ABSTRACT
Washington Gladden (1836-1918) was called "the father of the Social Gospel". After youthful experience as a journalist he became a Congregational minister in industrial towns in New England and the Middle West. He combined popularisation of liberal theology with public discussion of the ethical problems of industrial life. His naturalistic ethics allowed for the justice of self-assertion, if it was blended with altruism, but this was a combination which led him to be critical of socialism as a solution to industrial conflict.
