Synopses & Reviews
Review
"To return to these penetrating reflections is to be reminded yet again of the intellectual void—still today unfilled—left by Reinhold Niebuhr's passing.”—Andrew J. Bacevich, Boston University (on the new edition)
Review
"The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr is a treasure of little-known essays and sermons framed by a brilliant introduction. It reminds us, once again, how eloquently Niebuhr speaks to the problems of our age."—Peter Beinart, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations (on the new edition)
Review
"This splendid volume has very great potential as ecumenically significant, useful to Catholics and Protestants alike."—
ChoiceSynopsis
Theologian, ethicist, and political analyst, Reinhold Niebuhr was a towering figure of twentieth-century religious thought. Now newly repackaged, this important book gathers the best of Niebuhr's essays together in a single volume. Selected, edited, and introduced by Robert McAfee Brown--a student and friend of Niebuhr's and himself a distinguished theologian--the works included here testify to the brilliant polemics, incisive analysis, and deep faith that characterized the whole of Niebuhr's life.
"This fine anthology makes available to a new generation the thought of one of the most penetrating and rewarding of twentieth-century minds. Reinhold Niebuhr remains the great illuminator of the dark conundrums of human nature, history and public policy."--Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
"Sparkling gems. . . brought from the shadows of history into contemporary light. Beautifully selected and edited, they show that Niebuhr's fiery polemics and gracious assurances still speak with power to us today."--Roger L. Shinn
"An extremely useful volume."--David Brion Davis, New York Review of Books
"This collection, which brings together Niebuhr's most penetrating and enduring essays on theology and politics, should demonstrate for a new generation that his best thought transcends the immediate historical setting in which he wrote. . . . Brown's] introduction succinctly presents the central features of Niebuhr's life and thought."--Library Journal