Rauschenbusch’s 1907 classic book, Christianity and the Social Crisis, argued for what he called “the present crisis” due to the the industrial revolution and the rise of modern capitalism, arguing that civilization should no longer put up with inequality, poverty, physical deprivation and hunger, worker abuses. He believed that desperate times required genuine moral leadership through movements such as the settlement houses—urban community centers where low-income people could go for services and classes—as well as labor organizing and solidarity, and Christian volunteerism from preachers and groups like the Salvation Army. Above all, Rauschenbusch counseled people to put their theological principles to work personally by adding the following:
“spiritual power along the existing and natural relations of men to direct them to truer ends and govern them by higher motives” (Rauschenbusch).
“spiritual power along the existing and natural relations of men to direct them to truer ends and govern them by higher motives” (Rauschenbusch).