Reinhold Niebuhr

China can only be substantively challenged by a United States that is fully aware of what the Founders sought to offer the world through enshrining their fervent hope for shared and mutually defended liberty and equality for all.

After a tumultuous start to the post-World War II era and before the Cold War fully commenced, the board of supervisors of Christianity and Crisis issued a joint statement in December 1946 that tried to explain a Christian approach to international issues.

“We have,” said an exuberant campaign orator in the recent campaign, “the moral leadership of the world. The whole world trusts in our devotion to freedom and expects us to save mankind from totalitarianism.” That is how we see ourselves, at least in our more complacent moods. The world does not see us as we see ourselves.

At the Christianity and National Security Conference, Colin Dueck spoke about Reinhold Niebuhr’s understanding of human nature influenced his Christian realism, and how this perspective differs from other types of realism.

The editors discuss the legacy of Colin Powell, Marc LiVecchhe and Daniel Strand’s discussion on the just war tradition and prudential considerations, and a 75-year-old editorial where Reinhold Niebuhr turns against Henry Wallace.

Keynoting a “Beat Dewey” rally at Madison Square Garden on September 12, 1946, Secretary of Commerce Henry Wallace warned Americans against the Truman administration’s “get tough with Russia” policy. Reinhold Niebuhr responded.

This week the editors discuss Colin Powell’s legacy, what Reinhold Niebuhr said about the USSR and anti-communists in 1946, and LiVecche’s trip to speak at seminaries in Kentucky.

The following two articles appeared in Christianity and Crisis on September 16, 1946. They both reflect on America’s relations with the Soviet Union post-World War II and try to develop a Christian approach to this challenge.

This week the editors cover Marc LiVecche’s article about retribution, Colin Dueck’s article about Reinhold Niebuhr, and Christian Forstner’s comments on the German election.