The Army’s holistic ministry

No artificial dichotomy says Henry Gariepy

“In our era, the road to holiness necessarily passes through the world of action” wrote Dag Hammarskjold in Markings. The Salvation Army’s theology of holiness is a practical theology; it is not private but social; it is not passive but active.

John Wesley, a mentor of William Booth, declared, “There is no Gospel but the social Gospel.” Holiness without social concern is as a soul without a body, but social concern without holiness is as a body without a soul. Only when wedded together do we have a healthy, life-giving gospel.

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Tags: holistic, service

Meaning of salvation

Paper title: What is the meaning of salvation in The Salvation Army today?
Exploring a theology of Social Service and Holistic Mission
Author/researcher: Jason Davies-Kildea
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date:
Length: 128 pages
Keywords: The Salvation Army, Salvationist, salvo, salvation, theology, mission, holistic, social service, evangelical, poor
Abstract: The Salvation Army, through a multitude of social services right across the world, is involved daily in saving people from the devastating impacts of poverty,  homelessness, addictions, unemployment and a wide range of other predicaments.   However, the dominant internal rhetoric about salvation would appear to suggest that theologically these efforts are at best secondary to an evangelical mission of  conversion.  What good is it to save people’s bodies if their souls are damned to hell?  A critical task of this study will be to explore theological notions of salvation which encourage a holistic view of mission, with the potential for reuniting the social and evangelical purposes of The Salvation Army.  It will be demonstrated that this broader view of salvation reflects the early history of The Salvation Army, has a solid scriptural basis and also fits within a number of other contemporary theological frameworks which are based in the life experience of the poor and oppressed.

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Tags: evangelical, holistic, mission, poor, salvation, Salvationist, salvo, social service, The Salvation Army, theology