Social sources of denominationalism

by H. Richard Niebuhr.
New York, Meridian Books, 1957, 6th printing, January 1962.A discussion of the social character of the Christian churches that intended to be a practical contribution to the ethical problem of Denominationalism. The effort to distinguish churches primarily by reference to their doctrine and to approach the problem of church unity from a purely theological point of view appeared to be a procedure so artificial and fruitless that the author turned from theology to history, sociology, and ethics for a more satisfactory account of denominational differences and a more significant approach to the question of union