--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are not a religious tradition with a…" description: "\"We are not a religious tradition with a creed, but a religious movement that has always wedded social justice work to theology\" — James Luther Adams" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/james-luther-adams-39804_creeds_we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a_122671.png" --- # We are not a religious tradition with a creed, but a… ![“We are not a religious tradition with a creed, but a religious movement that has always wedded social justice work to theology” quote by James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/james-luther-adams-39804_creeds_we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a_122671.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/james-luther-adams-39804_creeds_we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a_122671.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/james-luther-adams-39804_creeds_we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a_122671.png) > “We are not a religious tradition with a creed, but a religious movement that has always wedded social justice work to theology” [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Some religious movements integrate social justice into their theology, making activism a core expression of faith rather than a separate creed. **In simple terms:** Faith and justice are intertwined. Key Takeaway Theology can drive social action. Themes Religion Social justice Theology Activism Mood inspirational determined Type Theological Social When to use this quote - Faith‑based NGOs - Civil rights churches - Environmental stewardship groups - Community organizing rooted in belief Key Concepts Ethical praxis Collective identity Practical Applications - Design curricula linking doctrine to social issues - Encourage congregations to engage in community service Questions to Reflect On - How can movements avoid tokenism while integrating justice? - What challenges arise when theology confronts political realities? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Creeds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creeds/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Movement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/movement/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Religious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious/) [Religious traditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religious-traditions/) [Social](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social/) [Social justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/social-justice/) [Theology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theology/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) ## Related quotes > [Speaking from my own religious tradition in this Christmas season, 2,000 years ago a homeless woman gave birth to a homeless child in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-gore/speaking-from-my-own-religious-tradition-in-this-christmas-season-2/) [Al Gore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-gore/) > [The highest principles for our aspirations and judgments are given to us in the Jewish-Christian religious tradition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-highest-principles-for-our-aspirations-and-judgments-are-given-to/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Once you're in a kind of revealed religious tradition, you wind up having to explain how the things said about God in the Bible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-adamson/once-you-re-in-a-kind-of-revealed-religious-tradition-you-wind-up/) [Peter Adamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-adamson/) > [The critical question is how a religious tradition is interpreted. Is it interpreted in ways that are pro-human rights or in ways that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-abou-el-fadl/the-critical-question-is-how-a-religious-tradition-is-interpreted-is/) [Khaled Abou El Fadl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-abou-el-fadl/) > [The history of our nation is intertwined with a certain religious tradition, and that the First Amendment was not intended to result in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bennett/the-history-of-our-nation-is-intertwined-with-a-certain-religious/) [William Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bennett/) > [My father was a better bricklayer than I am a theologian. I am still in too much of a hurry. But if the work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-hauerwas/my-father-was-a-better-bricklayer-than-i-am-a-theologian-i-am-still/) [Stanley Hauerwas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-hauerwas/) > [“When “fundamentalism” takes root within a religious movement, emphasis shifts away from love of God and love of neighbor in order to be replaced…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-milavec/when-fundamentalism-takes-root-within-a-religious-movement-emphasis/) [Aaron Milavec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-milavec/) > [The Palestinian national movement is not an Islamic religious movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tzipi-livni/the-palestinian-national-movement-is-not-an-islamic-religious-movement/) [Tzipi Livni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tzipi-livni/) > [“Evangelicalism, as perhaps the strongest Protestant religious movement in the United States, relies heavily on marketing principles for its strength and growth, often intentionally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-smith/evangelicalism-as-perhaps-the-strongest-protestant-religious-movement/) [Christian Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-smith/) > [The problem is not with people or churches that are politically active. It is with a party that has gone so far in adopting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-problem-is-not-with-people-or-churches-that-are-politically/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [That Solidarity was a religious movement no one, least of all the Soviets, can deny. In November 1981, Pravda denounced 'religious fanaticism' as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-colson/that-solidarity-was-a-religious-movement-no-one-least-of-all-the/) [Charles Colson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-colson/) > [What looks like politics, and imagines itself to be political, will one day unmask itself as a religious movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/what-looks-like-politics-and-imagines-itself-to-be-political-will-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“economic situation in the 1970s and 1980s also supported the rise of the religious movement. Open economic policies that Sadat introduced in the mid-1970s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarek-osman/economic-situation-in-the-1970s-and-1980s-also-supported-the-rise-of/) [Tarek Osman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarek-osman/) > [In the '70s, the gay movement was really making strides. Huge strides. And then AIDS came along and slapped a judgment on it all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-cantone/in-the-70s-the-gay-movement-was-really-making-strides-huge-strides/) [Mario Cantone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-cantone/) > [You don't have to be a religious person to be affected by religion or a religious movement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-starlin/you-don-t-have-to-be-a-religious-person-to-be-affected-by-religion-or/) [Jim Starlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-starlin/) ## More by James Luther Adams > [An unexamined faith is not worth having, for it can be true only by accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/an-unexamined-faith-is-not-worth-having-for-it-can-be-true-only-by/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [The faith of a church or of a nation is an adequate faith only when it inspires and enables people to give of their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/the-faith-of-a-church-or-of-a-nation-is-an-adequate-faith-only-when/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [Nothing is complete and thus nothing is exempt from criticism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/nothing-is-complete-and-thus-nothing-is-exempt-from-criticism/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [ L\]iberalism holds that the resources (divine and human) that are available for the achievement of meaningful change justify an attitude of ultimate optimism ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/l-iberalism-holds-that-the-resources-divine-and-human-that-are/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [The free person does not live by an unexamined faith. To do so is to worship an idol whittled out and made into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/the-free-person-does-not-live-by-an-unexamined-faith-to-do-so-is-to/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [Everyone is a theologian, either conscious or unconscious, in the sense that everyone has some conception of the nature of reality, of the demands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/everyone-is-a-theologian-either-conscious-or-unconscious-in-the-sense/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [Church is a place where you get to practice what it means to be human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/church-is-a-place-where-you-get-to-practice-what-it-means-to-be-human/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [Religious liberalism affirms the moral obligation to direct one's effort toward the establishment of a just and \*loving\* community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/religious-liberalism-affirms-the-moral-obligation-to-direct-one-s/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [A good deal of so-called atheism is itself, from my point of view, theologically significant. It is the working of God in history, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/a-good-deal-of-so-called-atheism-is-itself-from-my-point-of-view/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) > [I call that church free which enters into the covenant with the ultimate source of existence. It binds together families and generations, protecting against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/i-call-that-church-free-which-enters-into-the-covenant-with-the/) [James Luther Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) [Explore all 11 James Luther Adams quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/) ## More Creeds quotes > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [When indeed shall we learn that we are all related one to the other, that we are all members of one body? Until the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/when-indeed-shall-we-learn-that-we-are-all-related-one-to-the-other/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [But there are times when men have serious thoughts, and it is at such times, when they begin to think, that they begin to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-paine/but-there-are-times-when-men-have-serious-thoughts-and-it-is-at-such/) [Thomas Paine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-paine/) > [As in the instances of alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and other such popular creeds, political economy, has a plausible idea at the root of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/as-in-the-instances-of-alchemy-astrology-witchcraft-and-other-such/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [People frequently ask me why I devote so much time to seeking out facts about man’s past…the past shows clearly that we all have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-leakey/people-frequently-ask-me-why-i-devote-so-much-time-to-seeking-out/) [Louis Leakey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-leakey/) > [As men's habits of mind differ, so that some more readily embrace one form of faith, some another, for what moves one to pray…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baruch-spinoza/as-men-s-habits-of-mind-differ-so-that-some-more-readily-embrace-one/) [Baruch Spinoza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baruch-spinoza/) > [... what we should be looking for is fresh ideas of how we make moral decisions about our dealings with one another, economic, social,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/davis-mccaughey/what-we-should-be-looking-for-is-fresh-ideas-of-how-we-make-moral/) Davis McCaughey > [The history of woman is the history of the continued and universal oppression of one sex by the other. The emancipation of woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-celeste-claflin/the-history-of-woman-is-the-history-of-the-continued-and-universal/) [Tennessee Celeste Claflin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-celeste-claflin/) > [Hinduism... gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-aurobindo/hinduism-gave-itself-no-name-because-it-set-itself-no-sectarian/) [Sri Aurobindo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-aurobindo/) > [Vanity Fair has but two major articles in its editorial creed: first, to believe in the progress and promise of American life, and, second,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-crowninshield/vanity-fair-has-but-two-major-articles-in-its-editorial-creed-first/) [Frank Crowninshield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-crowninshield/) > [I believe in an America where the rights that I have described are enjoyed by all, regardless of their race or their creed or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-f-kennedy/i-believe-in-an-america-where-the-rights-that-i-have-described-are/) [John F. Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-f-kennedy/) > [I questioned the faithful of all communions; I particularly sought the society of clergymen, who are the depositories of the various creeds and have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/i-questioned-the-faithful-of-all-communions-i-particularly-sought-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [No union exists between church and state, and perfect freedom of opinion is guaranteed to all sects and creeds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-k-polk/no-union-exists-between-church-and-state-and-perfect-freedom-of/) [James K. Polk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-k-polk/) > [The doctrine of eternal punishment is in perfect harmony with the savagery of the men who made the orthodox creeds. It is in harmony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-green-ingersoll/the-doctrine-of-eternal-punishment-is-in-perfect-harmony-with-the/) [Robert Green Ingersoll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-green-ingersoll/) > [Political and social justice requires, not the disintegration of a country and destruction or humiliation of a class which shows initiative, intelligence and drive,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/syama-prasad-mukherjee/political-and-social-justice-requires-not-the-disintegration-of-a/) [Syama Prasad Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/syama-prasad-mukherjee/) [Browse all 730 Creeds quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/creeds/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are not a religious tradition with a creed, but a religious movement that has always wedded social justice work to theology", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Luther Adams" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a-creed-but-a-religious/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Creeds" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a-creed-but-a-religious/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/james-luther-adams-39804_creeds_we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a_122671.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/james-luther-adams-39804_creeds_we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a_122671.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cb5/james-luther-adams-39804_creeds_we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a_122671.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are not a religious tradition with a creed, but a religious movement that has always wedded social…” — James Luther Adams", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "James Luther Adams", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-luther-adams/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are not a religious tradition...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a-creed-but-a-religious/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-luther-adams/we-are-not-a-religious-tradition-with-a-creed-but-a-religious/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```