H. Richard Niebuhr’s Theological Ethics of God’s Goodness

Abstract

This thesis argues that Niebuhr developed his Christology and understanding of the Trinity to justify his theological ethics of God’s goodness in secular American culture. I clarify how Niebuhr sought to reconcile God’s goodness, His righteousness and His love, to counter the challenge of moral relativism that accompanied the rise of American secularism. Instead of defending the notion of absolute or universal moral principles, he developed his Christology in the context of his value theory to defend God as the standard of good and the ultimate good. We shall also examine Niebuhr’s inseparable Christology and pneumatology because it recognizes divine grace working on the human faculties to enable the believer’s knowledge of God’s goodness. Lastly, I uncover the Christology and Trinitarian framework that scaffolds Niebuhr’s theological ethics of God’s goodness because of its implications for the Church in secular culture. As we shall see, Niebuhr called for the Church to defend the credibility of the its witness to secular society through its loving unity and acts of justice.