The prayer has long been the target of doubts about its authorship, though many of those doubts were ill-founded. once said, "Reinhold Niebuhr was the greatest man I knew." Yet he is perhaps best known to the general public because of the "Serenity Prayer." ![]() Morgenthau called him "the greatest living political philosopher of America," and Arthur M. He was an extraordinary and prolific writer and thinker whose ideas continue to shape liberal Protestantism today. Reinhold Niebuhr ’14BDiv, ’15MA, who died in 1971, was a theologian of towering importance who deeply influenced the political life of his time and courageously opposed Nazism in a period when most in his church backed U.S. It has given inspiration and solace to millions of people and has been very prominently employed by Alcoholics Anonymous. Billy Pilgrim hung it on his office wall in Slaughterhouse-Five Bill Clinton ’73JD invoked it repeatedly when he campaigned for the presidency. -Reinhold Niebuhr, The Serenity Prayer (1943)Īt least in the English- and German-speaking worlds, this is undoubtedly the most famous prayer originated in modern times, probably the only prayer ever to rival the Lord's Prayer in popularity.God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed, courage to change the things that should be changed, and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.One would be hard pressed to identify a Protestant theologian who has had more impact on contemporary reflections on our public responsibilities as Christians.”-Eds.Īt the beginning of this millennium, the editors of the World Almanac selected what they thought to be "the most memorable quotes by Americans in the last 100 years." One of their ten most memorable quotes was the following: Thomas Ogletree, the Frederick Marquand Professor of Ethics and Religious Studies, says, "His exceptional achievement was that he brought a thoroughly theological framework to bear upon the principles of liberal democracy. Oxford, Yale, and Harvard awarded him honorary degrees. neutrality in World War II, and denounced both McCarthyism and Soviet communism. He spoke out early against Nazi anti-Semitism, opposed U.S. He advocated a "Christian realism" that criticized the tendency of the church to see "the sins of individuals but never the sins of society": Christian ethics, he held, compel political engagement. Niebuhr taught at Union Theological Seminary for most of his professional life. Niebuhr acquired, says Gene Outka, the Dwight Professor of Philosophy and Christian Ethics at Yale, "a national and then an international following, as a preacher of uncommon power, the author of numerous books and articles, and a social and political activist.” It rates just a page and a half in Richard Fox’s 1985 biography, less in Charles C. Amen.The Serenity Prayer, so well known to the public, hardly figures in Reinhold Niebuhr’s considerable reputation as a theologian and political thinker. May the gentleness of God’s supportive and sustaining love gather us in her arms this day/night, and bless us with sleep that restores both body and soul. ![]() God help me to sow seeds of peace and justice in my children’s hearts today. God help me to weave a tapestry of love and not hate in my children, a spirit of tolerance and caring, and a dedication to freedom for all and not just some. Bless her/him with your love that she/he may not be afraid and restore her/him to health. Make her/him strong, full of life and laughter once more. She/he is so fragile and young, so small and vulnerable. Hear my prayer, O God, source of all life. God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference, living one day at a time enjoying one moment at a time taking this world as it is and not as I would have it trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with You forever in the next. Help us, O God, to believe that you receive us as we are, and help us to entrust ourselves, with all our many struggles and hopes, to your faithful and abiding care. When we rejoice, you celebrate with us when we are anxious and afraid, you offer us a relationship where we can find courage to face the unknown when we weep with sadness, you are our comforter. Tender and compassionate God, you are our steadfast companion in the joyous times of our lives.
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