Theology, History, and Culture: Major Unpublished Writings

Front Cover
Yale University Press, 1998 M02 17 - 236 pages
This book brings together the best of the unpublished works of H. Richard Niebuhr, one of the outstanding American religious thinkers of this century.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.

From inside the book

Contents

Next Steps in Theology
3
An Ecumenical Vision
50
HISTORY
77
Theology in a Time of Disillusionment
102
Address on Martin Bubers Eightieth Birthday
134
Religion and the Democratic Tradition
143
The Idea of Original Sin in American Culture
174
Sermons
192
Index
231
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