Christianity and Crisis

Countering the Russian-Communist Drive for Power in 1946 - John C. Bennett
Countering the Russian-Communist Drive for Power in 1946

“The resistance to Russian expansion in Europe is right. The spectacle of American progressives supporting Wallace in opposing that resistance brings dismay to most European democrats.”

Reinhold Niebuhr vs. 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.

Patient Foreign Policy and the “Long Pull”
Patient Foreign Policy and the Cold War “Long Pull”

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.

Human Nature in an Internment Camp

These accounts from the Japanese-run internment camp in China during World War II can still prompt readers to contemplate several questions.

A Report on the World Church from a “Strange Swiss Paradise,” 1946
Report on the World Church from a “Strange Swiss Paradise,” 1946

Reporting from Switzerland in 1946, John C. Bennett offered brief observations about starvation and turmoil in Europe and comments on how America cannot “relax in the midst of its abundance.” But he mostly focuses on the emerging World Council of Churches (WCC).

Revolution in Life and in Thought
Revolution in Life and Thought

“The revolution is more than political, or economic. It is a revolution in thinking about the relation of religion to life, for we are growing in understanding of God by every move that we make in realizing the interdependence of the human family.”

Defending Pragmatic, Practical Christianity
Defending Pragmatic, Practical Christianity

In this sense it is proper to pursue such proximate goals as expressions of Christian duty. Christianity should not be utilitarian, but it must be practical.

The Problems with Utilitarian Christianity
The Problems with Utilitarian Christianity

In religion, to which we want to direct our attention, the growth of the utilitarian spirit is an alarming phenomenon. Utilitarianism seems to mark not only the attitude of the political powers that use religion for the sake of social control and transform it to suit their purposes, but also the attitude of many who oppose them.

When Allies Become Adversaries: Christian Realism and the Soviet Union in 1946
When Allies Become Adversaries: Christian Realism and the Soviet Union in 1946

“It is time to take the full measure of certain arguments widely cherished by churchmen to excuse Soviet practice and minimize the Soviet threat” – Henry P. Van Dusen in 1946, responding to Christians who thought the West’s actions caused tensions with the USSR.