Providence continues to look back at how American Christians thought through the challenges of World War II 75 years ago. In this article that Christianity & Crisis originally published on May 17, 1943, Henry P. Van Dusen proclaims that the postwar peace would rely on international consensus.
Christianity & Crisis MagazineApril 26, 2018
Christians should remember this: any political theology that treats its own people as a divinely chosen political community treads on heretical soil.
Daniel StrandApril 25, 2018
Both the Jacksonian and Progressive persuasions that Michael Doran describes exhibit symptoms of secularized politics. Neither articulates a truly Christian view of politics or foreign policy.
Luke M. PerezApril 24, 2018
Just war theorizing has typically left the issue of national honor untouched, although warriors and statesmen routinely emphasize the importance of vindicating the sacrifice of the fallen. Does prolonging a war in order to assuage or vindicate national honor comport with the just war tradition?
Eric PattersonApril 23, 2018
From the ashes of both Bryan’s ignoble isolationism and Wilson’s utopian universalism rose the school of Christian realism advocated by Reinhold Niebuhr.
Matt GobushApril 21, 2018
Ultimately, why Americans see the world through one theological lens or another has a lot to do with whether they identify more closely with a Hebraic or Hellenic kind of Christianity. Put another way, American Christians view the world differently depending on how much they read the Bible, believe the Bible is divinely inspired, and accept the Bible as authoritative in their lives.
Robert NicholsonApril 20, 2018
While there is enormous merit to Michael Doran’s binary and overall thesis in his First Things essay, there are some complicating factors that obscure the “wondrous chasm” between Jacksonianism and Progressivism.
John D. WilseyApril 19, 2018
The United States’ involvement in two world wars indicates clearly that American isolationism is at a practical end, Reinhold Niebuhr asserts in this article, originally published on April 5, 1943 in Christianity and Crisis. Working toward international integration is a national responsibility – morally and in the interests of security. Alliances depend on the will of their members; it is no different for the United States. Niebuhr also warns of a new danger: a unilateral “imperialist” American military establishment, simultaneously preoccupied with hegemony and unconcerned with the rest of the world.
Christianity & Crisis MagazineApril 19, 2018
Rather than simply securing our borders or pursuing our interests, Americans continue to believe that what happens here is the fate of the earth. The real challenge to this consensus would be a view of America as just another country, neither exceptionally good nor exceptionally evil.
Samuel GoldmanApril 18, 2018
Providence's biggest event of the year takes place the final Thursday and Friday of each October, attracting close to 100 students and professors from around the country to spend two days hearing lectures and discussing the intersection of Christian ethics and foreign policy. For $300, Providence can afford to feed and house a student flying in from California, Texas, and other parts of the country for the conference. Christianity & National Security is unique; there is no other such event examining national security in light of Just War Theory and realist ethics in the Christian tradition. Please consider making a donation to allow us to continue hosting Christianity & National Security.