Date of Award
Summer 1999
Document Type
Dissertation - Restricted
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Theology
First Advisor
Misner, Paul
Second Advisor
Carey, Patrick
Third Advisor
Copeland, M. S.
Abstract
The life and theology of the Baptist minister, Dr. John Clifford (1836-1923), will be the focus of this dissertation. His theology is thoroughly evangelical and he is considered by some to be the "strongest" Christian Socialist of the Victorian period (Jones 1968, 394). The theory presented here will reconcile Clifford's evangelical theology with his Christian Socialism. A proper understanding of the relationship between Clifford's theology and his social ethic will provide a more complete understanding of the complexity of evangelical social ethics at the end of the nineteenth century. Accordingly, this dissertation will provide an alternative interpretation of evangelical Nonconformity's relationship to socialism. Evangelical theology, with its focus on the individual, was able to provide a foundation for Christian Socialism in the Nonconformist community...