The Christian Realists

by Eric Patterson

The Christian Realists investigates the contributions to practical and theoretical politics by a variety of mid-twentieth century thinkers such as Reinhold Niebuhr, John Foster Dulles, and Herbert Butterfield. In a period of international conflict and uncertainty caused by the rise of Nazism and Communism and the advent of nuclear weapons, these individuals argued for a "Christian" and a "realistic" approach to social and political problems. It is significant that for about a quarter century these men were listened to on Capitol Hill, in Westminster, on university campuses, in newspapers, as well as throughout the Western religious establishment. This volume provides chapters devoted to the thought of specific Christian realists: Niebuhr, Dulles, Martin Wight, John C. Bennett, and others. The book also includes a chapter on Niebuhr's influence on his secular disciples such as Hans Morgenthau and Arthur Schlesinger Jr. and a chapter on the Catholic social thinker John Courtney Murray.

Eric Patterson is Assistant Professor of Political Science, Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, California.

Chapter 1 Foreword by Jean Bethke Elshtain Chapter 2 Preface Chapter 3 Niebuhr and His Contemporaries: Introduction to Christian Realism Chapter 4 Niebuhr and His Critics: Realistic Optimism in World Politics Chapter 5 The Prophetic Realism of John Foster Dulles, 1937-1945 Chapter 6 Herbert Butterfield and the Limits of Christian Realism Chapter 7 Martin Wight: Politics in the Era of Leviathan Chapter 8 John Coleman Bennett in Contemporary Context Chapter 9 Cups Half Full: John Courtney Murray's Skirmishes with Christian Realism Chapter 10 Christian Realism in a Pluralistic Society: Interactions Between Niebuhr and Morgenthau, Kennan, and Schlesinger Chapter 11 The Ironies of Christian Realism: The End of an Augustinian Tradition in International Politics Chapter 12 Select Bibliography Chapter 13 About the Contributors