Reinhold Niebuhr

Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (born June 21, 1892 in Wright City , Missouri , † June 1, 1971 in Stockbridge , Massachusetts ) was an influential American theologian , philosopher and political scientist.

Life

Niebuhr came from a German-American rectory and after studying at was Eden Theological Seminary and at Elmhurst College in 1913 in the parish priest Uniate standing tradition German Evangelical Synod of North America , a predecessor church of the United Church of Christ , ordained . After completing his graduate degree at Yale , he was called to minister in a Detroit ward in 1915 . From 1928 he taught at the Union Theological Seminary in New York , where he received a full professorship in 1930, which he held until his retirement in 1960. In 1933 he campaigned for Paul Tillich to receive a professorship at Union Theological Seminary after his emigration from Germany. Since 1947 Niebuhr was a member of the American Philosophical Society and since 1953 of the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Reinhold Niebuhr and Ursula Keppel-Compton married in 1931; the marriage has a son and a daughter.

His brother Richard Niebuhr (1894–1962) was also a theologian.

Work and meaning

Initially shaped by the social gospel movement , Niebuhr later developed his own basic position, which he called "Christian realism". It combines an orientation towards collective interests with the guiding concept of justice. Influenced by Augustine's philosophical dualism , Niebuhr developed a dialectical anthropological concept. This includes the knowledge that man has the ability to produce good and bad through his intellectual freedom. Man is condemned by his reflexive abilities to create his own meaning in life. Since finiteness and scarcity are the basic conditions of his actions, man is seduced into deeds born out of self-righteousness and pride. At the level of international politics, this leads to imperialist action by powerful nations.

Niebuhr criticized not only the utopianism of communism , which leads to despotism , but also the presumption of the USA to feel like a chosen nation. Exercising power always leads to morally deficient behavior. Today, both liberals like Barack Obama and neoconservatives refer to Niebuhr.

His theology of history also found attention in contemporary Catholic philosophy.

In 1964 Niebuhr received the Presidential Medal of Freedom .

See also

• Serenity prayer

Fonts (selection)

Title page of the German edition of Niebuhr's sermon volume from 1948

• Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics , Charles Scribner's Sons (1932), Westminster John Knox Press 2002: ISBN 0-664-22474-1 .
• Interpretation of Christian Ethics , Harper & Brothers (1935)
• Beyond Tragedy: Essays on the Christian Interpretation of History , Charles Scribner's Sons (1937), ISBN 0-684-71853-7 (German: Beyond the Tragedy: Reflections on the Christian Interpretation of History . Munich: Kaiser 1947)
• The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation , from the Gifford Lectures , (1941), Volume one: Human Nature, Volume two: Human Destiny, 1980 Prentice Hall vol. 1: ISBN 0-02-387510-0 ; New edition 1996: ISBN 0-664-25709-7
• The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness , Charles Scribner's Sons (1944): new edition 2011, introduced by v. Gary Dorrien: ISBN 978-0-226-58400-3 (German: The children of light and the children of darkness: A justification of democracy and a criticism of its conventional defense . Munich: Kaiser 1947)
• Discerning the signs of the times. Sermons for to-day and to-morrow . Charles Scribner's Sons 1946 (German: The signs of the times: Sermons for today and tomorrow . Munich: Kaiser 1948)
• Faith and History (1949) ISBN 0-684-15318-1 (German: Faith and History: A Confrontation Between Christian and Modern Views of History . Munich: P. Müller 1951)
• The Irony of American History , Charles Scribner's Sons (1952); New edition 2008 with introduction v. Andrew J. Bacevich: ISBN 978-0-226-58398-3
• Christian Realism and Political Problems (1953) ISBN 0-678-02757-9 (German: Christian Realism and Political Problems . Stuttgart: Evang. Verl.-Werk 1956)
• The Self and the Dramas of History , Charles Scribner's Sons (1955)
• Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr , ed. v. DB Robertson (1957), Westminster John Knox Press 1992 reprint, ISBN 0-664-25322-9
• Pious and Secular America (1958) ISBN 0-678-02756-0 (German: Piety and Secularization . Gütersloh: Mohn 1962)
• The Structure of Nations and Empires (1959) ISBN 0-678-02755-2 (German: States and Great Powers: Problems of State Order in the Past and Present . Gütersloh: Mohn 1960)
• Reinhold Niebuhr on Politics: His Political Philosophy and Its Application to Our Age as Expressed in His Writings , ed. v. Harry R. Davis and Robert C. Good. (1960)
• A Nation So Conceived: Reflections on the History of America From Its Early Visions to its Present Power . Charles Scribner's Sons (1963)
• The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses , ed. v. Robert McAffee Brown (1986). Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-04001-6

literature

• Ursula M. Niebuhr: Remembering Reinhold Niebuhr. Letters of Reinhold & Ursula M. Niebuhr . San Francisco: Harper 1991 ISBN 0-06-066234-4
• Lothar Bily :  Niebuhr, Reinhold. In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 6, Bautz, Herzberg 1993, ISBN 3-88309-044-1 , Sp. 723-730.
• James F. Gustafson : Niebuhr, Karl Paul Reinhold . In: Theological Real Encyclopedia . Volume 24, 1994, pp. 470-473.
• Christoph Rohde: The image of politically active people in Reinhold Niebuhr's Christian Realism, taking international politics into account . Ars Una 1996, ISBN 3-89391-902-3
• Dieter Splinter: Theologian between the worlds: Reinhold Niebuhr and the "German Evangelical Synod of North America", 1892 - 1928 . Aachen 1998. ISBN 3-8265-2690-2
• Eyal Naveh: Reinhold Niebuhr and Non-Utopian Liberalism . Sussex Academic Press. Portland 2002, ISBN 1-903900-04-2
• Richard Crouter: Reinhold Niebuhr ( 1892-1971 ) and H. Richard Niebuhr ( 1894-1962 ) . In: Classics of Theology; 2: From Richard Simon to Karl Rahner. - Munich: Beck, 2005, pp. 258-288 ISBN 3-406-52801-5
• Mark L. Kleinman: A world of hope, a world of fear: Henry A. Wallace, Reinhold Niebuhr, and American liberalism . Ohio State University Press, Columbus 2000, ISBN 978-0-8142-0844-1 .
• Christoph Rohde: The birth of Christian realism from the spirit of resistance. Duncker & Humblot. Berlin 2016. 384 pages. ISBN 978-3-428-14824-0 .

Web links

Wikiquote: Reinhold Niebuhr  - Quotes

• Literature by and about Reinhold Niebuhr in the catalog of the German National Library
• Directory to Niebuhr - English
• R. Niebuhr in an interview with Mike Wallace - English

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Member History: Reinhold Niebuhr. American Philosophical Society, accessed January 9, 2019 . 
2. ↑ Members: Reinhold Niebuhr. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 17, 2019 . 
3. ↑ "Obama's Favorite Theologian? A Short Course on Reinhold Niebuhr" ( Memento of the original from July 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , "Pew Research" (June 26, 2009). 
4. ↑ Novak, Michael. Father of Neoconservatives: Nowadays, the Truest Disciples of the Liberal Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr Are Conservatives . National Review, Vol. 44, May 11, 1992.
5. ↑ Alois Dempf : Overview of contemporary interpretations of time, in: Philosophisches Jahrbuch 62 (1953) 1–45, here 16–18.