Introduction: Inductive Christian Social Ethics

Abstract

Abstract Christian social ethics is a distinct field of Christian ethical reflection that finds its roots in the inductive methodology pioneered by Francis Greenwood Peabody and Harry Ward. Christian social ethicists did their work out of the conviction that Christian principles had an important bearing on social structures and in directing those structures toward social justice. Nowadays, scholars across many fields are returning to the concept of social practices, without, however, taking into consideration the ethical value of the tradition of the radical social gospel on these questions. The introduction situates the argument of a white Christian social ethicist in this radical social gospel stream of thought in a book that draws from Black radical social gospelers in order to more keenly address drastic economic disparity and deadly white supremacy. It offers brief definitions of some key terms: radical social gospel, Christian democratic socialism, social ethics, racial capitalism, and social practices.