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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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All Men Ifs Knows Justice Religious Humans People Thinking Church Democracy Form Social Accepting Christian Giving Groups Nations Political Problem Reason

Famous Reinhold Niebuhr Quotes

“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.”

“Reason is not the sole basis of moral virtue in man. His social impulses are more deeply rooted than his rational life.”

Men Reason Social Moral Virtue Bases Rational Impulse Rooted Sole Moral Virtues

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

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

“The individual or the group which organizes any society, however social its intentions or pretensions, arrogates an inordinate portion of social privilege to itself.”

Individual Social Groups Intention Privilege Portions Organize Pretension

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“To the end of history, social orders will probably destroy themselves in an effort to prove they are indestructible.”

Ends Order Social Effort Prove Social Order Indestructible

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“Even as rigorous a determinist as Karl Marx, who at times described the social behaviour of the bourgeoisie in terms which suggested a problem in social physics, could subject it at other times to a withering scorn which only the presupposition of moral responsibility could justify.”

Problem Social Term Responsibility Moral Subjects Physics Justify Behaviour Scorn Bourgeoisie Moral Responsibility Withering

Book:An Interpretation of Christian Ethics

Source: An Interpretation of Christian Ethics

“The history of mankind is a perennial tragedy; for the highest ideals which the individual may project are ideals which he can never realize in social and collective terms.”

May Individual Social Term Realizing Mankind Projects Highest Ideals Tragedy Collectives

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“Religion, declares the modern man, is consciousness of our highest social values. Nothing could be further from the truth. True religion is a profound uneasiness about our highest social values.”

Men Values Social Consciousness Modern Highest Profound True Religion Modern Man Uneasiness Social Values

Author:Reinhold Niebuhr

“All social cooperation on a larger scale than the most intimate social group requires a measure of coercion.”

Social Groups Scales Intimate Cooperation Coercion Social Groups

Book:Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: (Library of America #263)

Source: Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: (Library of America #263)

“We have previously suggested that philanthropy combines genuine pity with the display of power and that the latter element explains why the powerful are more inclined to be generous than to grant social justice.”

Social Justice Powerful Elements Social Justice Genuine Pity Generous Latter Grants Display Philanthropy

Book:Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: (Library of America #263)

Source: Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: (Library of America #263)

“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