Herbert Butterfield

Herbert Butterfield’s Antinuclear Christian Realism

Herbert Butterfield, despite having been one of the world’s foremost Christian Realists, was deeply conflicted on nuclear arms.

Neville Chamberlain declaring peace in his time: September 30, 1938
The Folly of Wishful Thinking Idealism: the Indwelling Sin of All Men

Wishful Thinking Idealism, unlike Christian Realism, believes that everyone, even competition, is fundamentally reasonable.

Evangelicals & Whiggery

The world gets better and at sundry times through the action of people who did not realize what they were doing.”    

C. S. Lewis Was Wrong on History

Butterfield did not offer us Christian apologetics, but he did offer a Christian understanding of history far more appealing than Lewis’s dismissal of the project.     

Christian Realism vs Cynicism & Idealism

How do Christian Realism, Christian idealism and Christian cynicism approach the Ukraine War?

Solving the Nuclear Puzzle: A Review of Lieber and Press’ The Myth of the Nuclear Revolution
Solving the Nuclear Puzzle: A Review of Lieber and Press’ The Myth of the Nuclear Revolution

Keir A. Lieber and Daryl G. Press argue in “The Myth of the Nuclear Revolution” that the Atomic Age isn’t too different from other ages. Geopolitical rivalries, arms races, military doctrines, stalemates, and much else are still the same.

Herbert Butterfield: Britain’s Reinhold Niebuhr?

Herbert Butterfield’s Christian faith essentially inspired his view of history and government and made him the English forerunner of a hopeful Christian Realism as an alternative to both Western secular materialist liberalism and collectivist atheist Marxism.

The Strange Gift of the Holocaust

The last time I cried was in 2013.  I was finishing a tour of Yad Vashem, the Holocaust museum in…

Should Christians Support Deploying Diplomats Instead of Troops?
Should Christians Support Deploying Diplomats Instead of Troops?

American Christians should advocate for exhaustive attempts at diplomacy before endorsing US policies that produce further conflict and chaos.