Christian Socialism

Philip Turner holds a PhD in Christian Ethics from Princeton University and is the retired Associate Dean of the Yale Divinity School. He is the author of Christian Ethics and the Church.

Turner's elegant volume casts a welcome light on the Anglican Christian Socialist tradition, from the nineteenth century to the present. While the book lays bare some of the flaws of this movement, more importantly Turner illuminates the positive challenges and promises that its proponents - people like Maurice, Tawney, Gore, or Williams and Milbank - still offer to the diseased and fractured life of contemporary liberal society.Ephraim Radner, Wycliffe CollegePhilip Turner has produced a timely book that reclaims the insights of the Christian Socialist movement in the Church of England, tracing its roots and analyzing its present-day influence. Turner values this tradition's emphasis upon ideals, but tempers it with his own emphasis on the church's practice of the virtues. In a political climate where 'socialism' is bound for reappraisal, Turner's book is invaluable.John Bauerschmidt, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of TennesseeIn a time of mounting concern over inequality in our society, the nineteenth-century Christian Socialists suddenly seem strangely relevant. Philip Turner offers a sober and unsentimental assessment of its strengths and weaknesses. His treatment of the theopolitics of Rowan Williams and John Milbank brings the story up to date in an engaging, lively way.Joseph Mangina, University of TorontoFor anyone seeking an introduction to the thinking of key Anglicans within the Christian Socialist tradition, including an insightful assessment of their strengths and weaknesses and an appraisal of their contemporary relevance, this book provides it, and is likely to become a core text for those wanting to better understand and appreciate this strand of Christian social thinking.Joseph Forde, Studies in Christian Ethics, Vol 36, Issue 1, February 2023

• Foreword by Stanley HauerwasAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart One: Origins: Historical and TheologicalA. Historical Change and EstablishmentB. Theological: The Incarnation as a Foundation for Christian Social Ethics and EcclesiologyPart Two: The Incarnation: How Firm a Foundation?A. Social EthicsB. The Role of the Church in SocietyPart Three: Moral Ideals: Their Statement and ApplicationA. StatementB. Application1. The Way of Judgment2. Walk as WisePart Four: Assessment, Influence, and PromiseA. AssessmentB. InfluenceC. PromiseBibliographyIndex