Abstract
Temple’s understanding of Christianity led him to affirm three basic social principles as applicable to any social structure.1 An exposition of these Christian social principles is the logical place to begin an analysis of Temple’s views on human personality and society followed by the application of these principles to the two major social orders, namely, the political and economic orders. In what follows no attempt is made to present an exhaustive treatment of Temple’s views on social issues; what is offered is an exposition of the significance the principle of personality has upon Temple’s social thought and some of the applications he made to crucial political and economic issues.2
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References
See Temple, Christianity and the Social Order (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, Ltd., 1942), pp. 61–74. In earlier writings on the subject four principles were noted; cf. Christus Veritas, pp. 203–207;
See Temple, Personal Religion and the Life of Fellowship (London: Longmans, Green and Co., Ltd., 1926), pp. 66–68;
See Temple, Essays in Christian Politics and Kindred Subjects (London: Longmans, Green and Co., 1927), pp. 9–18. The difference involved is explained in the exposition of the principles.
John D. Carmichael and Howard S. Goodwin, William Temple’s Political Legacy: A Critical Assessment (Naperville, Illinois: Alec R. Allenson, Inc., 1963), and Fletcher, William Temple, pp. 147–227.
See Essays..., p. 79.
Temple, Christianity and the Social Order, p. 61.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 62.
See Temple, Church and Nation, pp. 65–71, and The Church Looks Forward, p. 174.
See above, Chapter 7.
See Temple, Christianity and the Social Order, p. 64, n. 1, and above, Chapter 7.
See Jacques Maritain, Scholasticism and Politics, trans, ed. by Mortimer J. Adler (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1941), pp. 56–67. In Temple see Christianity and the Social Order, p. 67.
Temple, Christianity and the Social Order, p. 71.
Temple, Christianity and the Social Order, pp. 73–74.
Temple, Citizen and Churchman (London: Etyre & Spottiswoode, Ltd., 1941), p. 76;
see also ibid., p. 79.
Ibid., p. 78.
Temple, Christianity and the Social Order, p. 100.
See Temple, Christianity and the State, pp. 43–44.
See Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. with an introduction by Herbert W. Schneider (New York: The Liberal Arts Press, 1953), Chaps. XIII, XIV, XV. In Temple see Christianity and the State, pp. 46, 61–65.
Christianity and the State, p. 47.
Ibid., p. 101.
Ibid.
Cf. R. M. MacIver, Community: A Sociological Study (2d. ed. rev.; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1920)
Cf. R. M. MacIver, The Modern State (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1926);
George Unwin, Studies in Economic History, ed. with an introductory memoir by R. H. Tawney (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1927). In Temple see Christianity and the State, pp. 109–110.
See Temple, Christianity and the State, p. 114. Here Temple disagrees with Unwin; see ibid., p. no.
Ibid., pp. 123–124. See Maclver, The Modern State, p. 22; and also, Blanshard, Reason and Goodness, p. 402.
The ultimate loyalty of the individual is not to any historical order for Temple, but to the Kingdom of God which is beyond history. See Christianity and the State, p. 174.
Ibid., p. 126.
Ibid.
This is true of a church when, for example, it owns property. See Temple, Christianity and the State, p. 127.
The Hope of a New World, p. 67; see also W. G. Peck, “William Temple as Social Thinker” in William Temple: An Estimate..., p. 74.
Temple, Christianity and the State, pp. 138–139.
See ibid., pp. 150–153, and Fletcher, William Temple, pp. 172–173. Temple is being consistent here with his view of vocation as a special calling of each individual, and thus what is right for one individual to do may be wrong for another.
Christianity and the State, p. 156.
Ibid., p. 157.
Christianity and the State, p. 171.
Temple, Mens Creatrix, p. 222; also see Church and Nation, p. 82.
Temple, Christianity and the Social Order, p. 87.
Temple, Mens Creatrix, p. 223.
Ibid., p. 222.
Christianity and the Social Order, p. 77.
Ibid., p. 78.
Ibid.
Ibid., p. 79.
Ibid., p. 82.
See ibid., pp. 76–77, and Citizen and Churchman, p. 72.
Christianity and the Social Order, p. 88.
Temple, Hope of a New World, p. 17.
See Temple, Christianity and the State, pp. 3–12; also cf. Plato and Christianity, pp. 32–37 and Essays..., p. 39.
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© 1974 Martinus Nijhoff, The Hague, Netherlands
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Padgett, J.F. (1974). Christian Social Thought. In: The Christian Philosophy of William Temple. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-2042-8_13
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