The Civil Rights Movement. The Cuban Missile Crisis. The assassination of a president and a senator, both from the same family. Praise turns into protest; hope into disenchantment, as democracy's new day goes up in flames. The 1960s was an era born in hope and ends in deep conflict. During this era, Reinhold Niebuhr, once dubbed "America's theologian," retires from Union Seminary in New York. Though little has been published about him in this decade, much of Niebuhr's life and work are as much shaped and transformed by this era as his work shapes and transforms the discourse in theology, ethics, and the politics of the age. Ronald Stone, a former student-turned-colleague of Niebuhr, brilliantly introduces readers to the Niebuhr of the 1960s. In his analysis of Niebuhr, he shows a theologian whose work sometimes turns less theological and becomes more secular in his writing with a view toward speaking to the secular world around him. Stone's delightful book introduces readers to never-before seen letters between the author and Reinhold and Ursula Niebuhr, Stone points the way for theologians, ethicists, politicians, and those otherwise seeking justice and peace into the conflicted world today.
Ronald H. Stone is the John Witherspoon Professor of Christian Ethics emeritus at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary. Born and educated in Iowa, Stone undertook graduate study at Union Theological Seminary, Columbia University, and Oxford University. Returning to the United States, he became Reinhold Niebuhr's last teaching assistant and, later, colleague. Stone has written two dozen books on religion and society and served as chairman of the local Development Corporation and the Allegheny County Ethics Commission.
Preface Dedication Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Cold War empires Imperialism Niebuhr before Retirement International Politics 3. Human Nature Vitality and Form Easy Conscience Christian View of Humanity Human Sin 4. Human Destiny 5. Beginning the Kennedy Era, 1960-61 Interview The 1960 election The Kennedy Years Colloquium at the Cathedral Dimensions of the 1960s 6. International Politics, 1962 7. The Mounting Racial Crisis and Democracy, 1963 Birmingham A Nation so Conceived International Conflict Social Ethics Barnard Lectures on Democracy 8. President Johnson, 1964 Race Relations Karl Marx Human Nature 9. Man's Nature and His Communities , 1965 "Foreword Excerpts" President Johnson and Vietnam Man's Nature and His Communities Political Philosophy 10. Christianity and Crisis, 1966 Niebuhr as Journalist Change in Christianity and Crisis Co-writing on Vietnam Church Death of God Judaism The Seminar The Army in former Colonies 11. Social Myths and the Cold War, 1967 Wars Dialogue with Hans J. Morgenthau Martin Luther King, Jr. Life and Death 12. Faith and Politics, 1968 Faith and Politics 13. Democracy, 1969 The Democratic Experience The 1969 Interview "The King's Chapel and the King's Court" Reconciling with Catholicism 14. Decline, 1970-71 The Presidency and Irony 15. Legacy Quest for Justice Riverside Church Memorial Relevance to 21st Century On International Politics
"Ronald H. Stone waited until his own retirement years to write about the retirement years of Reinhold Niebuhr. This winsome book is judicious, deeply informed, and generous, like every book that Stone has written about Niebuhr." --Gary Dorrien, Union Theological Seminary "Ronald H. Stone has delivered a must read for anyone seeking to understand Reinhold Niebuhr beyond the caricatures of him as a young radical, middle-aged sage, and elderly crank. Through Stone's eyes, we meet an older and physically challenged Niebuhr who was determined to overcome pain and depression to speak to issues of justice in both foreign policy and American culture. Stone helps us better understand the Niebuhr who remained prophetic to his final days. This book should cause us to reconsider the possibilities of Christian realism in these days of populist politics." --David True, Wilson College "This is a careful and insightful reading of Reinhold Niebuhr's public thought and influence by a scholar who was his student, friend, and, subsequently, among his leading scholarly interpreters. Stone draws much-needed attention here to the latter phrases of Niebuhr's public scholarship from the turbulent 1960s and to Niebuhr's analytic relevance for that decade and for our twenty-first-century social landscapes." --R. Drew Smith, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary "Exploring Niebuhr's life during the 1960s, Stone finds a man who is still evolving, producing novel works, pushing in radical directions to realize racial justice, and challenging the American status quo at every turn. This book will be of interest to those who seek to reclaim the living spirit of Christian realism for our own secular age." --Kevin M. Carnahan "In this important book, Ronald H. Stone underscores the evolution of Niebuhr's thought and political engagement in the 1960s. Stone emphasizes the continued significance of Niebuhr's arguments for contemporary political philosophy and foreign policy and adds insight to the debates about how committed Niebuhr was to the women's and Civil Rights movements. Readers also get a sense of Niebuhr as both a charismatic religious leader and as a mentor. This book will be an excellent resource for those seeking to understand both Niebuhr's legacy as a scholar and his ongoing impact on contemporary theology and ethics." --Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Bellarmine University
