NIEBUHR, REINHOLD

born June 21, 1892, Wright City, Mo., U.S. died June 1, 1971, Stockbridge, Mass. American theologian who had extensive influence on political thought and whose criticism of the prevailing theological liberalism of the 1920s significantly affected the intellectual climate within American Protestantism. His exposure, as a pastor in Detroit, to the problems of American industrialism led him to join the Socialist Party for a time. A former pacifist, he actively persuaded Christians to support the war against Hitler and after World War II had considerable influence in the U.S. State Department. His most prominent theological work was The Nature and Destiny of Man, which was planned as a synthesis of the theology of the Reformation with the insights of the Renaissance. Additional reading Richard Wrightman Fox, Reinhold Niebuhr: A Biography (1985), includes research based on interviews with his family. June Bingham, Courage to Change: An Introduction to the Life and Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr (1961, reissued 1993), is an impressionistic biography based on careful research. Gordon Harland, The Thought of Reinhold Niebuhr (1960), is one of the best overall expositions with theological emphasis. Ronald H. Stone, Reinhold Niebuhr, Prophet to Politicians (1972), focuses on his mature thought; while Paul Merkley, Reinhold Niebuhr: A Political Account (1975), concentrates on the early and middle periods. Charles W. Kegley (ed.), Reinhold Niebuhr: His Religious, Social, and Political Thought, 2nd ed. (1984), includes a comprehensive bibliography.