Christ Transforming Liberal Democracy: H. Richard Niebuhr's Theocentric Vision of American Political Life

Team Members/Contributors

Timothy Allen Beach-Verhey Emory University, Graduate Division of Religion Contact Me

About this dissertation fellowship

How Christians are to engage faithfully in the political contexts in which they live is a perennial question. In this dissertation, I argue that H. Richard Niebuhr’s conversionist understanding of Christian engagement with culture provides a neglected theocentric alternative within the contemporary debate. H. Richard Niebuhr’s theology places him at odds with political liberals, like John Rawls, who restrict religion’s public voice, but it also marks a contrast with Christian communitarians, like Stanley Hauerwas, who think that Christianity and liberal democracy are fundamentally at odds. H. Richard Niebuhr articulates instead a theologically grounded robust liberalism which promises everyone, Christian and otherwise, the possibility of full participation in the controversies over the meaning, purpose, and goal of our common life. In this endeavor, Niebuhr associates himself with a strand of American liberalism, embodied in the likes of James Madison, which has a long and influential history in American political life, but which is now often neglected. The goal of this dissertation is: first, to contribute to present discussions concerning the role of religion in public life and the proper interpretation of liberal democracy in America by reintroducing Niebuhr as an important figure.

Image Title Year Type Contributor(s) Other Info
  Christ Transforming Liberal Democracy: H. Richard Niebuhr's Theocentric Vision of American Political Life 2002 Dissertation Timothy Allen Beach-Verhey
Robust Liberalism: H. Richard Niebhur and the Ethics of American Public Life 2011 Book Timothy Allen Beach-Verhey