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Beyond the Noise of Solemn AssembliesThe Protestant Ethic and the Quest for Social Justice in Canada |
eBook Available
Reflections on the rise and transformative power of a new social consciousness.
Since the 1970s Richard Allen's scholarship on the social gospel has broken new ground in the field of Canadian social and religious history by recovering key aspects of the tradition and its contribution to reform movements and politics. Beyond the Noise of Solemn Assemblies collects and extends many of his classic works to present a comprehensive overview of a major thread in the fabric of the country.
Observing the mutual foundations of political and religious traditions in myth and arguing that the sacred and the secular belong together in discussions of public affairs, Allen contests the view that religion is personal and isolated from the public square. He discusses a range of topics: the transition from providential to progressive thought in nineteenth-century Canada; the new spirituality of social solidarity articulated by Winnipeg college students in the 1890s; the role of the social gospel in pioneering urban reform; farmers and workers finding in radical Christianity legitimation for political revolt; Christian intellectuals in the 1930s framing a revolutionary prospectus for Depression-era Canada; the significance of Norman Bethune's religious upbringing for his life and work; strategically focused post-war ecumenical coalitions like Project North and the Latin American Working Group; and the prospects for democratic socialism at the end of the Cold War.
Opening with a chapter relating the author's upbringing in a ministerial household dedicated to the Protestant ethic as the spirit of socialism, Beyond the Noise of Solemn Assemblies represents a significant contribution to understanding the social Christian movement in Canada.
Observing the mutual foundations of political and religious traditions in myth and arguing that the sacred and the secular belong together in discussions of public affairs, Allen contests the view that religion is personal and isolated from the public square. He discusses a range of topics: the transition from providential to progressive thought in nineteenth-century Canada; the new spirituality of social solidarity articulated by Winnipeg college students in the 1890s; the role of the social gospel in pioneering urban reform; farmers and workers finding in radical Christianity legitimation for political revolt; Christian intellectuals in the 1930s framing a revolutionary prospectus for Depression-era Canada; the significance of Norman Bethune's religious upbringing for his life and work; strategically focused post-war ecumenical coalitions like Project North and the Latin American Working Group; and the prospects for democratic socialism at the end of the Cold War.
Opening with a chapter relating the author's upbringing in a ministerial household dedicated to the Protestant ethic as the spirit of socialism, Beyond the Noise of Solemn Assemblies represents a significant contribution to understanding the social Christian movement in Canada.
Details
Part of the McGill-Queen's Studies in the History of Religion Series (number 2.82 in series)
424 Pages, 6 x 9
ISBN 9780773555044
January 2019
Formats: Cloth, eBook
“The essays brought together here extend the chronology of Allen’s now classic history to offer a picture of the emergence of the social gospel in Canada and to review later expressions of social Christianity in Canadian Protestantism. They illuminate the various intellectual influences - indigenous and international - that were just touched upon in The Social Passion, and further elucidate the networks social gospellers formed both within the churches and outside them.” Brian Clarke, Toronto School of Theology
"This collection of 16 essays caps the long career of the social and religious historian and politician Richard Allen (McMaster Univ., Canada). The essays all reflect the author’s personal commitment to the subject of the social gospel, and an autobiographical thread is apparent throughout. Recommended." Choice
“This book captures Allen’s passionate interest in and mastery of the ideas, ideologies, personalities, and social forces that created and sustained the social gospel in Canada.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"A fascinating read of essential interest and importance to anyone preoccupied with the roots and fundamental debates of our society, both past and present." Revue Relations industrielles/Industrial Relations
"Beyond the Noise of Solemn Assemblies is a wide-ranging, thought-provoking, and engaging collection. Given the circumstances of its publication, it is also a testament to a life well lived. Allen's book will be of interest to scholars of social reform movements, and the complicated role of religion in such movements. Additionally, it will interest those fascinated by the relationship between the world of the author and their academic work." Canadian Journal of Sociology
"Allen's careful work brings the issues, personalities and events of the Canadian social gospel to life, delineating the strengths and weaknesses of this important era and movement in the history of Canadian English-speaking Protestantism." Touchstone
"This collection of beautifully written essays offers enduring insights about the social gospel in Canada and the involvement of left-leaning religion in social issues. It will be useful for clergy, academics, and educated lay people." Critical Theology
"This collection of 16 essays caps the long career of the social and religious historian and politician Richard Allen (McMaster Univ., Canada). The essays all reflect the author’s personal commitment to the subject of the social gospel, and an autobiographical thread is apparent throughout. Recommended." Choice
“This book captures Allen’s passionate interest in and mastery of the ideas, ideologies, personalities, and social forces that created and sustained the social gospel in Canada.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion
"A fascinating read of essential interest and importance to anyone preoccupied with the roots and fundamental debates of our society, both past and present." Revue Relations industrielles/Industrial Relations
"Beyond the Noise of Solemn Assemblies is a wide-ranging, thought-provoking, and engaging collection. Given the circumstances of its publication, it is also a testament to a life well lived. Allen's book will be of interest to scholars of social reform movements, and the complicated role of religion in such movements. Additionally, it will interest those fascinated by the relationship between the world of the author and their academic work." Canadian Journal of Sociology
"Allen's careful work brings the issues, personalities and events of the Canadian social gospel to life, delineating the strengths and weaknesses of this important era and movement in the history of Canadian English-speaking Protestantism." Touchstone
"This collection of beautifully written essays offers enduring insights about the social gospel in Canada and the involvement of left-leaning religion in social issues. It will be useful for clergy, academics, and educated lay people." Critical Theology
Richard Allen (1929-2019) was adjunct professor of history at McMaster University, where he was senior professor of Canadian history from 1974 to 1988. Elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1982, he served as a cabinet minister from 1990 to 1995. Upon retirement, he became chair of the board of Wesley Urban Ministries in Hamilton, Ontario.
Acknowledgments / xiii
Preface / xvii
PART ONE THE WORLD WE HAVE KNOWN
1 Growing Up Religious, Political, and Historical / 3
2 Christians and the New Post-Second World War Regimes in Eastern Europe / 32
3 The Great Protestant Ethic Debate: The First Phase, 1905-1960 / 37
4 The Origins of Totalitarianism: More than a Problem of Interpretation / 55
PART TWO FROM PROVIDENCE TO PROGRESS
5 Providence to Progress: The Migration of an Idea in English-Canadian Thought / 69
6 The Background of the Social Gospel in Canada / 82
7 The Social Gospel and the Reform Tradition in Canada, 1890-1928 / 102
PART THREE CONSCIOUSNESS, CRISIS, AND CONSEQUENCES
8 Children of Prophecy: Wesley College Students in an Age of Reform / 121
9 Salem Bland, the New Spirituality of the Social Gospel, and the Winnipeg Elite, 1903-1913 / 135
10 J.S. Woodsworth and the Crisis of the Canadian City / 153
11 The Social Gospel as the Religion of the Agrarian Revolt in Western Canada / 166
12 The New Christianity in Post-Great War Toronto / 179
PART FOUR RELIGION AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION
13 “My Father Was an Evangelist”: The Religious Setting of Norman Bethune’s Early Years / 201
14 Toward a Materialist Christianity: “Reasoning Otherwise” in the 1930s / 213
15 “The End of History” - And Hope in a Time of Cold War and After / 247
16 Max Weber and the “Iron Cage of Capitalism”: The Debate Continues, 1960-2016 / 265
Postscript: Myth, Religion, and the Politics of Sacred and Secular / 310
Notes / 327
Index / 367
Preface / xvii
PART ONE THE WORLD WE HAVE KNOWN
1 Growing Up Religious, Political, and Historical / 3
2 Christians and the New Post-Second World War Regimes in Eastern Europe / 32
3 The Great Protestant Ethic Debate: The First Phase, 1905-1960 / 37
4 The Origins of Totalitarianism: More than a Problem of Interpretation / 55
PART TWO FROM PROVIDENCE TO PROGRESS
5 Providence to Progress: The Migration of an Idea in English-Canadian Thought / 69
6 The Background of the Social Gospel in Canada / 82
7 The Social Gospel and the Reform Tradition in Canada, 1890-1928 / 102
PART THREE CONSCIOUSNESS, CRISIS, AND CONSEQUENCES
8 Children of Prophecy: Wesley College Students in an Age of Reform / 121
9 Salem Bland, the New Spirituality of the Social Gospel, and the Winnipeg Elite, 1903-1913 / 135
10 J.S. Woodsworth and the Crisis of the Canadian City / 153
11 The Social Gospel as the Religion of the Agrarian Revolt in Western Canada / 166
12 The New Christianity in Post-Great War Toronto / 179
PART FOUR RELIGION AND POLITICAL TRANSFORMATION
13 “My Father Was an Evangelist”: The Religious Setting of Norman Bethune’s Early Years / 201
14 Toward a Materialist Christianity: “Reasoning Otherwise” in the 1930s / 213
15 “The End of History” - And Hope in a Time of Cold War and After / 247
16 Max Weber and the “Iron Cage of Capitalism”: The Debate Continues, 1960-2016 / 265
Postscript: Myth, Religion, and the Politics of Sacred and Secular / 310
Notes / 327
Index / 367
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