The Nature and Destiny of Man issues a vigorous challenge to Western civilization to understand its roots in the faith of the Bible, particularly in the Hebraic tradition. Niebuhr here lays out his influential understanding of the two poles of human existence: finitude and freedom. Individual human thriving requires that we fully understand and honor both of these aspects of our nature, yet human history demonstrates our penchant for placing one over the other. This book is arguably Reinhold Niebuhr's most important work. It offers a sustained articulation of Niebuhr's theological ethics and is considered a landmark in twentieth-century thought.

This addition to Westminster John Knox Press's Library of Theological Ethics series brings one of Reinhold Niebuhr's classic works back into print. This 1935 book answered some of the theological questions raised by "Moral Man and Immoral Society" (1932) and articulated for the first time Niebuhr's theological position on many issues. The introduction by ethicist Edmund N. Santurri sets the work into historical and theological context and also assesses the viability of some of Niebuhr's positions for theology and ethics today.

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"The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness," first published in 1944, is considered one of the most profound and relevant works by the influential theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, and certainly the fullest statement of his political philosophy. Written and first read during the prolonged, tragic world war between totalitarian and democratic forces, Niebuhr's book took up the timely question of how democracy as a political system could best be defended. Most proponents of democracy, Niebuhr claimed, were "children of light," who had optimistic but naive ideas about how society could be rid of evil and governed by enlightened reason. They needed, he believed, to absorb some of the wisdom and strength of the "children of darkness," whose ruthless cynicism and corrupt, anti-democratic politics should otherwise be repudiated. He argued for a prudent, liberal understanding of human society that took the measure of every group's self-interest and was chastened by a realistic understanding of the limits of power. It is in the foreword to this book that he wrote, "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary."This edition includes a new introduction by the theologian and Niebuhr scholar Gary Dorrien in which he elucidates the work's significance and places it firmly into the arc of Niebuhr's career.

"[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."--Senator 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

Reinhold Niebuhr's An Interpretation of Christian Ethics is both an introduction to the discipline and a presentation of the author's distinctive approach. That approach focuses on a realistic (rather than moralistic) understanding of the challenges facing human individuals and institutions, and a call for justice-imperfect though it might be-as what love looks like in a fallen world. The book's most distinctive aspect is the author's insistence that perfect love and justice are unattainable in this world, yet they remain our most important goals.

Renowned theologian Reinhold Niebuhr began his career as pastor of Bethel Evangelical Church in Detroit, Michigan, where he served from 1915-1928. Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic is Niebuhr's account of the frustrations and joys he experienced during his years at Bethel. Addressed to young ministers, this book provides reflections and insights for those engaged in the challenging yet infinitely rewarding occupation of pastoral ministry. With a foreword from Jonathan Walton on Niebuhr's enduring insights into the challenges and relevance of pastoral ministry, this powerful book remains as useful today as it was last century.

At the height of the civil rights movement in Mississippi, as hundreds of volunteers prepared for the 1964 Freedom Summer Project, the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) compiled hundreds of statements from activists and everyday citizens who endured police abuse and vigilante violence. Fifty-seven of those testimonies appear in Mississippi Black Paper. The statements recount how white officials and everyday citizens employed assassinations, beatings, harassment, and petty meanness to block any change in the state's segregated status quo. The testimonies in Mississippi Black Paper come from well-known civil rights heroes such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, and Rita Schwerner, but the book also brings new voices and stories to the fore. Alongside these iconic names appear grassroots activists and everyday people who endured racial terror and harassment for challenging, sometimes in seemingly imperceptible ways, the state's white supremacy. This new edition includes the original foreword by Reinhold Neibuhr and the original introduction by Mississippi journalist Hodding Carter III, as well as Jason Morgan Ward's new introduction that places the book in its context as a vital source in the history of the civil rights movement.

At the height of the civil rights movement in Mississippi, as hundreds of volunteers prepared for the 1964 Freedom Summer Project, the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) compiled hundreds of statements from activists and everyday citizens who endured police abuse and vigilante violence. Fifty-seven of those testimonies appear in Mississippi Black Paper. The statements recount how white officials and everyday citizens employed assassinations, beatings, harassment, and petty meanness to block any change in the state's segregated status quo. The testimonies in Mississippi Black Paper come from well-known civil rights heroes such as Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron Henry, and Rita Schwerner, but the book also brings new voices and stories to the fore. Alongside these iconic names appear grassroots activists and everyday people who endured racial terror and harassment for challenging, sometimes in seemingly imperceptible ways, the state's white supremacy. This new edition includes the original foreword by Reinhold Neibuhr and the original introduction by Mississippi journalist Hodding Carter III, as well as Jason Morgan Ward's new introduction that places the book in its context as a vital source in the history of the civil rights movement.

This is a new release of the original 1934 edition.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include George A. Coe, Rosika Schwimmer, John Irving Daniel And Carl John Bostelmann.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include H. N. Brailsford, Marion Doyle, H. J. Voorhis And Others.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include H. N. Brailsford, Robert P. Tristram Coffin, Aurel Kolnai And Others.

Contributing Authors Include Zona Gale, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Claora E. Bell And Others.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include H. N. Brailsford, Carl John Bostelmann, Stanton A. Coblentz And Others.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include H. N. Brailsford, Scott Nearing And Stanton A. Coblentz.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include H. N. Brailsford, Robert Wohlforth, Kenyon L. Butterfield And John Herling.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include H. N. Brailsford, Frank H. Underhill, Coleman B. Cheney And Others.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include Scott Nearing, Carl John Bostelmann, Henry J. Rosner And Others.

Additional Editor Is Paul H. Douglas. Contributing Authors Include Paul H. Douglas, William T. Stone, Robert P. Tristram Coffin And Others.