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H. Richard Niebuhr: A Fresh Look at His Early Years

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Jon Diefenthaler
Jon Diefenthaler
Affiliation:
At the time this article was prepared, Mr. Diefenthaler was a postdoctoral fellow in the history department inJohns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland. He is currently pastor of the Bethany-Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Waynesboro, Virginia.
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Extract

In the preface to his first study of American Christianity, The Social Sources of Denominationalism, H. Richard Niebuhr gave his reasons for undertaking the book. A course in “Symbolics” he taught as a seminary professor had convinced him that any attempt to distinguish denominations primarily by references to their doctrines or to approach the problem of Christian unity from a purely theological point of view was “artificial and fruitless.” Real understanding required a shift of orientation from theology to history, sociology, and ethics.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 52 , Issue 2 , June 1983 , pp. 172 - 185
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1983

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References

1. Niebuhr, H. Richard, The Social Sources of Denominationalism (New York, 1929), p. vii.Google Scholar

2. Ibid., pp. 3–25.

3. See Hoedemaker, Libertus A., The Theology of H. Richard Niebuhr (Philadelphia, 1970);Google ScholarGodsey, John D., The Promise of H. Richard Niebuhr (Philadelphia, 1970);Google ScholarFowler, James W., To See the Kingdom: The Theological Vision of H. Richard Niebuhr (Nashville, 1974);Google ScholarKliever, Lonnie D., H. Richard Niebuhr (Waco, 1977);Google ScholarIrish, Jerry A., “Church in the Religious Thought of H. Richard Niebuhr,” Union Seminary Quarterly Review 29 (Fall 1973): 3–16:Google ScholarMcFaul, Thomas R., “Dilemmas in H. Richard Niebuhr's Ethics,” Journal of Religion 54 (01 1974): 35–50;CrossRefGoogle ScholarMcKinney, William J. Jr, “H. Richard Niebuhr and the Question of Human Society,” Religion in Life 43 (Autumn 1974): 362–375;Google ScholarSandon, Leo, “Jonathan Edwards and H. Richard Niebuhr,” Religious Studies 12 (03 1976): 101–115;CrossRefGoogle ScholarDoenecke, Justus D., “H. Richard Niebuhr: Critic of Political Theology,” Communio: International Catholic Review 4 (Spring 1977): 83–93;Google ScholarSedgwick, Timothy F., “Faith and Discernment: Directions in Theological Ethics in the Thought of H. Richard Niebuhr,” Andover Newton Quarterly 18 (11 1977): 111–121;Google ScholarGardner, E. Clinton, “Responsibility and Moral Direction in the Ethics of H. Richard Niebuhr,” Encounter 40 (Spring 1979): 143–168.Google Scholar

4. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “Reformation: Continuing Imperative,” The Christian Century 77 (2 03 1960): 248–251.Google Scholar

5. See Schneider, Carl E., The Genius of the Evangelical Synod of North America (St. Louis, 1940), pp. v, 8–9.Google Scholar

6. See Schneider, Carl E., History of the Theological Seminary of the Evangelical Church (n.p., 1925), pp. 12, 39–40, 43.Google Scholar

7. Niebuhr, Gustav, “In What Way and To What Extent Should the Church Exercise Influence on Social and Political Conditions?” The Messenger of Peace 12 (15 05 1913): 2,Google Scholar and ibid. (1 June 1913): 1–2. For biographical material on Gustav Niebuhr, see Chrystal, William G., “‘A Man of the Hour and the Time’: The Legacy of Gustav Niebuhr,” Church History 49 (12 1980): 416–432;CrossRefGoogle Scholaridem, A Father's Mantle: The Legacy of Gustav Niebuhr (New York, 1982).

8. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “Our Educational System,” The Keryx 5 (02 1915): 16–17.Google Scholar

9. See Niebuhr, Reinhold, “The Reminiscences of Reinhold Niebuhr,” 1972, pp. 6, 11, Columbia University Oral History Research Office, New York.Google Scholar

10. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “The Problem of the Individual in Richard Dehmel” (M.A. thesis, Washington University, 1917)Google Scholar.

11. Niebuhr, H. Richard, Social Sources of Denominationalism, p. 279.Google Scholar

12. See Chrystal, William G., “Reinhold Niebuhr and the First World War,” Journal of Presbyterian History 55 (Fall 1977): 285–298;Google Scholar also John Baltzer, president of the Evangelical Synod, to Reinhold Niebuhr (mistakenly addressed as Rev. H. Niebuhr), 2 July 1918; and “Report of the Secretary,” War Welfare Commission, Detroit, Michigan, 26 June 1918, Eden Seminary Archives, Webster Groves, Missouri.

13. Albert Hoetker, Lillian Schaefer, and Amelia Swanson (three members of Walnut Part Evangelical Church during Niebuhr's ministry there), interview with author, St. Louis, Missouri, 1 March 1972.

14. H. Richard Niebuhr to Dr.Samuel D. Press, 8 January 1925; H. Richard Niebuhr to Miss E. L. Ebert, 21 July 1926, “General Letter to the Brethren of the Evangelical Synod,” 30 September 1925, H. Richard Niebuhr memorandum, “Proseminary or College?” n.d., H. Richard Niebuhr Papers, Elmhurst College Archives, Elmhurst, Illinois.

15. Niebuhr, H. Richard, Social Sources of Denominationalism, pp. 214–220.Google Scholar

16. Ibid., p. 229.

17. Niebuhr, H. R., “A Sociological Interpretation of Eden,” The Keryx 12 (02 1922): 8–11.Google Scholar

18. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “The Alliance Between Labor and Religion,” Theological Magazine of the Evangelical Synod of North America 49 (05 1921): 197–203;Google Scholaridem, “Christianity and the Social Problem,” ibid. 50 (July 1922): 278–291.

19. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “Christianity and the Social Problem,” p. 279;Google Scholar Commission on Christianity and Social Problems, Rev. Horstmann, J. H., Chairman, , Official Reports and District Resolutions to the General Conference of the Evangelical Synod of North America, St. Louis, Missouri, 1925, (n.p., n.d.), pp. 224–229;Google Scholaridem, Reports and Minutes of the Twenty-Fifth General Conference of the Evangelical Synod of North America, Rochester, New York, October 8–15, 1929 (n.p., n.d.).

20. H. Richard Niebuhr to Louis W. Goebel, 2 November 1926, H. Richard Niebuhr Papers.

21. The Evangelical Synod united with the Reformed Church in 1934, and this new organization merged in 1957 with the Congregational Christian Churches to become the United Church of Christ. Niebuhr did lend his support to each of these mergers.

22. Niebuhr, H. Richard, Social Sources of Denominationalism, pp. 278–284.Google Scholar

23. Ibid., pp. 267–268.

24. Niebuhr, H. Richard, The Kingdom of God in America (New York, 1937).Google Scholar

25. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “The Church in the Modern World,” The Keryx 20 (05 1929): 9–10, 29.Google Scholar See also idem, “Back to Benedict?” The Christian Century 42 (2 July 1925): 860–861.

26. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “The Question of the Church” and “Toward the Independence of the Church,” in The Churh Against the World, ed. Niebuhr, H. Richard (Chicago, 1935), pp. 1–13, 123–156.Google Scholar

27. Niebuhr, H. Richard, Christ and Culture (New York, 1951).Google Scholar

28. Niebuhr, H. Richard, Social Sources of Denominationalism, pp. 39–56.Google Scholar

29. Ibid., pp. 77–105.

30. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “Report to the Board of Trustees of Elmhurst College,” 25 01 1926, p. 4;Google Scholaridem, “Report to the Board of Trustees of Elmhurst College,” 31 January 1927, p. 9, H. Richard Niebuhr Papers.

31. H. Richard Niebuhr to Rev. Carl Schaeffer, 10 May 1927; H. Richard Niebuhr to Rev.Alfred Meyer, 29 April 1927; H. Richard Niebuhr to H. P. Bloesch, 30 April 1927; H. Richard Niebuhr to Rev. Carl Schaeffer, 29 April 1927, H. Richard Niebuhr Papers.

32. Manrodt Case, Eden Theological Seminary Archives, Webster Groves, Missouri.

33. Albert Hoetker, Lillian Schaefer, and Amelia Swanson, interview with author. The fact that this memory lingered in Niebuhr's mind was confirmed in my interviews with both Carl E. Schneider and Richard R. Niebuhr.

34. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “Theology and Psychology: A Sterile Union,” The Christian Century 44 (13 01 1927): 47–48;Google Scholar“Jesus Christ Intercessor,” The International Journal of Religious Education 3 (01 1927): 6–8.Google Scholar

35. Niebuhr, H. Richard, “Planetary Provincialism and Cosmic Faith,” quoted in “The Elmhurst Service Conference,” The Evangelical Herald 26 (28 04 1927): 344–345.Google Scholar

36. See Niebuhr, H. Richard, “From the Religion of Humanity to the Religion of God,” Theological Magazine of the Evangelical Synod of North America 57 (11 1929): 401–409.Google Scholar

37. See The Christian Century 56 (18 01 1939 to 27 09 1939).Google Scholar