Reinhold Niebuhr

Shortly after I was born Rev. Reinhold Niebuhr, professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where my father was one of his students, visited my parents’ apartment to meet the newborn baby and to pronounce his now famous serenity benediction. I mention Niebuhr became I believe he was the first to apply the concept of a pyrrhic victory to theology although his application would perhaps be more appropriate to discussions about the torture policy of the George W. Bush administration. The use of coercion as an ally, and I am paraphrasing Niebuhr, can result in a pyrrhic victory. But I am working on an article that will explain the difficulties people have understanding the victory motif in Luke-Acts and if these difficulties explain why an alternate theory was developed by Christianity.

Copyrighted 2009

Religion

Christianity

Gospel of Luke