This collection of essays from one of America's great theological minds explores the nature and meaning of Christian community. First published between 1945 and 1960, these essays make clear for the first time H. Richard Niebuhr's moral theology of the church. Understanding Christianity itself as a movement--and not an institution--Niebuhr argues that, at their best, Christian communities should express the ongoing, transforming relation of God and the world.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.

"The Responsible Self" was H. Richard Niebuhr's most important work in Christian ethics. In it he probes the most fundamental character of the moral life and it stands today as a landmark contribution to the field.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.

This reissue of a classic work of H. Richard Niebuhr, one of the most influential and creative theological ethicists of the twentieth century, highlights his mature thinking. By using path-breaking interpretations of faith as a basic dimension of human life and culture as an arena of faith in conflict, Niebuhr encourages further thought. This volume should be required reading for anyone interested in recent perspectives on theology and ethics.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.

This book brings together the best of the unpublished works of H. Richard Niebuhr, one of the outstanding American religious thinkers of this century. The collection includes lectures, sermons, and essays, some of which Niebuhr delivered at major universities to general audiences, and others that he prepared for circulation and discussion among colleagues at Yale and elsewhere. Contemporaneous events, religious figures, important issues in theology, and interpretations of American history and culture-all engaged Niebuhr's broad-ranging interest and revealed his concern with integrating theology and practical living. For those approaching the author's work for the first time, this volume opens the way; for readers already familiar with his concerns, it invites a deeper understanding of his theology. The collection will enrich contemporary public theological discussion, adding Niebuhr's confessionally grounded yet publicly focused voice to the conversation. Richard R. Niebuhr contributes a Foreword in which he recollects his father and offers insights from private writings, and William Stacy Johnson's Introduction orients the reader to Niebuhr's life and work, locating his writings in appropriate theological and historical contexts.

This important book is an accessible and detailed statement on faith by H. Richard Niebuhr, one of the leading American theologians of this century. Edited by the author's son, himself a distinguished writer and thinker on religious issues, it makes available Niebuhr's last major unpublished writings.