Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
The Chicago Declaration Turns 50

The Chicago Declaration Turns 50

Last updated on: November 22, 2023 at 12:01 am by David Swartz

0 Comments

The Chicago Declaration Turns 50 2023-11-21T15:14:04-04:00 David Swartz

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

This week marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Chicago Declaration, the evangelical left’s founding document. In honor of this significant moment in American religious history, I’ve posted the full text below. But first, here are some links for context:

On the lead-up to the document during the Nixon-McGovern presidential contest . . . “Ron Sider and Evangelicals for McGovern”
On the drafting of the document . . . “Ron Sider and the Chicago Declaration”
On the broader evangelical left movement it spawned . . Progressive Evangelicalism and the Pursuit of Social Justice and Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism and
On the fragmentation of the evangelical left . . . “Ron Sider and the Fate of the Evangelical Left” (forgive the emphasis on Sider; these essays were written after his death last year; he was a key leader but hardly the only progressive evangelical involved)
On the fortieth anniversary in 2013 . . . “Welcome to the Multicultural Church”
On its fiftieth anniversary this week . . . “The Importance of the Chicago Declaration” and a celebration next week at Wheaton College

***

As evangelical Christians committed to the Lord Jesus Christ and the full authority of the

Word of God, we affirm that God lays total claim upon the lives of his people. We

cannot, therefore, separate our lives from the situation in which God has placed us in the

United States and the world.

We confess that we have not acknowledged the complete claim of God on our lives.

We acknowledge that God requires love. But we have not demonstrated the love of God

to those suffering social abuses.

We acknowledge that God requires justice. But we have not proclaimed or demonstrated

his justice to an unjust American society. Although the Lord calls us to defend the social

and economic rights of the poor and oppressed, we have mostly remained silent. We

deplore the historic involvement of the church in America with racism and the

conspicuous responsibility of the evangelical community for perpetuating the personal

attitudes and institutional structures that have divided the body of Christ along color

lines. Further, we have failed to condemn the exploitation of racism at home and abroad

by our economic system.

We affirm that God abounds in mercy and that he forgives all who repent and turn from

their sins. So we call our fellow evangelical Christians to demonstrate repentance in a

Christian discipleship that confronts the social and political injustice of our nation.

We must attack the materialism of our culture and the maldistribution of the nation’s

wealth and services. We recognize that as a nation we play a crucial role in the imbalance

and injustice of international trade and development. Before God and a billion hungry

neighbors, we must rethink our values regarding our present standard of living and

promote a more just acquisition and distribution of the world’s resources.

We acknowledge our Christian responsibilities of citizenship. Therefore, we must

challenge the misplaced trust of the nation in economic and military might – a proud trust

that promotes a national pathology of war and violence which victimizes our neighbors at

home and abroad. We must resist the temptation to make the nation and its institutions

objects of near-religious loyalty.

We acknowledge that we have encouraged men to prideful domination and women to

irresponsible passivity. So we call both men and women to mutual submission and active

discipleship.

We proclaim no new gospel, but the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who, through the

power of the Holy Spirit, frees people from sin so that they might praise God through

works of righteousness.

By this declaration, we endorse no political ideology or party, but call our nation’s

leaders and people to that righteousness which exalts a nation.

We make this declaration in the biblical hope that Christ is coming to consummate the

Kingdom and we accept his claim on our total discipleship until he comes.

November 25, 1973, Chicago, Illinois

Chicago’s YMCA hotel, where the Chicago Declaration originated

Signatories

John F. Alexander

Joseph Bayly

Ruth L. Bentley

William Bentley

Dale Brown

James C. Cross

Donald Dayton

Roger Dewey

James Dunn

Daniel Ebersole

Samuel Escobar

Warren C. Falcon

Frank Gaebelein

Sharon Gallagher

Theodore E. Gannon

Nancy Hardesty

Clarence Hilliard

Walden Howard

Rufus Jones

Robert Tad Lehe

William Leslie

C. T. McIntire

Wes Michaelson

David O. Moberg

Stephen Mott

Richard Mouw

David Nelson

F. Burton Nelson

William Pannell

John M. Perkins

William Petersen

Richard Pierard

Wyn Wright Potter

Ron Potter

Bernard Ramm

Paul Rees

Boyd Reese

Joe Roos

James Robert Ross

Eunice Schatz

Ronald J. Sider

Donna Simmons

Lewis Smedes

Foy Valentine

Marlin Van Elderen

Jim Wallis

Robert E. Webber

Merold Westphal

John Howard Yoder

American Religious History

Progressive Evangelicalism

Previous Post

November 21, 2023

Gregory of Nyssa and C.S. Lewis: On the Need to Read (and Write) Across Genres

Next Post

November 23, 2023 Thanksgiving for What?

Recent Comments

0 | Leave a Comment

"There are no such things as witches. They were just unmarried or elderly women with ..."

Dot Newkirk

How Scotland Gave Us Our Modern ..."

"The book of THE KEEP is wonderful, but I was not such a fan of ..."

philipjenkins

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"A similar film from the late 80s was The Hidden with Kyle MacLachlan. I get ..."

Terry

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

"Life Force is a guilty pleasure of mine! Not a great film, but a fun ..."

philipjenkins

Fairies, Witches, Folk Horror, and the ..."

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe Guest Post guest post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How long did Israel wander in the wilderness after leaving Egypt?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Ten years Seventy years Five years Forty years