Reinhold Niebuhr is renowned for his unflinching honesty concerning issues of social ethics, specifically, love and justice. Humans, Niebuhr says, are incapable of perfect love. Therefore, their struggle against evil and injustice is doomed to only relative victory, although they strive to live in the ideal world. Niebuhr's concern with this paradox gave rise to numerous writings over the years in which he explored the many angles, subtleties, heights, and depths of the problems of humanity and society. Now sixty-four of these important pieces are compiled in a single volume, providing evidence of Niebuhr's belief that positive decisions and actions are possible for Christians.

The Library of Theological Ethics series focuses on what it means to think theologically and ethically. It presents a selection of important and otherwise unavailable texts in easily accessible form. Volumes in this series will enable sustained dialogue with predecessors though reflection on classic works in the field.