What God Do They Worship In There? The Black Social Gospel and the Crisis of American Christianity w/ Gary Dorrien

Mar 30, 2026

Gary Dorrien, a noted theologian and historian of Christian social ethics, traces the Black social gospel through figures like Ida B. Wells and Reverdy Ransom. He maps its origins in anti-lynching activism, Reconstruction’s collapse, and prophetic socialist visions. Short, sharp stories of journalism, organizing, and theological resistance bring forgotten radical voices back into focus.

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INSIGHT

Black Social Gospel Began As A New Abolition Question

The Black social gospel arose from asking, What would a new abolition be, in response to lynching, Jim Crow, and abandoned Reconstruction?
Dorrien connects Ida B. Wells and Reverdy Ransom to a movement that made church activism central to anti-lynching and racial justice.

ANECDOTE

Ida B Wells Driven By Early Orphanhood And Responsibility

Ida B. Wells was orphaned by yellow fever at 16 and insisted on a teaching job to support her siblings.
Dorrien recounts Wells's early grit and move to Memphis where she embraced journalism over teaching.

ANECDOTE

Memphis Lynchings Sparked Wells's Radical Journalism

After Eliza Woods's lynching, Wells blasted mobs and argued lynching targeted Blacks who challenged white power, urging self-defense and migration.
Dorrien describes Moss's murder and the resulting flight of 6,000 Memphis Black residents to Oklahoma.

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