Renowned theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether analyzes the ways the Christian church has historically interacted with powerful social systems such as patriarchy, racism, slavery, and environmentalism, while looking critically at how the church shapes these systems today. With a focus on the United States, Christianity and Social Systems provides an introductory analysis of the interactions between the churches and major systems that have shaped western Christian and post-Christian society.

From the earliest interactions of Christians with the Roman Empire to today's debates about the separation of church and state, the Christian churches have been in complex relationships with various economic and political systems for centuries. Renowned theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether analyzes the ways the Christian church has historically interacted with powerful systems such as patriarchy, racism, slavery, and environmentalism, while looking critically at how the church shapes these systems today. With a focus on the United States, Christianity and Social Systems provides an introductory analysis of the interactions between the churches and major systems that have shaped western Christian and post-Christian society. Ruether discusses ideologies, such as liberalism and socialism, and includes three country case studies-Nicaragua, South Africa, and North and South Korea-to further illustrate the profound influences Christianity and social systems have with each other. This book is neither an attack on the relationship between Christianity and these systems, nor an apology, but rather a nuanced examination of the interactions between them. By understanding how these interactions have shaped history, we can more fully understand how to make ethical decisions about the role of Christianity in some of today's most pressing social issues, from economic and class disparities to the environmental crisis.

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2
Chapter 1: Social Systems: Orders of Creation or Demonic Powers?
Chapter 3
Chapter 2: Models of Church and State: Historical and Theological
Chapter 4
Chapter 3: Patriarchy as a Social System
Chapter 5
Chapter 4: Modernizing Patriarchy: Women, Children and Slaves
Chapter 6
Chapter 5: Anti-Semitism, European Nationalism and Zionism
Chapter 7
Chapter 6: Racism in the U.S.: White, Black, Red, Brown and Yellow
Chapter 8
Chapter 7: Social Ideologies: Sexism, Slavery and Racism
Chapter 9
Chapter 8: Political-Economic Ideologies: Liberalism, Socialism, Fascism
Chapter 10
Chapter 9: Economic Class in the United States
Chapter 11
Chapter 10: European Colonialism: 1492-1965
Chapter 12
Chapter 11: The Global Economy: Neo-colonialism and Neo-Liberalism
Chapter 13
Chapter 12: The U.S. and Global Militarism
Chapter 14
Chapter 13: Nicaragua in the Caribbean and Central American Context
Chapter 15
Chapter 14: The Two Koreas: Divergent Systems, Hope for Re-unification?
Chapter 16
Chapter 15: South Africa: Apartheid and Beyond
Chapter 17
Chapter 16: Ecology: The Context for All Social Systems
Chapter 18
Chapter 17: Social Systems and the Church's Mission
Chapter 19 Appendix: The Earth Charter
Chapter 20 Bibliography