Reinhold Niebuhr
Theology
Niebuhr
took a teaching position in 1928 at Union Theological Seminary in New York
City. In one of the most multi-cultural
cities in the world, his religious life was expanded by the new life he encountered,
as well as the readings of Karl Marx and other revolutionary thinkers. In 1930, Niebuhr fulfilled his profession of
being “politically to the left and theologically to the right” when he joined
the Socialist party[1]. His right theology separated him from the
many people who joined socialist parties in the 1930s[2]. He ran for Congress for his New York
district in 1930[3]. He rejected the Marxist tendencies towards
utopianism and man’s innate goodness[4]. He resigned from the Socialist party in 1940,
helped charter the Liberal Party, and participated in the Union for Democratic
America[5].
Niebuhr
championed a social gospel, which “contains[ed] trends of the piety of the
Enlightenment, especially its individualism, rationalism, and unconquerable faith
in human progress[6].” The believed people were connected through a
brotherhood which is connects through the Father[7]. A personal conversion
was not valued and all emphasis was placed into activities that would save
humanity. But Niebuhr believed that the
social gospel had many flaws and therefore created “Christian Realism”. To promote his opinions, Niebuhr wrote many
books and journal articles.
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