“Theologians, ethicist, and political analyst, Reinhold Neiburh, was a towering figure of twentieth-century religious thought. In this important book, the best of Neiburh’s essays have been brought together for the first time. Selected, edited, and introduced by Robert McAffee Brown – a student and friend of Nieburh’s and himself a distinguished thoelogian – the works included here testify to the brilliant polemics, incisive analysis, and deep faith that characterized the whole of Neibuhr’s life”–Back cover
Includes indexes
Includes index
Introduction / Robert McAfee Brown — Optimism, pessimism, and religious faith — The power and weakness of God — The providence of God — The wheat and the tares — Humour and faith — The assurance of grace — Prayers — The Christian church in a secular age — The Christian witness in the social and national order — Why the Christian church is not pacifist — Augustine’s political realism — Love and law in Protestantism and Catholicism — The children of light and the children of darkness — The relations of Christians and Jews in western civilization — Ideology and the scientific method — Coherence, incoherence, and Christian faith — Mystery and meaning — Epilogue: a view of life from the sidelines