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In his classic essays in We Hold These Truths, John Courtney Murray developed an understanding of "the American proposition" that integrated a theological account of human good with the search for public consensus in a constitutional democracy. While this understanding of the relationship between religious freedom and political life was incorporated into Catholic social teaching at the Second Vatican Council, subsequent developments in both political theory and theology call Murray's understanding of public discourse into question. This essay examines these challenges and argues that Murray's reconciliation of moral truth and political choice is still an important resource for discussion of religious freedom and other moral issues in today's polarized politics.

Reinhold Niebuhr's realistic theology & ethics provided a stark contrast to the optimistic Protestant liberalism of a previous generation. His success in reshaping the political theology of his contemporaries has led some recent critics to dismiss him as simply an echo of a cultural consensus which he in fact did much to create. The quite different realities of our time suggest, however, that we cannot be Niebuhrian realists simply by repeating his insights. Realism at the beginning of the 21st century has to shift its attention from the center of established moral & religious traditions to the growing edges where new institutions are being formed & new understandings of the human good are coming into focus. Such thinking runs the risk of what Niebuhr would call "utopianism," but a Christian realist in the 21st century will be someone who takes all of those possibilities seriously, in contrast to 20th-century realists who attempted to deal with the pace & unpredictability of change by returning all political questions to the management of the nation-state system. References. Adapted from the source document.

Lovin reviews Politics and Religion by Steve Bruce.

Lovin reviews Taking Faith Seriously edited by Mary Jo Bane, Brent Coffin, and Richard Higgins.

'Serenity, Courage, and Wisdom: The Enduring Legacy of Reinhold Nieburh' by Henry B. Clark is reviewed.