- Reception as a tool for reforming social structures: For Social Gospel thinkers, Marxist social analysis—which structurally criticized capitalist exploitation and inequality and advocated social transformation—was extremely attractive and highly compatible as “an effective theoretical and practical tool for correcting unjust social structures and bringing God’s justice to earth.”
**2. Doctrinal dismantling and ethicization in liberal theology**
From the latter half of the 19th century onward, liberal theology, while accepting modern rationalism and scientific knowledge, symbolized and weakened the supernatural aspects of traditional Christian doctrines (the virgin birth of Christ, bodily resurrection, sin and original sin, hell and eschatology, etc.).
- Shift from “doctrine” to “ethics and social practice”: As a result of the retreat of doctrinal dogma, the core of Christianity was narrowed to “the ethics taught by Jesus (neighborly love, justice, and the relief of the weak).”
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- Reception as a tool for reforming social structures:
For Social Gospel thinkers, Marxist social analysis—which structurally criticized capitalist exploitation and inequality and advocated social transformation—was extremely attractive and highly compatible as “an effective theoretical and practical tool for correcting unjust social structures and bringing God’s justice to earth.”
**2. Doctrinal dismantling and ethicization in liberal theology**
From the latter half of the 19th century onward, liberal theology, while accepting modern rationalism and scientific knowledge, symbolized and weakened the supernatural aspects of traditional Christian doctrines (the virgin birth of Christ, bodily resurrection, sin and original sin, hell and eschatology, etc.).
- Shift from “doctrine” to “ethics and social practice”:
As a result of the retreat of doctrinal dogma, the core of Christianity was narrowed to “the ethics taught by Jesus (neighborly love, justice, and the relief of the weak).”