which issue generally concerned advocates of the social gospel movement
Social Gospel The Social Gospel was a Protestant movement that was most prominent in the early-20th-century United States and Canada. The movement applied Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean environment, child labor, inadequate labor unions, poor schools, and the danger of war. Theologically, the Social Gospellers sought to operationalize the Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:10): "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven".[1] They typically were post-millennialist; that is, they believed the Second Coming could not happen until humankind rid itself of social evils by human effort.[2] The Social Gospel was more popular among clergy than laity.[3] Its leaders were predominantly associated with the liberal wing of the Progressive Movement, and most were theologically liberal, although a few were also conservative when it came to their views on social issues.[4] Important leaders include Richard T. Ely, Josiah Strong, Washington Gladden, and Walter Rauschenbusch.
Gospel of Mark The Gospel of Mark was written anonymously.[7] Early Christian tradition ascribes it to John Mark, a companion and interpreter of the apostle Peter.[8] Hence its author is often called Mark, even though most modern scholars are doubtful of the Markan tradition and instead regard the author as unknown.[9] It was probably written c. AD 66–70, during Nero's persecution of the Christians in Rome or the Jewish revolt, as suggested by internal references to war in Judea and to persecution.[3] The author used a variety of pre-existing sources, such as conflict stories (Mark 2:1–3:6), apocalyptic discourse (4:1–35), and collections of sayings (although not the Gospel of Thomas and probably not the Q source).[10]