Social ideas of Methodist ministers in Alabama since unification

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityThe problem of the dissertation is to ascertain the social ideas of Methodist ministers serving in the Birmingham Area of The Methodist Church from 1939 to 1960; to discover the origin of these ideas and their development historically; to make an analysis of these ideas in the context in which they develop; and to discover what hypotheses are most adequate to account for the development of these ideas. Methodologically the study depends primarily upon the historical method, which is supplemented by the use of interview, observation, and a questionnaire entitled "Beliefs of Methodists." It was found that the social ideas of Methodist ministers were expressed primarily in the areas of temperance, the relationship of church to state, world order and related topics, and race relations. In the presentation of all social ideas except race the ministers demonstrated a marked uniformity of opinion. There is considerable tension among the ideas of ministers as they relate to race relations [TRUNCATED]