ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the concepts discussed in part 4 of this book. The part articulates how Christians can best approach applied sociology, how law intersects with ethics in Christian communities, how Christianity and socialism share common features, and how the Christian ethic of care mobilizes social movements against modern slavery and for human rights, culminating in social justice. It provides an analysis of historic and contemporary approaches to applied sociology – problem identification and diagnosis – and clinical sociology – the implementation and evaluation of interventions – from a Christian perspective. The part engages normative themes of legality, arguing, in dialog with Max Weber, that concepts of law are inextricably entwined with ethics in the historical development of Christian communities and traditions. It surveys the historical relationship between various expressions of both Christianity and socialism, offers a brief overview of attempts to bridge socialism and Christianity.
