Synopses & Reviews
"Reinhold Niebuhr was one of the last great public intellectuals of American life. . . . Langdon Gilkey's fine new book on his theology can help counter the neglect into which his thought has fallen."—Roger S. Gottlieb,
TikkunThis insightful, engaging book offers a detailed-and not uncritical-examination of Reinhold Niebuhr, whose theology and ideas loom so large in the intellectual history of twentieth-century America.
Synopsis
Langdon Gilkey's insightful, engaging book offers a detailed--and not uncritical--examination of one of the most influential American theologians of the twentieth century.
About the Author
Langdon Gilkey has taught at Georgetown University, the University of Virginia, and the University of Chicago Divinity School, where he is the Shailer Mathews Professor of Theology Emeritus. He is the author of a number of books, including
Shantung Compound,
Gilkey on Tillich, and
Nature, Reality, and the Sacred.
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
Preface
Part 1: First Encounters and Early Political Writings
1. Early Encounters
2. The Structure of Niebuhr's Theology
3. Early Political Writings
Part 2: Niebuhr's Mature Theology
4. Meaning, Mystery, Myth, and Revelation
5. The Doctrine of Human Nature
6. Sin: Anxiety, Pride, and Self-Deception
7. Sin: In Bondage yet Free, Inevitable but Not Necessary
8. The Understanding of History
9. The Biblical Understanding of History
10. The Enigma of History and Eschatology
11. Reflections
Index