The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr Selected Essays and Addresses Reinhold Niebuhr, Robert McAfee Brown, Robert McAfee Brown

Theologian, ethicist, and political analyst, Reinhold Niebuhr was a towering figure of twentieth-century religious thought. In this important book, the best of Niebuhr's essays have been brought together for the first time. Selected, edited, and introduced by Robert McAfee Brown - a student and friend of Niebuhr's and himself a distinguished theologian - the works included here testify to the brilliant polemics, incisive analysis, and deep faith that characterized the whole of Niebuhr's life.

As pastor of a parish in Detroit and then as professor of Christian ethics at Union Theological Seminary, Reinhold Niebuhr became widely known for his forceful expression of Protestant faith and its relation to liberal social thought. Robert McAfee Brown was professor of theology and ethics at the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley, CA.

"This fine anthology makes available to a new generation the thought of one of the most penetrating and rewarding of twentieth-century minds. Reinhold Niebuhr remains the great illuminator of the dark conundrums of human nature, history and public policy." Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. "Sparkling gems... brought from the shadows of history into contemporary light. Beautifully selected and edited, they show that Niebuhr's fiery polemics and gracious assurances still speak with power to us today." Roger L. Shinn "An extremely useful volume." David Brion Davis, New York Review of Books "This collection, which brings together Niebuhr's most penetrating and enduring essays on theology and politics, should demonstrate for a new generation that his best thought transcends the immediate historical setting in which he wrote... Brown's introduction succinctly presents the central features of Niebuhr's life and thought." Library Journal"