Reinhold Niebuhr 1892 – 1971
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American Reformed theologian and the principal exponent of Christian realism in twentieth-century social thought. After thirteen years as a parish minister in Detroit during the early industrial era, he taught for three decades at Union Theological Seminary in New York. His Moral Man and Immoral Society and the two-volume Nature and Destiny of Man developed an analysis of the deep ambiguity of all collective human action and the necessity of power for justice. The Serenity Prayer is widely attributed to him.
Key facts
- Nationality
- American
- Era
- Contemporary
- Movements
- Christian, Political
Selected quotes
-
Attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:
“Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.”
-
Attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:
“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope.”
-
Attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:
“Goodness, armed with power, is corrupted; pure love without power is destroyed.”
-
Attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
-
Attributed to Reinhold Niebuhr:
“The sad duty of politics is to establish justice in a sinful world.”