R. W. Dale is now largely forgotten, except for a few conclaves of those interested in Victorian Non-conformity, and probably some of the better informed local politicians and Congregational Church members in Birmingham. That's a great pity - Dale was one of the most significant churchmen of the nineteenth century. Here's just a few of the reasons why he shouldn't be forgotten:
- He was a major mover in the City of Birmingham Council and was a key figure in the upgrading of the drainage and sewage systems as a way of preventing cholera.
- He was one of the first Victorian churchmen to recognise and argue for the link between poverty and crime
- He promoted the civic Gospel, insisting it was the individual's duty to pursue the same civic and humane goals expected of good government.
- He supported trade unions, schemes for housing improvement, extension of the franchise.
- He was one of the finest preachers of his generation - not as impassioned orator, but as persuasive and cogent exponenet of a Christian moral vision rooted in the Gospel of grace and the reality of the Risen Christ.
- He wrote one of the most learned (and difficult to read) treatments of the doctrine of the Atonement, upholding the moral seriousness of sin and the righteous love of God.
One quotation:
Accused of spending too much time pursuing political goals, and told by some church members to concentrate on spiritual activities because 'there are no politics in heaven', his answer was a superb piece of righteous scoffing:
No politics in heaven! well i suppose not; but there are no agricultural labourers there living on twelve shillings a week...there are no hereditary paupers there...there are no gaols to which little children are sent for an offence committed in ignorance, no unjust wars to be prevented. Politics unchristian!...by going on to Boards of Works and Town Councils and improving the drainage of great towns, and removing the causes of fever, men are but following in Christ's footsteps. (Laws of Christ for Common Life, page 268)
WHat a wonderful response!
Posted by: Margaret | June 23, 2007 at 06:07 PM