Reinhold Niebuhr and Contemporary Politics

Reinhold Niebuhr and Contemporary Politics PDF Author: Richard Harries
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191614378
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
When Barack Obama praised the writings of philosopher theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the run up to the 2008 US Presidential Elections, he joined a long line of top politicians who closely engaged with Niebuhr's ideas, including Tony Benn, Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King Jr. and Dennis Healey. Beginning with his early ministry amongst industrial workers in early twentieth century Detroit, Niebuhr displayed a passionate commitment to social justice that infused his life's work. Rigorously championing 'Christian Realism' he sought a practically orientated intellectual engagement with the political challenges of his day. His ideas on International Relations have also helped to shape debate amongst leading academic thinkers and policy makers. In both Christian and secular contexts he continues to attract new readers today. In this timely re-evaluation both critics and disciples of Niebuhr's work reflect on his notable contribution to Christian social ethics, the Christian doctrine of humanity, and the engagement of Christian thought with contemporary politics. The authors bring a wide range of expertise from both sides of the Atlantic, indicating how a re-evaluation of Niebuhr's thought can help inform contemporary debates on Christian social ethics and other wider theological issues.

Reinhold Niebuhr and Contemporary Politics

Reinhold Niebuhr and Contemporary Politics PDF Author: Richard Harries
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191614378
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
When Barack Obama praised the writings of philosopher theologian Reinhold Niebuhr in the run up to the 2008 US Presidential Elections, he joined a long line of top politicians who closely engaged with Niebuhr's ideas, including Tony Benn, Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King Jr. and Dennis Healey. Beginning with his early ministry amongst industrial workers in early twentieth century Detroit, Niebuhr displayed a passionate commitment to social justice that infused his life's work. Rigorously championing 'Christian Realism' he sought a practically orientated intellectual engagement with the political challenges of his day. His ideas on International Relations have also helped to shape debate amongst leading academic thinkers and policy makers. In both Christian and secular contexts he continues to attract new readers today. In this timely re-evaluation both critics and disciples of Niebuhr's work reflect on his notable contribution to Christian social ethics, the Christian doctrine of humanity, and the engagement of Christian thought with contemporary politics. The authors bring a wide range of expertise from both sides of the Atlantic, indicating how a re-evaluation of Niebuhr's thought can help inform contemporary debates on Christian social ethics and other wider theological issues.

Reinhold Niebuhr

Reinhold Niebuhr PDF Author: Richard Crouter
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199702004
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 176

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Book Description
A primer on the current "Niebuhr revival" of the political left and right, this book traces the significance of Reinhold Niebuhr's thought for secular as well as deeply Christian minds. Placed in the context of religious and cultural history, Niebuhr's theological views deepen and challenge contemporary expertise on issues of war, peace, economic, and personal security. While rejecting cynical pessimism and naive optimism, Niebuhr's Christian realism reinvigorates age-old teachings of the Bible, St. Paul, Augustine, and Kierkegaard. His thought enriches present-day debates between science and religion and between atheists, agnostics, and believers. To live with Niebuhr's legacy is to combine critical acumen with humble self-awareness. It is to pursue a larger common good - for him, God-given - that is shared among individuals, nations, and the world community.

Reinhold Niebuhr on Politics

Reinhold Niebuhr on Politics PDF Author: Harry R. Davis
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
ISBN: 1556354274
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 384

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Book Description
William Temple, late Archbishop of Canterbury, on meeting Reinhold Niebuhr for the first time, commented, At last I've met the troubler of my peace. Of him John Baillie, the distinguished theologian, also remarked, Intellectually, Niebuhr is head and shoulders, he is legs and ankles above any other American. The full range of Niebuhr's political thought -- in his own writing -- is here made available in one convenient volume. Using materials from sixteen of his books and some one hundred and seventy of his articles, the editors, Harry R. Davis and Robert C. Good, have brilliantly succeeded in linking together the various selections so that they form a logical whole. The volume begins with Niebuhr's examination of the contemporary crisis and his analysis of the false solutions offered by the liberal creed and by communist doctrine. The ground thus cleared, Niebuhr erects his own system of political thought. In the final section of the book, Niebuhr deals with problems of the day in the light of his central beliefs and insights. As an advisory committee the editors enjoyed the assistance of Charles Burton Marshall (Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research), Hans J. Morgenthau (Chicago), E. E. Schattschneider Jr. (Harvard), and Arnold Wolfers (Washington Center of Foreign Policy Research). Niebuhr himself read and approved the contents.

Christian Realism and the New Realities

Christian Realism and the New Realities PDF Author: Robin W. Lovin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521841941
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 205

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Book Description
Robin W. Lovin argues that the integration of religion and public life will benefit society more than their separation.

Reinhold Niebuhr in Theory and Practice

Reinhold Niebuhr in Theory and Practice PDF Author: Peter B. Josephson
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498576702
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
This book examines contemporary American politics and policy from a political–theological perspective. The work analyzes the value of Niebuhr’s political thought for American statecraft and suggests that Niebuhr’s Christian realism can ground citizens’ understanding of political life.

Christianity and Power Politics

Christianity and Power Politics PDF Author: Reinhold Niebuhr
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Christianity and politics
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description


Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Ramsey

Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Ramsey PDF Author: Kevin Carnahan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
The work explores the distinctive influences of philosophical pragmatism and absolute idealism on Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Ramsey, two influential twentieth-century theologians, who learned from and transformed these philosophies in the light of contemporary theological trends. It explores how these theologians shaped their moral theologies, political theories, and approaches to war in the light of these philosophies.

Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics

Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics PDF Author: Reinhold Niebuhr
Publisher: Library of America
ISBN: 159853405X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 850

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Book Description
A definitive collection of the theologian and public intellectual who was the conscience of the American Century. “One of my favorite philosophers,” remarked Barack Obama about the theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) in 2007. President Obama is but one of the many American political leaders—including Jimmy Carter and Martin Luther King Jr.—to be influenced by Niebuhr’s writings. Throughout the Depression, World War II, and the Cold War, Niebuhr was one of the most prominent public voices of his time, probing with singular style the question of how to act morally in a fallen world. This Library of America volume, prepared by Niebuhr’s daughter, Elisabeth Sifton, collects four indispensable books: Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic (1929), Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932), The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness (1944), and The Irony of American History (1952), along with a selection of essays, sermons, lectures, prayers, including his world-famous Serenity Prayer, and writings on current events—Prohibition, the Allied bombing of Germany, apartheid in South Africa, the Vietnam War—many of which are collected here for the first time.

The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr

The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr PDF Author: Reinhold Niebuhr
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300162646
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
Theologian, ethicist, and political analyst, Reinhold Niebuhr was a towering figure of twentieth-century religious thought. Now newly repackaged, this important book gathers the best of Niebuhr’s essays together in a single volume. Selected, edited, and introduced by Robert McAfee Brown—a student and friend of Niebuhr’s and himself a distinguished theologian—the works included here testify to the brilliant polemics, incisive analysis, and deep faith that characterized the whole of Niebuhr’s life.“This fine anthology makes available to a new generation the thought of one of the most penetrating and rewarding of twentieth-century minds. Reinhold Niebuhr remains the great illuminator of the dark conundrums of human nature, history and public policy.”—Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.“Sparkling gems. . . brought from the shadows of history into contemporary light. Beautifully selected and edited, they show that Niebuhr’s fiery polemics and gracious assurances still speak with power to us today.”—Roger L. Shinn“An extremely useful volume.”—David Brion Davis, New York Review of Books“This collection, which brings together Niebuhr’s most penetrating and enduring essays on theology and politics, should demonstrate for a new generation that his best thought transcends the immediate historical setting in which he wrote. . . . [Brown’s] introduction succinctly presents the central features of Niebuhr’s life and thought.”—Library Journal

The Irony of American History

The Irony of American History PDF Author: Reinhold Niebuhr
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226583996
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
“[Niebuhr] is one of my favorite philosophers. I take away [from his works] the compelling idea that there’s serious evil in the world, and hardship and pain. And we should be humble and modest in our belief we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn’t use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away . . . the sense we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard.”—President Barack Obama Forged during the tumultuous but triumphant postwar years when America came of age as a world power, The Irony of American History is more relevant now than ever before. Cited by politicians as diverse as Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Niebuhr’s masterpiece on the incongruity between personal ideals and political reality is both an indictment of American moral complacency and a warning against the arrogance of virtue. Impassioned, eloquent, and deeply perceptive, Niebuhr’s wisdom will cause readers to rethink their assumptions about right and wrong, war and peace. “The supreme American theologian of the twentieth century.”—Arthur Schlesinger Jr., New York Times “Niebuhr is important for the left today precisely because he warned about America’s tendency—including the left’s tendency—to do bad things in the name of idealism. His thought offers a much better understanding of where the Bush administration went wrong in Iraq.”—Kevin Mattson, The Good Society “Irony provides the master key to understanding the myths and delusions that underpin American statecraft. . . . The most important book ever written on US foreign policy.”—Andrew J. Bacevich, from the Introduction