Reinhold Niebuhr
American theologian and public intellectual who applied Christian realism to politics and ethics. The Nature and Destiny of Man is his major theological work; The Irony of American History is his finest political writing. He influenced Cold War liberalism and was Obama's favorite philosopher.
Works
- The Nature and Destiny of ManTheology of human sin, freedom, and divine grace through history
- Moral Man and Immoral SocietyChristian ethics arguing moral behavior requires religious transformation
- The Irony of American HistoryTheological interpretation of American history's paradoxes and self-deceptions
- The Children of Light and the Children of DarknessTheology contrasting classical optimism with darker Christian realism
- Beyond TragedyEssays on tragedy, redemption, and theology in literature