Between Two Rivers

Between Two Rivers chronicles the life of noted scholar of religion, politics, and philosophy, Ronald H. Stone. From his childhood between the East and West banks of the Des Moines River through graduate work in New York between the Hudson and the East Rivers through his scholarly career and retirement in Pittsburgh, between the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, the book highlights Stone’s focus on Christian social ethics and his prolific writing in the area. The book includes unique insights into some of the renowned scholars Stone worked with closely, including Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and it discusses Stone’s scholarship on the relationship between religion and politics.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1. Birth 2. Childhood 3. High School 4. Morningside College 5. Mexico City College 6. Junior College 7. Pre-Theological Student 8. Marriage and Church 9. New York City 10. Europe 11. Christian Social Ethics 12. Philosophy 13. Oxford 14. Reinhold Niebuhr 15. Faith and Politics 16. Teaching and Leaving Columbia 17. Associate Professor in Pittsburgh 18. “The King’s Chapel and the King’s Court” 19. Early Days at Pittsburgh Seminary 20. The Death of Reinhold 21. Cambridge University 22. Professor of Social Ethics 23. Beyond Niebuhr 24. Realism and Hope 25. Randy in Nova Scotia 26. Urban Ethics Course 27. Seeking Greek Orthodoxy 28. Response to Liberation Theology 29. Paul Tillich 30. Peacemaking and the Presbyterians 31 East Liberty Presbyterian Church 32. Between Jerusalem and Bethlehem 33. Church and Society 34. Reformed Faith and Politics 35. Rome and Budapest 36. Siberia 37. East Berlin 38. Marriage 39. Resistance to Militarism 40. India 41. John C. Bennett 42. Third Presbyterian Church 43. Post–India Writing 44. Peacemaking 45. Theological Educators for Presbyterian Social Witness 46. Robert Chesnut 47. Father, 1990 48. Latin America 49. Urban Ministry 50. Patricia 51. Randall 52. Spies 53. John Witherspoon 54. Justice and Peacemaking 55. Amazon 56. Mother 57. John Bennett and Nuclear Weapons 58. Politics 59. Cuba 60. Just Peacemaking and Humanitarian Intervention 61. Oxbridge Revisited 62. Church and State 63. Letters from Africa 64. Against the Third Reich 65. The Ultimate Imperative 66. Religion in the New Millennium 67. John Wesley’s Ethics 68. Terrorism and Foreign Policy 69. Semi-Retirement and Divorce 70. Christian Social Ethics as Vocation 71. On Speaking to Hezbollah 72. Prophetic Realism 73. Visit to China 74. Return to Rome 75. Marriage and Family 76. Eber: Pioneer in Iowa 77. Moral Reflections on Foreign Policy in a Religious War 78. Niebuhr and Tillich 79. Concluding Reflections Bibliography

About the Author :
Ronald H. Stone taught for years at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the University of Pittsburgh. After retiring, he continues to teach in Carnegie Mellon University's Osher Life Long Learning Program. He studied at Union Seminary and Columbia University in New York City, where he served as Reinhold Niebuhr’s last teaching assistant and met Paul Tillich. He has published more than twenty books on religion, politics, and philosophy, and served as the president of the North American Paul Tillich Society and founding board member of the Niebuhr Society.

Review :
This volume chronicles the life of noted scholar of religion, politics, and philosophy Ronald H. Stone. From his childhood between the east and west banks of the Des Moines River through graduate work in New York between the Hudson and the East Rivers, through his scholarly career and retirement in Pittsburgh between the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, the book highlights Stone’s focus on Christian social ethics and his prolific writing. The book includes unique insights into some of the renowned scholars with whom Stone worked closely, including Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and it discusses his scholarship on the relationship between religion and politics. This is the book we have been waiting for and it is a hard one to put down. Ronald H. Stone makes a home for his memoir on the lands between great rivers in Iowa, New York, and Pennsylvania. He offers ample evidence that the academic life is not only in-depth study and teaching; but also service to the Church, social protest, and leadership in local communities. Indeed, Ronald proves to be an excellent example of such a life as he leads us though his places between the rivers. This memoir is a treasure of reflection and analysis, giving us Ronald Stone's account of his exemplary career in speaking with intelligence and relevance to three publics—the church, academy, and general public. A fascinating overview of Christian theology, ethics, and American politics over the past sixty years as lived out in the life of a major Christian social ethicist, Between Two Rivers offers insight and inspiration for living one's Christian faith as an activist in politics, church, and the academy. Ronald H. Stone's memoir shows the influences of family, friends, and major theologians (especially Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich) on his ideas and activism, but the reader also sees the development of Stone's own Christian realism rooted in love—a standpoint and grounding so needed in today's interactions of religion and politics. Professor Stone’s memoir analyzes the sixty-year history of Christian social action and ethics that involved his passion and politics. I enjoy Ron’s ethical advice—borrowed from the field of boxing, which he practiced in his youth—to always keep the left side of your argument well covered in the midst of intellectual and social struggles.