First published in 1907, Christianity and the Social Crisis outsold every other religious volume for three years and then became a mainstay for Christians and other religious people seriously interested in social justice, inspiring leaders such as Reinhold and Richard Niebuhr, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, and Bishop Desmond Tutu. Christianity and the Social Crisis in the 21st Century brings this classic to a new generation with the addition of new essays by leading religious thinkers who have continued the legacy of Walter Rauschenbusch and the Social Gospel Movement: Phyllis Trible responding to "The Historical Roots of Christianity" Tony Campolo responding to "The Social Aims of Jesus" Joan Chittister responding to "The Social Impetus of Primitive Christianity" Stanley Hauerwas responding to "Why Has Christianity Never Undertaken the Work of Social Reconstruction?" Cornel West responding to "The Present Crisis" James A. Forbes Jr. responding to "The Stake of the Church in the Social Movement" Jim Wallis responding to "What to Do"

The 100th Anniversary Edition of the Classic That Changed the American Church Forever Published at the beginning of the twentieth century, Christianity and the Social Crisis is the epoch-making book that dramatically expanded the church’s vision of how it could transform the world. The 100th anniversary edition updates this classic with new essays by leading preachers and theologians.

Foreword by Marcello Pera Written by Joseph Ratzinger shortly before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures looks at the growing conflict of cultures evident in the Western world. The West faces a deadly contradiction of its own making, he contends. Terrorism is on the rise. Technological advances of the West, employed by people who have cut themselves off from the moral wisdom of the past, threaten to abolish man (as C.S. Lewis put it)whether through genetic manipulation or physical annihilation. In short, the West is at war-with itself. Its scientific outlook has brought material progress. The Enlightenment's appeal to reason has achieved a measure of freedom. But contrary to what many people suppose, both of these accomplishments depend on Judeo-Christian foundations, including the moral worldview that created Western culture. More than anything else, argues Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI, the important contributions of the West are threatened today by an exaggerated scientific outlook and by moral relativism-what Benedict XVI calls "the dictatorship of relativism"-in the name of freedom. Christianity and the Crisis of Cultures is no mere tirade against the moral decline of the West. Razinger challenges the West to return to its roots by finding a place for God in modern culture. He argues that both Christian culture and the Enlightenment formed the West, and that both hold the keys to human life and freedom as well as to domination and destruction. Ratzinger challenges non-believer and believer alike. "Both parties," he writes, "must reflect on their own selves and be ready to accept correction." He challenges secularized, unbelieving people to open themselves to God as the ground of true rationality and freedom. He calls on believers to "make God credible in this world by means of the enlightened faith they live." Topics include: Reflections on the Cultures in Conflict Today The Significance and Limits of Today's Rationalistic Culture The Permanent Significance of the Christian Faith Why We Must Not Give Up the Fight The Law of the Jungle, the Rule of Law We Must Use Our Eyes! Faith and Everyday Life Can Agnosticism Be a Solution? The Natural Knowledge of God "Supernatural" Faith and Its Origins