Does Civilization Need Religion?: A Study in the Social Resources and Limitations of Religion - Hardcover

Niebuhr, Reinhold

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1025609921 ISBN 13: 9781025609928

Publisher: Tradd Street Press, 2026

Synopsis

"Does Civilization Need Religion? : A Study in the Social Resources and Limitations of Religion" is a seminal exploration into the intricate relationship between religious faith and the moral architecture of modern society. In this thought-provoking study, Reinhold Niebuhr examines whether a complex civilization can sustain its ethical integrity without the spiritual and social resources provided by religion.

Niebuhr delves into the tensions between individual morality and collective social structures, analyzing how religious traditions both empower and are constrained by the demands of a secular world. He critiques the limitations of institutional religion while arguing for its necessity as a stabilizing and humanizing force. This work addresses fundamental questions regarding the survival of values in an increasingly mechanized and impersonal age, offering a philosophical inquiry into the soul of civilization itself.

Ideal for scholars of theology, sociology, and ethics, this book remains a vital contribution to the understanding of religion's functional role in public life. Niebuhr's analysis provides a foundational look at themes that would later define his influential career in social and political thought.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

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Edition details

• Publisher: Tradd Street Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1025609921
• ISBN 13: 9781025609928
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 264