| Although historians and theologians have generally seen American Protestant liberalism to have become defunct with World War I, the Depression, the rise of neo-orthodoxy, and the waning of the Social Gospel, the thesis of this dissertation is that the liberal impulse was (and is) very much apparent in a movement which is described as the "Religion and Health" movement. In part, this movement was a response to the Social Gospel, which sought to recover Jesus' prophetic, social ministry: Religion and Health leaders sought to recover Jesus' priestly, healing ministry.;The psychotherapeutic work of Elwood Worcester in the Emmanuel Church in Boston beginning in 1906 may be seen as a pre-Freudian precursor of Religion and Health. Unlike faith healers or Christian Scientists, Worcester and his colleagues--guided by medical doctors--used the methods of clinical science.;Anton Boisen gave the Religion and Health movement impetus when he introduced clinical training for theological students in 1925. An evangelical liberal, Boisen was outspoken in calling the liberal churches back to soul cure, using scientific, clinical methods.;From 1941 to 1945 a group of prominent theologians and psychotherapists--including Paul Tillich, Eric Fromm, Rollo May, Seward Hiltner, and David Roberts--convened a seminar in New York City to discuss the interrelation of Religion and Health, theology and depth psychology. Their exchanges and publications may be said to have established and legitimized the Religion and Health movement, which grew phenomenally after World War II.;Three characteristics of modern religious liberalism are the effort to accommodate modern culture, the belief that God is immanent in cultural development, and the belief in human progress toward the Kingdom. These key concepts are distinguishing features of the Religion and Health movement, which put the depth psychological discoveries of Freud and his followers to use in the service of ministry. |
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