Social progress is the result not only of what men do in a
particular period of history, but how those of later generations build
upon the labor of their fathers. As John Clifford desired that he and
his contemporaries should fulfil the dream of their Baptist forbears
For a Christian society, so men of my generation search for solutions
to the current social problems.A study of the social conscience among English Baptists in the
later nineteenth century should help to clarify the role of the Church
in society in the mid-twentieth century which faces problems similar
to those of a century ago. What is the Church's responsibility for
solving social problems? Must she aid men in their adjustment to life
as it is, or must she awaken a slothful society to the perils of its own
weaknesses? How can the Church make her contribution to the world in
which, she lives? What insight can the Church in the mid-twentieth
century gain from the English Baptists of three quarters of a century
ago?This paper does not attempt to prove any preconceived hypotheses, but to present the material in such a way that the English
Baptists can speak according to the social conscience which was among
them. "Social conscience" is understood to be the sensitiveness to
weaknesses within the social orders the compulsion to warn, to accuse,
and to reproach man for his immoral treatment of another man; and the
ability to speak and to act according to convictions.The limitations for specific study have been set at 1870 and
1906 for various reasons. This period defined "later nineteenth century"
and, at the same time, allowed me to study the continuation of nineteenth century ideas for a brief time in the twentieth century,
especially as seen in F. 8, Meyer, George White, and William Willis.
Of course, John Clifford was studied to the end of his life in 1923.Furthermore, from about 1870 to the end of the century, many
social changes took place rapidly. The survey in Chapter One gives a
sketch of some of these changes. By 1907 Nonconformists had an intense
interest in the social conditions of the people, and the "social gospel"
had obtained widespread support among them, although it was not, as yet,
anything like a party among them. After this date, Nonconformist
churches began to abandon their nineteenth century individualism, and
substantial changes were noticeable in Baptist social thinking.
Extension of the research to 1906 carried the study to a mid-point
between the turn of the century and the beginning of World War I, which
marked a new era
