The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, and alcoholism. It emerged in the late 19th century in response to the rapid growth of urban-industrial society and the vast inequities in access to services, power, and wealth that emerged during that time. The movement interpreted the kingdom of God as requiring social as well as individual salvation and sought the betterment of industrialized society through the application of biblical principles of charity and justice.

The Social Gospel was especially promulgated among liberal Protestant ministers, including Washington Gladden and Lyman Abbott, and was shaped by the persuasive works of Charles Monroe Sheldon and Walter Rauschenbusch. Labor reforms, including the abolition of child labor, a shorter workweek, a living wage, and factory regulation, constituted the Social Gospel’s most prominent concerns.

The Social Gospel influenced the formation of Christian democracy political ideology among Protestants and Catholics in Europe after 1945, and many of its ideas reappeared in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Social Gospel principles continue to inspire newer movements such as Christians Against Poverty. In the United States, the Social Gospel is still influential in liberal Protestantism, and Social Gospel elements can also be found in many service and relief agencies associated with Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church.