The gospel has important social dimensions. In this essay the author wants to show the considerations in the social and political thinking of evangelicals in times past. Wilberforce and Shaftesbury are remembered as some of the outstanding examples of a biblical Christianity that was prepared to take on the challenge of social reform. The author speaks with regret of the so-called great reversal that reflects evangelical Christians withdrawing from social and political concerns in the early twentieth century as a reaction against the social gospel.