great issue was the institution of Christian discipline; i.e., the subjection of all phases of life, personal and
social, private and public, to the moral - religious
demands of the
gospel.