Helmut Richard Niebuhr (; September 3, 1894 – July 5, 1962) was an American theologian and Protestant minister who is considered one of the most important Christian ethicists in 20th-century America. He is best known for his 1951 book ''Christ and Culture'' and his posthumously published book ''The Responsible Self''. The younger brother of theologian

Reinhold Niebuhr Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Ameri ...

, Richard Niebuhr taught for several decades at the

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

. Both brothers were, in their day, important figures in the

neo-orthodox In Christianity, Neo-orthodoxy or Neoorthodoxy, also known as crisis theology and dialectical theology, was a theological movement developed in the aftermath of the First World War. The movement was largely a reaction against doctrines of 19th ...

theological school within American Protestantism. His theology (together with that of his colleague at Yale, Hans Wilhelm Frei) has been one of the main sources of postliberal theology, sometimes called the "Yale school". He influenced such figures as James Gustafson,

Stanley Hauerwas Stanley Martin Hauerwas (; born July 24, 1940) is an American Protestant theologian, ethicist, and public intellectual. Hauerwas originally taught at the University of Notre Dame before moving to Duke University. Hauerwas was a longtime professo ...

, and Gordon Kaufman.

Life

Niebuhr was born on September 3, 1894, in Wright City,

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, the son of Gustav Niebuhr, a minister in the Evangelical Synod of North America. His family moved to Lincoln,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in 1902. He graduated from

Elmhurst College Elmhurst University is a private university in Elmhurst, Illinois, United States. It has a tradition of service-oriented learning and an affiliation with the United Church of Christ. The university changed its name from Elmhurst College on July ...

in 1912, and Eden Theological Seminary in 1915. He would later obtain a master's degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 1918, and his

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

degree from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

in 1924. He started his working career as a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

in Lincoln in 1915 and 1916. He was ordained a minister in the Evangelical Synod in 1916, and served with that body in St. Louis, Missouri, through 1918. (The synod merged in 1934 with the German Reformed Church in the United States; the subsequently formed

Evangelical and Reformed Church The Evangelical and Reformed Church (E&R) was a Protestant Christian denomination in the United States. It was formed in 1934 by the merger of the Reformed Church in the United States (RCUS) with the Evangelical Synod of North America (ESNA). ...

united in 1957 with the

Congregational Christian Churches The Congregational Christian Churches was a Protestant Christian denomination that operated in the U.S. from 1931 through 1957. On the latter date, most of its churches joined the Evangelical and Reformed Church in a merger to become the United C ...

to form the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a socially liberal mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Restorationist, Continental Reformed, and Lutheran t ...

.) While living in St. Louis, he was a member and leader in Evangelical United Church of Christ in Webster Groves, Missouri, and taught at Eden Theological Seminary from 1919 to 1924 and from 1927 to 1931. Between 1924 and 1927, he was the President of

. He taught at

Yale Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and one of the nine colonial colleges ch ...

from 1931 to 1962, specializing in

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

and

Christian ethics Christian ethics, also known as moral theology, is a multi-faceted ethical system. It is a Virtue ethics, virtue ethic, which focuses on building moral character, and a Deontological ethics, deontological ethic which emphasizes duty according ...

. Niebuhr died on July 5, 1962, in Greenfield,

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

Teachings

Niebuhr was concerned throughout his life with the absolute sovereignty of God and the issue of historical relativism. He considered

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Reformed theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary '' The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Decl ...

and Ernst Troeltsch to be his main influences. He accepted from Barth and

neo-orthodoxy In Christianity, Neo-orthodoxy or Neoorthodoxy, also known as crisis theology and dialectical theology, was a theological movement developed in the aftermath of the First World War. The movement was largely a reaction against doctrines of 19th ...

the absolute transcendence of God. He believed that God is above history, that he makes commands upon human beings, and that all history is under the control of this God. Niebuhr borrowed often from

Paul Tillich Paul Johannes Tillich (; ; August 20, 1886 – October 22, 1965) was a German and American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran theologian who was one of the most influential theologians of the twenti ...

's notion of God. He was comfortable describing God as Being-itself, the One, or the Ground of Being. In this regard, Niebuhr held something of a middle ground between the dogmatic but dialectical theology of Karl Barth and the philosophically oriented modified liberalism of Paul Tillich. Niebuhr was also concerned with historical

relativism Relativism is a family of philosophical views which deny claims to absolute objectivity within a particular domain and assert that valuations in that domain are relative to the perspective of an observer or the context in which they are assess ...

. While God may be absolute and transcendent, human beings are not. Humans are a part of the flux and movement of the world. Because of this, how God is comprehended is never permanent. God is always understood differently by people at different times in history and in different social locations. Niebuhr's theology shows great sensitivity to how expressions of faith differ from one religious community to another. His thought in some respects anticipated latter-day liberal Protestant concerns about pluralism and tolerance. However, in ''The Kingdom of God in America'' (1937), he also criticized the then-liberal social gospel, describing its message as, "A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.". Niebuhr was, by training, a Christian

ethicist Ethics is the philosophical study of moral phenomena. Also called moral philosophy, it investigates normative questions about what people ought to do or which behavior is morally right. Its main branches include normative ethics, applied ethics ...

. In this capacity, his biggest concern was how human beings relate to God, to each other, to their communities, and to the world. Niebuhr's theological ethics can be described, roughly, as relational. His greatest ethical treatise was ''The Responsible Self'', published shortly after his death. It was intended to be the prologue of a much larger book on ethics. His sudden death prevented his writing this work. In ''The Responsible Self'', Niebuhr dealt with human beings as responding agents. Human beings are always "in response" to some influence, whether another human being, a community, the natural order or history, or, above all, God.

''Christ and Culture''

His most famous work is ''Christ and Culture.'' It is often referenced in discussions and writings on a Christian's response to the world's culture. In the book, Niebuhr gives a history of how Christianity has responded to culture. He outlines five prevalent viewpoints: :Christ against culture. For the exclusive Christian, history is the story of a rising church or Christian culture and a dying pagan civilization. :Christ of culture. For the cultural Christian, history is the story of the Spirit's encounter with nature. :Christ above culture. For the synthesist, history is a period of preparation under law, reason, gospel, and church for an ultimate communion of the soul with God. :Christ and culture in paradox. For the dualist, history is the time of struggle between faith and unbelief, a period between the giving of the promise of life and its fulfillment. (Many have regarded the thought of Niebuhr's brother Reinhold as fitting into this category.) :Christ transforming culture. For the conversionist, history is the story of God's mighty deeds and humanity's response to them. Conversionists live somewhat less "between the times" and somewhat more in the divine "now" than do the followers listed above. Eternity, to the conversionist, focuses less on the action of God before time or life with God after time, and more on the presence of God in time. Hence the conversionist is more concerned with the divine possibility of a present renewal than with conservation of what has been given in creation or preparing for what will be given in a final redemption.

Works

*''The Social Sources of Denominationalism'' (1929) *''The Kingdom of God in America'' (1937) *''The Meaning of Revelation'' (1941) *''Christ and Culture'' (1951) *''The Purpose of the Church and Its Ministry'' (1956) *''Radical Monotheism and Western Culture'' (1960) *''The Responsible Self'' (1963) *''Faith on Earth: An Inquiry into the Structure of Human Faith'' (1989).

Translation

, ''Die religiöse Lage der Gegenwart'' (Berlin: Ullstein 1926), as ''The Religious Situation'' (New York: Henry Holt & Co. 1932; reprint: Meridian Books, New York 1956).

References

External links

*H. Richard Niebuhr *H. Richard Niebuh
The Niebuhrs at Elmhurst College
* The papers of H. Richard Niebuhr are in Harvard Divinity School Library at

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

.
Addresses, lectures, sermons, teaching materials, and writings

Correspondence, lectures, addresses, writings, teaching materials, diplomas, and scrapbooks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Niebuhr, H. Richard 1894 births 1962 deaths 20th-century American theologians American people of German descent Christian ethicists Eden Theological Seminary alumni Elmhurst College alumni People from Warren County, Missouri Relational ethics Washington University in St. Louis alumni Yale University alumni Yale University faculty American Evangelical and Reformed Church members United Church of Christ ministers People from Lincoln, Illinois Yale Sterling Professors Writers from Missouri