Christian Realism

During an address to the US Congress on March 12, 1947, President Harry Truman called for military and economic aid to Turkey and Greece to counter communist threats. This began the Truman Doctrine, and Christian realists responded a month later.

There is a growing tendency among some on the post-liberal Christian Right to offer at least soft sympathy to dictatorships deemed socially conservative, in contrast to Western wokery.

“Our Witness to the Resurrection,” by Ursula M. NiebuhrMarch 31, 1947 “Christ is risen, alleluia.” The triumphant words ring out:…

In the Free World’s multifaceted response to Putin’s war, a blueprint for a global alliance of democracies is emerging.

After visiting Scotland, Reinhold Niebuhr traveled to the Netherlands and offered another correspondence that the journal published in April 1947.

From this moral realism, it is justified to strive for a balance of power to realize a little more justice or a little less injustice.

What could be more foolish than to blow up half of Europe and the Far East and then give billions to repair the damage? What is more inconsistent than the killing of soldiers and civilians followed by superhuman efforts to save the lives of the survivors?

When we bandy about “war crimes,” “assassination,” and other terms, we ought to consider what we are talking about and, if appropriate, what the available mechanisms for justice are.

In late winter and early spring 1947, Reinhold Niebuhr visited Europe and wrote short editorials for Christianity and Crisis as he traveled. In the following correspondences, the first coming from Scotland and the second coming from somewhere in the United Kingdom, he offers brief reflections on different current events.