How many of you have heard the term “social gospel’? Essentially the social gospel is a liberal modification of the the Biblical Gospel, focused on liberating those who are oppressed. This doctrine was originally outlined by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr in the twentieth century. The ideas rooted in the social gospel had a tremendous impact on John Lewis’ life in the graphic novel “March”. Those major points being; the idea of social evolution, individual advancement, and cultural reform. Throughout the mid-to-late twentieth century, a new form of preaching surfaced, known simply as the “social gospel”. From its inception until today, the social gospel has used a biblical platform to preach social welfare. The most prominent twentieth-century …show more content…
In any case, it had a deep and profound impact on Lewis’ life. Lewis grew up in a society where he was not commonly able to interact with white individuals, let alone sit in the same restaurant as them. “When we reached my uncle O.C.’s and Dinks house, I couldn’t believe it -- They had white people living next door to them.” (Lewis and Aydin p. 43). Even seeing whites and blacks living in the same neighborhood was a shock to him, yet it was something he wanted to see more of. After All the social gospel preached a culture change for all the people, especially the oppressed, while doing it in a peaceful manner. Therefore making it all the more impactful for Lewis. ‘His words liberated me, I thought, this is it… this is the way out.” (Lewis and Aydin p. 78). This message immediately appealed to Lewis’ desires for cultural change, furthermore it appealed to him specifically due to the fact that is used religion as a platform for …show more content…
The social gospel provides the platform to do just that, the idea of social justice for the oppressed includes the individual that is considered oppressed. “One man, One vote, is the African cry. It is ours too -- it must be ours!” (Lewis and Aydin p. 167). Notice how he emphasises the ‘One man, One vote”. While the title of the movement so to speak is for a race as a whole, the subtitle would have been ‘for the individual’. The social gospel allowed for men to pursue this individual advancement. Throughout this overview of what the social gospel is, what it stands for, and why it influenced leaders such as John Lewis, we see that despite the fact it uses Christianity as a footnote, it becomes something that is not at all Christian, but rather cultural. The Social Gospel is simply a modification of what is already perfect, turned into something that will benefit people here on this earth. Essentially the social gospel is a positive social movement, and a very incorrect Christian