[Oe List ...] Question, please

[Beret Griffith]

A Carleton College professor in Northfield, 
Minnesota, Richard Crouter, just published a book 
on Reinhold Niebuhr. I haven't read it yet. The 
local bookstore is sold out. The following is 
taken from the article that appeared in The Northfield News").

Here's one sentence from the article, "The Oxford 
University Press called Crouter’s work “the most 
accessible account of Niebuhr’s theology, social 
ethics, and politics on the market and the only 
book that provides a comprehensive road map of the current ‘Niebuhr revival.’”

By: Shane Kitzman,
Posted: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 8:07 pm

Richard Crouter has never met the man.

But you’d be hard-pressed to believe it, as he 
did just write a book about him and his take on 
the big picture issues from religion to “Who are we?”

The irony is Crouter did miss out on the perfect 
opportunity to meet him ­ the renowned theologian 
Reinhold Niebuhr ­ at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.

Crouter enrolled in the fall of 1960 only to have 
Niebuhr retire from teaching there just months earlier in the spring.

But that hasn’t kept Crouter, emeritus professor 
of religious studies at Carleton College, from 
possessing nearly all of Niebuhr’s lectures on 
record, being thoroughly intrigued by the man’s 
take on life itself and writing a 176-page book 
about Niebuhr titled “Reinhold Niebuhr on 
politics, religion and Christian faith.”

Crouter has been eyeing the opportunity to write 
the book ever since the “Niebuhr revival” 
blossomed when now-President Barack Obama 
referenced the deceased theologian on the 
campaign trail in 2007 as one of his favorite philosophers.

The Oxford University Press called Crouter’s work 
“the most accessible account of Niebuhr’s 
theology, social ethics, and politics on the 
market and the only book that provides a 
comprehensive road map of the current ‘Niebuhr revival.’”

Andrew J. Bacevich, author of “The Limits of 
Power: The End of American Exceptionalism,” said 
the book is “incisive, deeply informed and 
altogether splendid and enriches appreciation of Niebuhr.”

The Northfield News asked Crouter why he wrote 
the book and more about the man who once said, 
“history always repeats, but never in the same way.”

Q: What’s the book about?
A: Whether you’re the secularist or deeply 
Christian, we are all wrestling with moral 
perplexity every day of our lives and Niebuhr is 
the best guide for that. In addition he applied 
his thinking to not just individuals but to 
groups, including nations and more specifically 
including our own and our pretensions and illusions. He’s worth reading.

Q: Why write this book?
A: I had the time, about three years, the 
interest and the background and the book is an 
effort to link the Niebuhr scholars and the 
ordinary readers of serious books. A lot of 
people know the name if they read “The Atlantic,” 
or the “New York Times” and they may know his 
name, but maybe they have just heard of one or two quotes.

Q: What does the book mean to you?
A: It’s a very personal book and it’s my take on 
who he was and why his interest in theology and 
politics flow from the same moral vision. Niebuhr 
is fundamentally a kind of reality check because 
his Christian vision is linked with everyday 
life. In the book, he tries to speak to deeply 
religious minds and secular minds.

Q: What do you and Niebuhr have in common?
A: I’m grounded in the humanities as a scholar 
and interested in what makes us as humans tick, 
and religious belief is an important part of it. 
It’s what’s driving most of the religious 
decisions, trying to figure out the riddles of 
our suffering, why our hopes get dashed and why 
we still persist. Niebuhr feels the same way.

Q: What would Niebuhr say about the state of today’s economy?
A: He would not be surprised by the greed of 
capitalism. In fact, he anticipated the kind of 
financial disaster that has occurred.

MEET RICHARD CROUTER
AGE:  72
FAMILY:  Wife, Barbara, son, daughter and three grandchildren
EDUCATION:  Bachelor’s degree in history from 
Occidental College, master’s degree and doctorate 
degree from Union Theological Seminary.
OTHER WRITING:  Co-editor of the “Journal for the 
History of Modern Theology” and author of 
“Friedrich Schleiemacher: Between Enlightenment and Romanticism.”

At 08:39 AM 9/22/2010, you wrote:
>I have a friend who wants to read Reinhold Niebuhr on "just war." He doesn't
>have much (any?) experience reading Niebuhr.
>
>What would any of you recommend he read for a starter?
>
>Thanks for your sharing your wisdom.
>
>Doris Hahn
>
>_______________________________________________
>OE mailing list
>OE at wedgeblade.net
>http://wedgeblade.net/mailman/listinfo/oe_wedgeblade.net

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