Reinhold Niebuhr was born on 21 June 1892 in Wright City, Missouri. An American theologian, his criticism of theological liberalism affected the views of American Protestantism. After serving briefly as an interim pastor at his father’s church, he attended Yale Divinity School, graduating in 1915. He became Pastor of Bethel Evangelical Church in Detroit, leading the opposition of Henry Ford’s industrial policy. In 1928, he was appointed Professor of Ethics and Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York, retiring in 1960.
Niebuhr ran for Congress, advised the US State Department, and served as a delegate to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He was best known for his ‘Christian Realism’ which emphasised the persistent roots of evil in human life. Major works include Does Civilization Need Religion? (1927), Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932), Christianity and Power Politics (1940), The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness (1944), The Irony of American History (1952), Christian Realism and Political Problems (1953), The Structure of Nations and Empires (1959), and Man’s Nature and His Communities (1965).
