Reinhold Niebuhr's Journal Analysis

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Introduction and Purpose of Journal:
In the initial issue of Christianity and Crisis, Reinhold Niebuhr dedicates the fledgling journal to the clarification and defense of a Christian thought process that recognizes the lesser evil of war compared with unrestricted tyranny. He separates this from the more common ideal of stoic principled pacifism- which, if accounted for in all societies, would end, or at least minimize, all human violence. Niebuhr refers to this utopia-seeking group as “perfectionists.” Despite finding common ground with the perfectionists on a number of issues and principles, Niebuhr ultimately rejects the ideology of morally pure pacifism.
Niebuhr concedes that several claims by the pacifist group remain inerrant. He states
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Niebuhr allows that the struggle for justice in modern society does not transcend the evils of conflict so completely that it avoids the sinful nature of man. Instead, the sinfulness of humankind makes the defense of any achievable justice a necessity. The individual act of submission in place of self-defense is not applicable on the level of international relations: selflessness on a national level places individuals within the nation in undue jeopardy and is therefore impossible to implement without further …show more content…
Leaning too heavily on God’s perfect love and mercy allows man to normalize and accept his own sinfulness. Yet reaching to embody the perfection of Christ necessitates an abundance of self-deception and eventually self-righteousness. Somewhere between these extremes of Christian understanding lies an intermediate ideology that allows for justice to be realized. Niebuhr lists three criteria of justice. Justice:
a) “ contains elements of injustice that stand in contradiction to the law of love”
b) “contains higher possibilities of justice that must be realized in terms of institutions and structures”
c) “must be supplemented by the graces of individual and personal generosity and mercy” Mercy and love cannot replace justice as a means of defeating evil, but they should be displayed in the finality of implemented justice.

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