Prophetic Voices Series-Niebuhr

An American Conscience: The Reinhold Niebuhr Story

Sunday, November 13

3-5 pm

Hybrid Event: Room 101, First Community North

and on Zoom

Reinhold Niebuhr is probably best known as the author of The Serenity Prayer, but during his time in the middle of the 20th century, his impact was much greater, as this documentary demonstrates.

Presidents and civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King, Jr., often turned to Niebuhr’s writings on Christianity and public life, social justice, and politics. Though an academic, he was an admired public theologian in the United States.

“Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible,” Niebuhr wrote in 1944, “but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary,” as quoted in Jon Meacham’s The Soul of America. Just one example of his public pronouncements and influence among politicians and the public.

Interviewees in this documentary include Jimmy Carter, Andrew Young, David Brooks, Cornel West, Susannah Heschel (daughter of one other voice in this series, Abraham Joshua Heschel), and other notable historians and theologians.

Rev. Jim Long, Minister Emeritus of Pastoral Care, and a Niebuhr expert, leads the discussion after this hour-long video.

Register HERE.