Reinhold Niebuhr in Theory and Practice: Christian Realism and Democracy in America in the Twenty-First Century

American public life is gripped by a tumult that it has not experienced in at least half a century. Resentment, distrust, despair, fear, envy, and outrage are the passions of the day. Yet it was not long ago that political scientists and theologians could speak of a “Niebuhr renaissance” marked by an appreciation of moral paradox, ethical nuance, and a recognition of the irony of American history. American political leaders from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to George Bush and John McCain referenced Reinhold Niebuhr as an important influence on their political understandings. Columnists like David Brooks commented on the political condition of contemporary America, and scholars from Gary Dorrien and Daniel Rice to Richard Crouter developed academic accounts of Niebuhr’s political realism. From an insistence on political purity, to a wariness of international institutions and the claims of expertise, to a rejection of whole categories of public goods – it would be difficult to find a more significant shift from the principles that shaped statecraft and public policy during Niebuhr’s prime to those that are foundational in the age of Trump. Reinhold Niebuhr in Theory and Practice: Christian Realism and Democracy in America in the Twenty-First Century explains the collapse of the Niebuhrian renaissance in public life and the ascendance of the “children of light and the children of darkness” in the 2016 election. Our focus is Niebuhr himself and what the encounter between his own theology and his practical political experience might reveal in our contemporary situation. Niebuhr tells us that he does not offer precise policy prescriptions. But Niebuhr was a prolific author, and his works offer insights both into what realistic and Christian public policies would look like, and perhaps more importantly into how citizens should think for themselves about the political challenges of our times. Our aim, then, is to reassert the possibility of a distinctly Niebuhrian public intellectualism and a distinctly Niebuhrian political practice in the wake of the 2016 election.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: The Life of Reinhold Niebuhr Chapter 2: Reinhold Niebuhr’s Political-Theological Foundations Chapter 3: Niebuhr on Economics, Government, and Social Justice Chapter 4: Reinhold Niebuhr on the Irony and Tragedy of American Foreign Policy Chapter 5: The American Public in 2016: Anyone But Niebuhr?

About the Author :
R. Ward Holder is professor of theology at Saint Anselm College. Peter B. Josephson is professor of politics at Saint Anselm College.

Review :
Summarily, this book adventuresomely presses its aim: “What would Niebuhr (think and) do now?” (xiii). Unpacking the question, it exemplifies a political philosophy and science perspective and elaborates the daunting challenge of moving from profound analysis and convictions to actual policies that name, unmask obstacles, and engage collective social justice measures. This book is unique in offering a bridge between different fields of scholarship. Niebuhr is often treated entirely separately in theology and history on the one hand, and in political science on the other. This work does what the title claims, delivering both an account of Niebuhr’s theory (the history and theology side) and practice (the political science side). Scholars on each side of this divide will benefit from this holistic engagement with Niebuhr and Christian Realism. Holder and Josephson present a rigorous yet accessible accounting of Niebuhr’s formidable corpus, and they rightly highlight the theological chord that runs through all of it. They then show how his thought can help us engage these ugly times. Their chapter on foreign policy is especially useful. Niebuhr would insist that we have no choice but to undertake the daunting work of restoring politics, sustaining democracy, and building justice. Holder and Josephson show how he offers us guidance--and some measure of hope--in that effort. Holder and Josephson ably show how much Niebuhr’s defense of democracy is needed in the era of Trump as well as why Niebuhrian principles, which embrace human imperfection, are so difficult to put into practice.