ABSTRACT
[As Owenism attracted a substantial minority of Christians, religious issues were extensively debated throughout the history of the movement. The assumption that Robert Owen’s theories amounted to a form of practical millenarianism clashed with many a socialist’s anti-clerical stance. As a result, there were countless attempts to reconcile Owenism with Christian teachings, based on the argument that the “science of society”, with its pursuit of equality, its dismissal of ill-acquired wealth and its insistence on community ideals, was actually a return to original Christianity, as pursued by Jesus and the Apostles. One of the earliest examples of such debates is to be found in George Mudie’s Economist. Contrary to other, less orthodox contributors to the publication, such as “N.O.”, whose article is discussed here, the anonymous ‘Philadelphus’ (the Latin for “brotherly love”) argued that faith would provide a moral foundation for Owen’s co-operative ideals, which he saw as a modern incarnation of the Christian principle of “universal brotherly love” (Claeys 1981, 15). He consequently defended a policy of religious toleration within the future Owenite communities.
