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Reinhold Niebuhr

Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes

Theologian

Reinhold Niebuhr was a prominent American theologian whose work on Christian ethics and social ethics had a profound impact on the 20th century. He was a key figure in theological discourse, particularly for his exploration of the nature of sin and the church's role in society. Niebuhr's theological thought has influenced various Christian denominations and has had a lasting effect on political and social thought.

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Famous Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes

“Marxism is the modern form of Jewish prophecy.”

Form Modern Jew Prophecy Marxism

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“Marxism was the social creed and the social cry of those classes who knew by their miseries that the creed of the liberal optimists was s snare and a delusion... Liberalism and Marxism share a common illusion of the "children of light." Neither understands property as a form of power which can be used in either its individual or its social form as an instrument of particular interest against the general interest.”

“The stupidity of the average man will permit the oligarch, whether economic or political, to hide his real purposes from the scrutiny of his fellows and to withdraw his activities from effective control. Since it is impossible to count on enough moral goodwill among those who possess irresponsible power to sacrifice it for the good of the whole, it must be destroyed by coercive methods and these will always run the peril of introducing new forms of injustice in place of those abolished.”

Source: Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study in Ethics and Politics

“All this talk about atheistic materialism and God-fearing American I think is beside the point; it's a rather vapid form of religion.”

Thinking Form Materialism Atheistic Vapid

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“I think that the Christian faith is right as against simple forms of secularism. That it believes that there is in man a radical freedom, and this freedom is creative but it is also destructive. And there's nothing that prevents this from being both creative and destructive.”

Thinking Men Believe Christian Form Simple Creative Radical Destructive Secularism Christian Faith

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“That is the truth about man - that he has a curious kind of dignity, but also a curious kind of misery, and that these forms of agnosticism don't understand.”

Men Kind Form Dignity Misery Curious Agnosticism

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“Forgiveness is the final form of love.”

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.”

Love Beautiful Form Hope Forgiveness Lifetime Finals Saved Accomplished Virtuous Foe Standpoint Forms Of Love

Book:The Irony of American History

Source: The Irony of American History

“Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our own standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

Life Form Finals Saved Accomplished Virtuous Foe Standpoint Forms Of Love

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“There is no social evil, no form of injustice whether of the feudal or the capitalist order which has not been sanctified in some way or other by religious sentiment and thereby rendered more impervious to change.”

Way Form Order Evil Social Religious Injustice Sentiments Capitalist Impervious Social Evils

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr