Only One Gospel

When first looking into the Social Gospel online you might come across the assertion that the Social Gospel puts forth the idea that Christian works are required for salvation. By placing so much emphasis on Christian Behavior it is said that the Social Gospel obscures the fact that Christians are saved by the Saving Grace of Jesus Christ who came to earth and died for out sins. It is by Grace alone that we are saved. No amount of good works is ever going to be enough to overcome ones sins.

Shailer Mathews, dean of the Divinity School of the University of Chicago from 1908 until his retirement in 1933 was a prominent advocate of the Social Gospel. In 1914 he published The Individual and the Social Gospel. He stated in no uncertain terms that “The Social Gospel Is Not Another Gospel.” As a matter of fact, it was the title of the first section of the first chapter of the book. Here are the first two paragraphs:

Long ago Paul made it plain that, however various may be the conditions and persons to whom the gospel applied, there is only one gospel. Peter and James might preach to the Jew, and Paul and Barnabas might preach to the Gentile, but each had the same message of divine power, of Continue reading

The Kincaid Books Logo



The Kincaid Books Logo is a Christian Symbol, but a subtle one so as not to drive away those to whom Christianity is anathema.

The Holy Trinity is fundamental to Christianity and is a cause of much confusion in the world. How can one God be three Persons? Saint Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, used the shamrock to explain it. The shamrock leaf is one leaf, but has three equal parts. The Triune God is one God, in three equal Persons. The leaf represents Christianity in the form of God, being one whole made of three equal parts. The “K” and the “B” show the connection of Kincaid Books to Christianity.

Kincaid Books is American, so we think of our symbol as a clover leaf rather than a shamrock leaf. Our clover leaf has three parts, which symbolize the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The logo therefore represents Christianity with the clover leaf, and Kincaid Books with the “K” and the “B”

How the Kincaid Books Logo was made, starting from a sketch on a piece of paper, see How The Logo Was Made

Washington Gladden

Washington Gladden (1836-1918) was a leader of the Social Gospel Movement as well as the prolific author of some forty books and several hymns. In the 1898 book The Christian Pastor And The Working Church he wrote “The unity of Christendom is a problem to which the great ecclesiasticisms have lately been addressing themselves with unusual seriousness and insistance. It seems to be felt, on all sides, that something must be done about it.”

His strong belief in the need for Christian unity and cooperation is a basic theme in his novel, The Christian League of Connecticut, first published in 1883. It was one of the first novels in the Social Gospel genre, the most famous of which is probably In His Steps by Charles M. Sheldon and added the question “What Would Jesus Do?” to the religious landscape of America.

New Version of Kincaid Books

This is the new version of Kincaid Books you can get to the Old Version of Kincaid Books through this link. The HOME links are changed to point back to the new Home Page so use the browser back arrow to go back to the old Home Page, or start back the new Home Page to get there. Lot’s of changes coming.

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