ESSAYS IN APPLIED CHRISTIANITY

Professor Robertson has rendered a most valuable service in bringing together in this volume scattered magazine articles of Reinhold Niebuhr dealing with the function of the Church in modern society. These writings are arranged in five sections each of which has an interpretative comment by the editor: (1) Common Worship in the churches of America; (2) The relationship of the faith of the Church to the whole range of moral and political problems; (3) The Anglo-Saxon view of the social ethics of the Church contrasted with the "continental" or Barthian view; (4) Niebuhr's analysis and criticism of the Catholic conception of the Church (deals with Eastern Orthodox and Anglo-Catholic as well as Roman Catholic Church); (5) Writings dealing with the ecumenical movement. The editor's purpose is to outline what might be called Niebuhr's view of the doctrine of the Church. But for most readers the chief value of the book is its revelation of the prophetic nature of Niebuhr's thinking. This is Niebuhr at his most incisive, stimulating, best, probing at problems with which all churchmen are familiar, giving us the benefit of his searching criticism, revealing the weakness of much of contemporary American Christianity. Niebuhr's reputation is such that this book should command a wide reading.