The Prophet of Humanity

Abstract

"A li~tle: over a century ago F. D. Mauricewas at theheigh,.t of his mfluence as a leader of the Christian Socialist Move" ~ent. They called .him :the prophet' and it was he who' provided. the theologiCal Impetus to apply the Gospel in .a practical way to a society becoming increasingly urbanised and indus~alised. What the Christian Socialists attempted in the form~tion of craftsmen's guilds and associations working cooperatlv~ly look~ on the. surface like a purely sociologica1 or econormc expenment With no background in theology or religion. Yet this is not so .. The whole movement was . the empi?cal canalising of Maurice's theological.Wqking just as certainly as Robert Owen's rather determinist philosophy underla:y the. ~ew Lana~k experimentaimeg at providing an econormc rmheu ~roducmg a breed of humanity that· would proye the close mter-relationship between personality and environment"