Niebuhr, Reinhold - Stockbridge, MA

Reinhold Niebuhr

Stockbridge, MA

N 42° 17.170 W 073° 19.134

The grave of theologian, author, and editor Reinhold Niebuhr is located in the northwest part of Stockbridge Cemetery, Stockbridge, MA. The grave is marked by a 3' high granite cross atop a rectangular base. The base is inscribed:

REINHOLD NIEBUHR

1892 - 1971

HIS WIFE

URSULA KEPPEL COMPTON

1907 - 1997

Reinhold Niebuhr was born in Wright City, MO on June 21, 1892. He was the son of German immigrants Gustav Niebuhr and Lydia Hosto Niebuhr. He graduated Elmhurst College, IL in 1910. Studied at Eden Theological Seminary, MO and Yale Divinity School, where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree in 1914.

He was one of the leading American theologians of the 20th century who, through his writings and speeches has had an extensive influence on political thought in America. He espoused a theological philosophy of Christian Realism, which emphasized the persistent roots of evil in human life. In one of his most famous books Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932) he stressed the egoism and the pride and hypocrisy of nations and classes.

Reinhold Niebuhr was a professor at Union Theological Seminary, a prolific writer, and the editor of the magazine Christianity and Crisis from 1941 through 1966. His writings influenced such notable people as historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, civil rights icon Martin Luther King and former President Barack Obama.

President Lyndon Johnson awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964.

Setting

Wikipedia list this summary of his writings:
Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic, (1930)
Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics, (1932)
Interpretation of Christian Ethics, (1935)
Beyond Tragedy: Essays on the Christian Interpretation of History, (1937)
Christianity and Power Politics, (1940)
The Nature and Destiny of Man: A Christian Interpretation,(1943)
The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, (1944)
Faith and History (1949)
The Irony of American History, (1952)
Christian Realism and Political Problems (1953)
The Self and the Dramas of History, (1955)
Love and Justice: Selections from the Shorter Writings of Reinhold Niebuhr, (1957)
Pious and Secular America (1958)
Reinhold Niebuhr on Politics: His Political Philosophy and Its Application to Our Age as Expressed in His Writings (1960)
A Nation So Conceived: Reflections on the History of America From Its Early Visions to its Present Power (1963)
The Structure of Nations and Empires (1959)
Niebuhr, Reinhold. The Essential Reinhold Niebuhr: Selected Essays and Addresses (1986).
Remembering Reinhold Niebuhr. Letters of Reinhold & Ursula M. Niebuhr, (1991)
Reinhold Niebuhr: Major Works on Religion and Politics: Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic, Moral Man and Immoral Society, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness, The Irony of American History, Other Writings [Writings on Current Events 1928-1967, Prayers, Sermons and Lectures on Faith and Belief], (2016)