Federal Council of Churches (FCC)

Free Speech Healthy Politics House Un-American Activities Committee
Free Speech and Healthy Politics

Now what is here symbolized has been the most fundamental idea in our American democracy. Ours is a government by discussion.

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.

A Problem of Evangelical Christianity: What Reinhold Niebuhr Wrote
A Problem of Evangelical Christianity: What Reinhold Niebuhr Said

In 1946, Reinhold Niebuhr visited an evangelical church for an Easter worship service in a movie theater. He did not entirely enjoy the experience. Here are his reflections.

John Foster Dulles, God & America

Dulles had a vision of American foreign policy that was animated by a strong sense of righteousness over tyranny and over injustice and unrighteous.

“What Limits Has Freedom of Religion?” by Henry Smith Leiper
What Limits Has Freedom of Religion?

The following article by Henry Smith Leiper first appeared in Christianity and Crisis on July 9, 1945, and discusses how and why a state can legitimately limit religious freedom.

Wondrous Chasm between Jacksonianism and Progressivism? Response to Michael Doran’s “The Theology of Foreign Policy” in First Things - anti-Zionism John Foster Dulles Andrew Jackson
Wondrous Chasm between Jacksonianism and Progressivism? Response to Michael Doran’s “The Theology of Foreign Policy” in First Things

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.

The Church in World Wars I and II: Adopting Christian Realism
The Church in World Wars I & II: Adopting Christian Realism

This article about the contrasting attitudes of the Church during World War I and II was originally published in Christianity…