Marty on Niebuhr and the World of Religious Discourse Today

Martin Marty has some reflections on the influence of Reinhold Niebuhr -- who I've claimed, in a draft piece posted at the right, has important (and even sympathetic) things to say concerning Catholic legal theory -- and, also of interest to this blog, on the world of religious discourse in which we live today as opposed to that of Niebuhr's time (mid-20th-century).

To the young'uns, Niebuhr may seem a relic of the Middle Ages. Yet when people get serious, most of them come back to him. If you want an introduction or a refresher on Niebuhr, you can hardly do better than to consult the discussion organized by public radio's Krista Tippett, host of Speaking of Faith. Says Tippett: "Reinhold Niebuhr has been cited as an influence by more of my guests than any other figure past or present, and on a vast and vivid range of topics."

Marty refers to Arthur Schlesinger's N.Y. Times op-ed this fall, "Forgetting Reinhold Niebuhr," which Michael linked to here.

Schlesinger ends with a question that many of us also ask, or are asked: Where are the Reinhold Niebuhrs of this century?

The first thing to say is: there was but one in the previous century. Only Paul Tillich comes close in the citation-game, and he had a different agenda and influence. The second thing to say is that Niebuhr was a genius, and one does not find geniuses under every bush. I'd add a third thing: the culture to which Niebuhr spoke is gone. The constituencies are dispersed. He gained a hearing in the last few decades, or minutes, of an era in which there were coherent audiences and readerships for a religious thinker. It was certainly the last round for a broad mainstream Protestantism. Niebuhr spoke out of and to and through that cohort to the larger public, which included Catholics, Jews and secular folk.

Today, postmodernism by whatever name has replaced that intact modern world. Whether labeled "Catholic," "Protestant" or "evangelical," the religious canopies these days are full of individual booths, and people in one booth pay little attention to any other. There is no point in looking for a new Niebuhr. There is definitely a point in summoning our gifted figures who work in niches to speak up and to link up with others to spread messages of judgment and hope. Odds are, they will sound a bit like Niebuhr. But they won't match him.

I'm glad to be part of the particular "booth" of MOJ (as well as, I guess, some other booths and niches).  One good thing, in my view, about the "Catholic" booth is that, at its best, it offers a language and conceptual apparatus that can be used to speak comprehensibly to people in the other booths.

Tom