Christianity and Modern Man

The Nature and Destiny of Man by Reinhold Niebuhr. Vol. 1. Scribner’s. $2.75

Reinhold Niebuhr is the most admirable kind of Protestant. This is the most convenient way to sum up the virtues of his latest book. And because he is too intelligent and too widely read to allow his Protestantism to degenerate into any invidious sectarianism, it is also a high compliment. There can be no doubt about the degree to which Mr. Niebuhr has mastered the resources of his religious tradition: his theological sources are mainly German, and while he exhibits the vitality of German religious thought at its best, he manages to escape the lack of balance to which this tradition has often been liable. To put our finger on the peculiar quality of this book we would point to the combination of two gifts: a capacity, subtle and deep, for feeling his religion—and the emotional life of Protestant Christianity has always been more important than its theology—finds its expression here through the mind of a thoroughgoing modern. This combination is probably rare and certainly valuable. That is why Mr. Niebuhr has something to say to the modern audience.