The work explores the distinctive influences of philosophical pragmatism and absolute idealism on Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Ramsey, two influential twentieth-century theologians, who learned from and transformed these philosophies in the light of contemporary theological trends. It explores how these theologians shaped their moral theologies, political theories, and approaches to war in the light of these philosophies.
In this original interpretation and critique of Paul Ramsey’s ethical thought, D. Stephen Long traces the development of one of the mid-twentieth century’s most important and controversial religious social thinkers. Long examines Ramsey’s early liberal idealism as well as later influences on his work, including the just war doctrine, Reinhold Niebu
The last section of the dissertation examines the extent to which Ramsey's and Niebuhr's analysis during the Vietnam War reflected the strengths and weaknesses of their moral frameworks. The two moral conceptions of war developed by these theologians, I argue, shaped their analyses in ways that ought to inform later theologians and ethicists that work within the terms Niebuhr and Ramsey provided.
Not long ago, Paul Ramsey (1913-1988) was a leading voice in North American Christian ethics. Today, however, his intellectual legacy is in question, and his work is largely ignored by current scholars in the field. Against the tide of that neglect, Adam Edward Hollowell argues in Power and Purpose that Ramsey's work can still yield considerable insight for contemporary Christian political theology. Hollowell shows the influences of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Karl Barth on Ramsey's early work; discusses his conversations with political theologians of his generation, including Reinhold and Richard Niebuhr and Joseph Fletcher; considers his influence on the early virtue theory of Jean Porter and Oliver O'Donovan; and places Ramsey's work in conversation with more recent voices in Christian ethics, including John Bowlin, Jennifer Herdt, Charles Mathewes, Eric Gregory, and Daniel Bell. Hollowell thus forges new connections between Ramsey and contemporary debates in political theology on such issues as political authority, power, just war, and torture. Hollowell's Power and Purpose also revisits well-known aspects of Ramsey's work -- for example, his insistence on the political significance of God's covenant with creation -- and offers an original account of the role of judgment in his theology of repentance. The book dedicates considerable attention to Ramsey's description of practical reasoning and highlights his commitment to the virtues, especially prudence. This accessible introduction to Paul Ramsey will appeal to a wide swath of scholars and students in Christian ethics and political theology.
'. . . this is a good book that will well serve both students who are new to Ramsey and those who might not be better acquainted with his work . . .'-THE JOURNAL OF RELIGION
In the realm of public affairs, Reinhold Niebuhr has been the most influential theologian of our century. Although Niebuhr died in 1971, the issues he confronted- war and peace, revolution and nuclear weapons, intervention and monetarism - continued to dominate the 1980’s, and many feel the increasing lack of what Richard Harries calls “a Niebuhrian dimension” to the debates. In this book, a distinguished group of academic writers discuss current issues, both intellectual and practical, and ask what light Niebuhr can shed on them. The result is a thought-provoking and stimulating collection of essays.
"This treatise on Christian ethics is one of the most thoughtful and comprehensive presentations of the subject we have had in many years. It should be of inestimable value not only to the general reader but also to students and classes in our colleges and seminaries".--Reinhold Niebuhr. Part of Westminster's Library of Theological Ethics series.
