Reinhold Niebuhr

This week NPR’s Morning Edition has run back-to-back interviews with Newsweek editor Jon Meacham discussing the memoirs of Barack Obama and John McCain. The idea is to get beyond sound bites and offer an analysis of the major people and events that have shaped the two men, at least according to their own published work.

The fascinating conclusion is that this country’s two major-party presidential candidates have both been strongly influenced by the same theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr.

My initial question is about the way it seems that Niebuhr was seized upon as a hidden, explanatory link between the characters of Obama and McCain. Is this just another example of an almost obsessive fascination with the interplay of politics and religion during this election cycle? Or is something else going on here?

In one sense, there’s nothing surprising about finding references to Reinhold Niebuhr in the writings of both candidates. Niebuhr is generally regarded as one…

I have a nice little plaque with the famous “Serenity Prayer” on it.

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.

I’ve always liked the prayer, its beautiful simplicity, its deep meanings packed into a few dense words.

And it has always seemed less Hallmark-y to me to know it was written by renowned 20th century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.

Not so fast. The New York Times reports that his authorship of the “Serenity Prayer” is being called into question.

It is a fun little controversy that I think reflects more on the notion of authorship in western culture than either Professor Niebuhr or the prayer itself. Western literary culture is so dominated by the Romantic idea of a solitary, original “author” as being the only “true” source of a text that it becomes increasingly difficult for people to conceive…