He earned his PhD in Systematic Theology from the University of Edinburgh. They reinforced the pacifist views that he had adopted throughout the 1920s after the First World War. Reinhold Niebuhr rose to prominenece in the 1930s and 1940s for his vociferous opposition both to Nazism and to isolationism as an American response to that threat. Both men were professional polemicists and their ideas often clashed, although they contributed to the same realms of liberal intellectual schools of thought. Anti-Catholicism surged in Detroit in the 1920s in reaction to the rise in the number of Catholic immigrants from southern Europe since the early 20th century. White supremacists determined to dominate, suppress, and victimize Black, Jewish, and Catholic Americans, as well as other Americans who did not have western European ancestry, joined the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Legion in growing numbers. Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Reinhold Niebuhr rose to prominenece in the 1930s and 1940s for his vociferous opposition both to Nazism and to isolationism as an American response to that threat. For example, he has always been the leading liberal opponent of pacifism. [c] He studied at Eden Theological Seminary in Webster Groves, Missouri, where, as he admitted, he was deeply influenced by Samuel D. Press in "biblical and systematic subjects",[47] and Yale Divinity School, where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1914 and a Master of Arts degree the following year,[48] with the thesis The Contribution of Christianity to the Doctrine of Immortality. Reinhold Niebuhr was a Christian democratic realist. [66] Two years later, in a review of Dewey's book A Common Faith (1934), Niebuhr was calm and respectful towards Dewey's "religious footnote" on his then large body of educational and pragmatic philosophy.[66]. Political Realism: The Political Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr. It simplifies political realityin its attemptto maintaina clear andunambiguoussense ofthe world. We left off with Bonhoeffer agonizing over his impossible choices. Reinhold Niebuhr, Christian Realism, and Just War Theory A Critique Keith Pavlischek T his chapter examines how Reinhold Niebuhr’s Christian realism departs in fundamental and profound ways from the classical just war tradition and explains why this matters. [96] Andrew Bacevich's book The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism refers to Niebuhr 13 times. David Brooks and E.J. [53], When America entered the First World War in 1917, Niebuhr was the unknown pastor of a small German-speaking congregation in Detroit (it stopped using German in 1919). He endeavored to work out a realistic approach to the moral danger posed by aggressive powers, which many idealists and pacifists failed to recognize. But at the same time, this world, as Niebuhr emphasizes again and again, is intensely meaningful; it’s just not the ultimate source of meaning. Why Pastors Should Read LiteratureKAREN SWALLOW PRIOR, The Ideals and Idols of the Pastor TheologianPAUL MORRISON, Three Ways I Use Commentaries for Teaching and Preaching PreparationAARON WHITE, Editorial – The Challenges and Possibilities (and Continuing Need) for the Pastor TheologianGERALD HIESTAND, The Road of Technology, the Path of the ChurchDAN BRENDSEL. Aside from academics, activists such as Myles Horton and Martin Luther King Jr. and numerous politicians have also cited his influence on their thought,[27][33][34][35] including Hillary Clinton, Hubert Humphrey, Dean Acheson, James Comey, Madeleine Albright, and John McCain, as well as presidents Barack Obama[36][37] and Jimmy Carter. During the 1920s, Niebuhr spoke out against the rise of the Ku Klux Klan in Detroit, which had recruited many members threatened by the rapid social changes. [70] In 1941, he co-founded the Union for Democratic Action, a group with a strongly militarily interventionist, internationalist foreign policy and a pro-union, liberal domestic policy. A public theologian, he wrote and spoke frequently about the intersection of religion, politics, and public policy, with his most influential books including Moral Man an… Here's What We Know", "Case Cracked: Comey Reveals Secret Twitter Account", "FBI Director James Comey Reflects on His Time at the College", "Democracy and Sin: Doing Justice to Reinhold Niebuhr", "Tragedy and History in Reinhold Niebuhr's Thought", "In Memoriam: Rev. [60] Niebuhr's criticism of Ford and capitalism resonated with progressives and helped make him nationally prominent. The Catholic incumbent, John W. Smith, won by a narrow margin of 30,000 votes. “Human happiness,” writes Niebuhr, “is determined by the difference between a little more and a little less justice, a little more and a little less freedom, between varying degrees of imaginative insight with which the self enters the life and understands the interests of the neighbor.”[4] Ultimately, a Christian political ethic challenges us to take responsibility—to do something—even when conditions aren’t perfect. [69], Niebuhr argued that to approach religion as the individualistic attempt to fulfill biblical commandments in a moralistic sense is not only an impossibility but also a demonstration of man's original sin, which Niebuhr interpreted as self-love. This article is Part Two of a two-part series. Reinhold Niebuhr first served as pastor of a church when he served from April to September 1913 as interim minister of St. John's following his father's death. [8] The passage has also been taken as an uncritical endorsement of all political authority. Reinhold Niebuhr, (born June 21, 1892, Wright City, Missouri, U.S.—died June 1, 1971, Stockbridge, Massachusetts), American Protestant theologian who had extensive influence on political thought and whose criticism of the prevailing theological liberalism of the 1920s significantly affected the intellectual climate within American Protestantism. ... We are all responsible. ... We are admonished in Scripture to judge men by their fruits, not by their roots; and their fruits are their character, their deeds and accomplishments. His pragmatic and realist approach to the ethics of force eschews absolute rules or restrictions. He rejected both pacifism and the legalism of the just war tradition. Our common life will always be characterized by ambiguity, but that doesn’t mean that real, tangible goods can’t be achieved or that we shouldn’t bother to attempt them. While many clergy proclaimed themselves pacifists because of their World War I experiences, Niebuhr declared that a victory by Germany and Japan would threaten Christianity. That influence began to wane and then drop toward the end of his life. His position may have related to his religious conviction that life on earth is imperfect, and his concern about German antisemitism. The Niebuhr family moved to Lincoln, Illinois, in 1902 when Gustav Niebuhr became pastor of Lincoln's St. John's German Evangelical Synod church. The sin of pride was apparent not just in criminals, but more dangerously in people who felt good about their deeds—rather like Henry Ford (whom he did not mention by name). Niebuhr's great foe was idealism. ],[citation needed] my first, in 1927 which when now consulted is proved to contain almost all the theological windmills against which today I tilt my sword. Unlike most clergymen in politics, Dr. Niebuhr is a pragmatist. Several attempts have been made to explicate the origins of Niebuhr's sympathies from the 1920s to working-class and labor issues as documented by his biographer Richard W. [2] Reinhold Niebuhr, Faith and Politics, ed. "[30], Starting as a minister with working-class sympathies in the 1920s and sharing with many other ministers a commitment to pacifism and socialism, his thinking evolved during the 1930s to neo-orthodox realist theology as he developed the philosophical perspective known as Christian realism. And while we aliens and exiles are making our journey at twilight, we also know that the dawn is coming. [4] Reinhold Niebuhr, An Interpretation of Christian Ethics (1935; repr., New York: Living Age Books, 1956), 97. [81], While after World War II most liberals endorsed integration, Niebuhr focused on achieving equal opportunity. Click Here to explore more resources from this series. The KKK's failed 1925 mayoral candidate, Charles Bowles, still became a judge on the recorder's court; later, in 1930, he was elected the city's mayor. To put it another way, in our political moment, the way of wisdom requires us to appraise our values and determine which to prioritize—and the courage to prioritize some at the expense of others—as we engage the public square in faithfulness to Jesus Christ and out of love for our neighbors. It is now part of the United Church of Christ. The journalist Alden Whitman wrote of his speaking style: He possessed a deep voice and large blue eyes. He spoke out against "the un-Christlike attitude of Christians", and what he called "Jewish bigotry". Ministers, and became one reinhold niebuhr political realism the atomic bomb on Hiroshima was `` morally indefensible '' in Niebuhr. Had two children, Christopher Niebuhr and elisabeth Niebuhr Sifton off with Bonhoeffer agonizing over his impossible.. 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