Social Justice and the Common Good
As taught in the Anglican / Episcopal tradition
The Anglican tradition of social concern: from the abolitionists to modern advocacy for the poor.
The Anglican tradition has long wrestled with a central, defining question: What is the relationship between the worship of God in the sanctuary and the pursuit of justice in the streets? Within this tradition, social justice is not an optional "add-on" to the Gospel, nor is it a secular political agenda draped in religious language. Instead, it is understood as a fundamental expression of the Incarnation—the belief that in Jesus Christ, God has entered into the fullness of human history, hallowing the material world and demanding the restoration of all things to their created purpose.
By the end of this lesson
- **Identify** the primary biblical foundations for social justice within the Anglican tradition, specifically focusing on the prophetic and dominical mandates.
- **Distinguish** between individualistic models of charity and the Anglican concept of structural justice and the "Common Good."
- **Explain** the "Incarnational" basis for Anglican social ethics, showing how the humanity of Christ hallows the social order.
- **Articulate** the relationship between liturgy (specifically the Eucharist) and the Christian's obligation to seek justice in the public square.
- **Trace** the historical development of Anglican social thought from the 19th-century Christian Socialists to the 1985 *Faith in the City* report.
- **Defend** the role of the Church in advocating for the "least of these" as an essential component of the "Five Marks of Mission."
- **Apply** the principles of William Temple and Desmond Tutu to contemporary issues of economic inequality and racial reconciliation.
- **Compare** the Anglican "Via Media" approach to social justice with purely secular activism and strictly pietistic withdrawal.
Scripture
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