John Frederick Denison (F. D.) Maurice (1805-1872) was a contemporary of Karl Marx. They shared a mutual concern for working people. You may recall that Marx called religion “the opiate of the people.” F. D. differentiated Marx’s view of religion from what he called “vital Christianity.” He wanted to reform religion, not eliminate it. He wrote, “We have been dosing our people with religion when what they want is not this but the living God.” F. D. insisted that “Christianity rather than secularist doctrine was the only solid foundation for social reconstruction.” That’s why he and his friends started the Christian Socialism Movement. This is not socialism as we know it today. He used the term to mean socially active. Jesus not only saves souls but makes a public claim on our lives. “The condition of the poor pressed upon me with consuming force,” he wrote. He cared about people’s physical needs which explained why working people came to trust him.
What F. D. believed was controversial in his day. Many of his colleagues in the Church of England believed the central mission of the church was to save souls, not advocate for social reform. Since when does it have to be one or the other? We join with F.D. in praying for God’s total transformation of our world: