Changes

==Career==

==Career==

He began his career as a pastor in early industrial Detroit (1915-1928), famously taking stands against [[Henry Ford]] and the [[Ku Klux Klan]].  He then became an internationally recognized academic as a theologian at [[Union Theological Seminary]] in [[New York]], working there for over 30 years.  Early on he was a left-leaning social activist; he later dropped the Marxism and socialism.  He was a star within the [[Neo-orthodoxy|neo-orthodox]] movement. He is a favorite thinker of both [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Barack Hussein Obama]].<ref>Frank A. Ruechel, "Politics And Morality Revisited: Jimmy Carter and Reinhold Niebuhr." ''Atlanta History'' 1994 37(4): 19-31; also [http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14256 "Reinhold Niebuhr is Unseen Force in 2008 Elections"], September 27, 2007, Benedicta Cipolla, ''Religion News Service'' of the ''Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life'' </ref>.  He rejected the liberalism that dominated mainstream Protestantism in the 1920s.  

 

As America entered the World War in 1917, Niebuhr was recently ordained in the German Evangelical Synod of North America and had just become pastor of a congregation in Detroit. During the war he repeatedly stressed the need to be loyal to the nation of one's birth or adoption. Theologically, however, he went beyond the issue of national loyalty as he endeavored to fashion a realistic ethical perspective of patriotism and pacifism. He endeavored to work out a realistic approach to the moral danger posed by aggressive powers which many idealists and pacifists failed to recognize. During the war he also served his denomination as Executive Secretary of the War Welfare Commission while maintaining his pastorate in Detroit. A pacifist at heart, he saw compromise as a necessity and was willing to support war in order to find peace - compromising for the sake of righteousness.<ref> William G. Chrystal, "Reinhold Niebuhr and the First World War." ''Journal of Presbyterian History'' 1977 55(3): 285-298. 0022-3883 </ref>

 

As a pastor in industrial Detroit (1915-1928), he took stands against [[Henry Ford]] and the [[Ku Klux Klan]].  He then became an internationally recognized academic as a theologian at [[Union Theological Seminary]] in [[New York]], working there for over 30 years.  Early on he was a left-leaning social activist; he later dropped the Marxism and socialism.  He was a star within the [[Neo-orthodoxy|neo-orthodox]] movement. He is a favorite thinker of both [[Jimmy Carter]] and [[Barack Hussein Obama]].<ref>Frank A. Ruechel, "Politics And Morality Revisited: Jimmy Carter and Reinhold Niebuhr." ''Atlanta History'' 1994 37(4): 19-31; also [http://pewforum.org/news/display.php?NewsID=14256 "Reinhold Niebuhr is Unseen Force in 2008 Elections"], September 27, 2007, Benedicta Cipolla, ''Religion News Service'' of the ''Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life'' </ref>.  He rejected the liberalism that dominated mainstream Protestantism in the 1920s.  

[[File:Niebuhr1.jpg|thumb|270px]]

[[File:Niebuhr1.jpg|thumb|270px]]

===Race ===

===Race ===

Niebuhr's thought on racial justice developed slowly after he abandoned socialism. Niebuhr attributed the injustices of society to human pride and self love and believed that this innate propensity for evil could not be controlled by humanity. However, he felt that a representative democracy could improve society's ills. Like Edmund Burke, Niebuhr endorsed natural evolution over imposed change and emphasized experience over theory. Niebuhr's Burkean ideology, however, often conflicted with his liberal principles, particularly regarding his perspective on racial justice. Though vehemently opposed to racial inequality, Niebuhr adopted an extremely conservative position on segregation. Yet while most liberals endorsed integration after World War II, Niebuhr remained focused on achieving equal opportunity and warned against imposing changes that could result in violence. The violence that followed peaceful demonstrations in the 1960s forced Niebuhr to reverse his position against imposed equality and witnessing the problem of the Northern ghettoes later caused him to doubt that equality was attainable.<ref> Greg Robinson, Reinhold Niebuhr: The Racial Liberal as Burkean. Prospects 2000 25: 641-661. 0361-2333 </Ref>  

Niebuhr's thought on racial justice developed slowly after he abandoned socialism. Niebuhr attributed the injustices of society to human pride and self love and believed that this innate propensity for evil could not be controlled by humanity. However, he felt that a representative democracy could improve society's ills. Like Edmund Burke, Niebuhr endorsed natural evolution over imposed change and emphasized experience over theory. Niebuhr's Burkean ideology, however, often conflicted with his liberal principles, particularly regarding his perspective on racial justice. Though vehemently opposed to racial inequality, Niebuhr adopted an extremely conservative position on segregation. Yet while most liberals endorsed integration after World War II, Niebuhr remained focused on achieving equal opportunity and warned against imposing changes that could result in violence. The violence that followed peaceful demonstrations in the 1960s forced Niebuhr to reverse his position against imposed equality and witnessing the problem of the Northern ghettos later caused him to doubt that equality was attainable.<ref> Greg Robinson, Reinhold Niebuhr: The Racial Liberal as Burkean. Prospects 2000 25: 641-661. 0361-2333 </Ref>  

===Magnum Opus===

===Magnum Opus===

His two volume work ''The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation'' (1941) is considered to be his Magnum Opus.  

His two volume work ''The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation'' (1941) is considered to be his Magnum Opus.  

==Further reading==

==Further reading==

* Beckley, Harlan. ''Passion for Justice: Retrieving the Legacies of Walter Rauschenbusch, John A. Ryan, and Reinhold Niebuhr.'' (1992). 391 pp.

* Beckley, Harlan. ''Passion for Justice: Retrieving the Legacies of Walter Rauschenbusch, John A. Ryan, and Reinhold Niebuhr.'' (1992). 391 pp.

* Brown, Charles C.  ''Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr's Prophetic Role in the Twentieth Century.'' (1992). 317 pp.

* Brown, Charles C.  ''Niebuhr and His Age: Reinhold Niebuhr's Prophetic Role in the Twentieth Century.'' (1992). 317 pp.

* Craig, Campbell. "The New Meaning of Modern War in the Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr." ''Journal of the History of Ideas" 1992 53(4): 687-701  [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2709944  in JSTOR]

* Craig, Campbell. "The New Meaning of Modern War in the Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr." ''Journal of the History of Ideas" 1992 53(4): 687-701  [http://www.jstor.org/stable/2709944  in JSTOR]

* Doenecke, Justus D. "Reinhold Niebuhr and his Critics: The Interventionist Controversy in World War II." ''Anglican and Episcopal History'' 1995 64(4): 459-481. 0896-8039, by a leading conservative historian

* Doenecke, Justus D. "Reinhold Niebuhr and his Critics: The Interventionist Controversy in World War II." ''Anglican and Episcopal History'' 1995 64(4): 459-481. 0896-8039, by a leading conservative historian

* Fox, Richard Wightman. ''Reinhold Niebuhr: A Biography.'' (1985). 325 pp.  the standard scholarly biography

* Fox, Richard Wightman. ''Reinhold Niebuhr: A Biography.'' (1985). 325 pp.  the standard scholarly biography; a well-researched, fair, and engaging treatment of Niebuhr's theological and political work that emphasizes his skill in working with Scripture and in interpreting human nature and the human condition.

* Rice, Daniel F. ''Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey: An American Odyssey.'' (1993). 358 pp.

* Rice, Daniel F. ''Reinhold Niebuhr and John Dewey: An American Odyssey.'' (1993). 358 pp.

* Rosenthal, Joel H. ''Righteous Realists: Political Realism, Responsible Power, and American Culture in the Nuclear Age.'' (1991). 191 pp. Compares Niebuhr with Hans J. Morgenthau, Walter Lippmann, George F. Kennan, and Dean Acheson

* Rosenthal, Joel H. ''Righteous Realists: Political Realism, Responsible Power, and American Culture in the Nuclear Age.'' (1991). 191 pp. Compares Niebuhr with Hans J. Morgenthau, Walter Lippmann, George F. Kennan, and Dean Acheson

===Primary sources===

===Primary sources===

* Niebuhr, Reinhold. ''The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses'' ed. by Robert McAffee Brown (1986). 264 pp.

* Niebuhr, Reinhold. ''The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses'' ed. by Robert McAffee Brown (1986). 264 pp.

 

==References==

==References==

[[Category: Christians]]

[[Category: Theologians]]

[[Category: Jews]]