Public Mission for Changing Times: Models for Progressive Change from American and British Experience

Abstract

Despite the resurgence of religion, theology has proved to be irrelevant in the recent economic crisis; a judgement confirmed by Hunter’s recent study, To Change the World, looking at the interaction between religion and culture in the USA. Yet if we explore the broader impact of public mission over a longer period of time, then more constructive possibilities can be observed for developing religion’s contribution to progressive change. Two examples of such modelling are developed from American and British experience: both deploy evidence from the eighteenth into the present century, therefore covering the crucial emergence of modern societies. Significantly, the examples are drawn from more secular sources, identifying the important role of religion in wider interactive processes including technophysio evolution, politics and economics, especially because of economics’ significance for contemporary life.