Christian realism is a
political theology
Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term ''political theology'' is often used to denote religious thought about political principled qu ...
in the
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
tradition. It is built on three biblical presumptions: the sinfulness of humanity, the freedom of humanity, and the validity and seriousness of the
Great Commandment
The Great Commandment (or Greatest Commandment) is a name used in the New Testament to describe the first of two commandments cited by Jesus in , , and in answer to him in :
Most Christian denominations consider these two commandments as, toget ...
. The key political concepts of Christian realism are
balance of power and political responsibility. This political-theological perspective is most closely associated with the work of the 20th-century American
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and
public intellectual
An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...
Reinhold Niebuhr
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of Ameri ...
. Niebuhr argued that the
Kingdom of God
The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" b ...
cannot be realized on earth because of the innately corrupt tendencies of society. Due to the injustices that arise among people, we must be willing to compromise the ideal of Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Niebuhr argued that human perfectibility was an illusion, highlighting the sinfulness of humanity at a time when the world was confronted by labor disputes and race riots in industrial hubs like
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
where he pastored, the horrors of the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and
Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
regimes, and the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. Christian realism was in part a reaction to the 20th-century
Social Gospel
The Social Gospel is a social movement within Protestantism that aims to apply Christian ethics to social problems, especially issues of social justice such as economic inequality, poverty, alcoholism, crime, racial tensions, slums, unclean envir ...
movement. Numerous American political figures have been influenced by Christian realism, among them
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
,
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist, one of the most prominent leaders in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968 ...
, and
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
.
Augustine of Hippo as the first great Christian realist
Niebuhr and his colleagues thought of themselves as following a Christian tradition that had its roots in the Hebrew prophets and later took shape in Christian theology.
Augustine of Hippo
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Af ...
is generally regarded as the first great Christian realist. Niebuhr commented that Augustine "deserves this distinction because his picture of social reality in his
''civitas dei'' gives an adequate account of the social factions, tensions, and competitions which we know to be well-nigh universal on every level of community."
Through his reflections on how the two cities are related, Augustine understood how Christian hope could lead to human responsibility for the problems in the present world. To him, Christians are on pilgrimage or in exile awaiting God's kingdom, but it is the certainty of God's ultimate judgment that provides the basis for Christians to bear their responsibility in the present world. Christians are therefore not spectators. They are called to fully involve in this world with a moral life, while at the same time maintaining that they are freed from worldly pursuits to focus on contributions to the common good. Problems in the present world should be taken seriously, even though Augustine had relatively low expectations that human beings could do much to completely resolve these problems.
Political influence
Christian realism exerted a strong influence on American foreign and domestic policy in the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
era. Many members of the neoconservative movement, which arose in part due to the decline of Christian realism in 1960s and 1970s political thought, have claimed allegiance to Niebuhr's philosophy; however, some critics argued that
neoconservatism
Neoconservatism is a political movement that began in the United States during the 1960s among liberal hawks who became disenchanted with the increasingly pacifist foreign policy of the Democratic Party and with the growing New Left and ...
neglected (or outright rejected) Niebuhr's strong commitment to social justice.
Perspectives on Christian realism
Gary Dorrien
Gary John Dorrien (born March 21, 1952) is an American social ethicist and Theology, theologian. He is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and Professor of Religion at Columbia Uni ...
wrote:
A ''New York Times'' opinion piece by
Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a spe ...
, written 20 years after Niebuhr's death, read:
Christian realism in the 21st century
In the post-9/11 era, a number of scholars have been questioning the overly secular character of
political realism
Realism is one of the dominant schools of thought in international relations theory, theoretically formalising the Realpolitik statesmanship of early modern Europe. Although a highly diverse body of thought, it is unified by the belief that wor ...
, especially in the light of
postmodern
Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by skepticism toward the " grand narratives" of moderni ...
critique. Charles Jones of the University of Cambridge has suggested that international law and normative theory presuppose Christian ethics in the
international relations theory
International relations theory is the study of international relations (IR) from a theoretical perspective. It seeks to explain causal and constitutive effects in international politics. Ole Holsti describes international relations theories as a ...
. Despite the Christian realist underpinnings of scholars, originally associated with the
English school, the revival of the interest towards religion in International Relations is a relatively recent phenomenon.
See also
*
Political realism
Realism is one of the dominant schools of thought in international relations theory, theoretically formalising the Realpolitik statesmanship of early modern Europe. Although a highly diverse body of thought, it is unified by the belief that wor ...
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
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Further reading
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{{Use dmy dates, date=February 2018
Realism
Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to:
In the arts
*Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts
Arts movements related to realism include:
*Classical Realism
*Literary realism, a move ...
International relations theory
Political realism
Political theology