When the prophets conceived Jehovah as the special vindicator of these voiceless classes it was another way of saying that it is the chief duty in re… - Walter Rauschenbusch

Christianity was rising when the ancient world was breaking down. By the time the Church had gained sufficient power to exercise a controlling influence, the process of social decay, like the breakdown of a physical organism in a wasting disease, was beyond remedy.

Eminent theologians, like other eminent thinkers, live in the social environment of wealth and to that extent are slow to see. The individualistic conception of religion is so strongly fortified in theological literature and ecclesiastical institutions that its monopoly cannot be broken in a hurry. It will take a generation or two for the new social comprehension of religion to become common property.

The twin-evil against which the prophets launched the condemnation of Jehovah was injustice and oppression.