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Overdue credit to theologian’s wife, co-writer Sam Hodges, Feb 17, 2012
Rebekah Miles wants to give credit where credit is due in the writings of the great 20th-century American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.
By Sam Hodges Managing Editor
Rebekah Miles wants to give credit where credit is due in the writings of the great 20th-century American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.
And she believes Niebuhr’s wife, Ursula, deserved to be listed as co-author of some works that went out under his name only, including a late essay that criticized President Richard Nixon for having Billy Graham lead worship services in the White House.
Dr. Miles, an ordained UM elder and associate professor of ethics and practical theology at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology, makes her case in the Jan. 25 edition of The Christian Century, in an article titled “Uncredited: Was Ursula Niebuhr Reinhold’s coauthor?”
The article has yielded quite a few letters and emails already, including one from former President Jimmy Carter.
“I’ve gotten a lot more response than I expected,” Dr. Miles said. “This is probably the most fun project I’ve worked on.”
Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971) was born in Missouri, to German immigrant parents, and served as a pastor before earning fame as a theologian associated with the idea of “Christian realism.” Niebhur has been cited as an influence by various politicians, including President Obama. He’s also credited as author of the “Serenity Prayer,” adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous.
His wife, Ursula (1908-1997), was born in England and studied theology and history at Oxford before coming to Union Theological Seminary in New York for graduate work. She would go on to a long career of teaching religion at Barnard College.
Despite this academic background, she hasn’t been a focus of those writing about her husband and the forces that shaped him.
“Scholars have looked at his brother’s influence,” Dr. Miles said, referring to theologian H. Richard Niebuhr, “but really nobody has looked at the influence she had.”
Dr. Miles had long suspected that Niebuhr’s wife had a key role in his writing, partly because in the introduction to his 1965 book Man’s Nature and His Communities he refers to their “joint authorship,” though the book appeared under his name only.
A few years ago, Dr. Miles was invited to speak to the UMC’s Council of Bishops in Washington, D.C., and she used the occasion to check out Ursula Niebuhr’s papers at the Library of Congress.
There she found transcripts of taped conversations between Ursula and Reinhold Niebuhr, including one recorded on May 5, 1969, when they shared their hostile reactions to White House worship services led by Billy Graham and other clergy friendly to the Nixon administration.
The conversation formed the basis of an essay, published under Reinhold Niebuhr’s name, in the magazine Christianity and Crisis. Titled “The King’s Chapel and the King’s Court,” the piece describes Mr. Graham as “a domesticated and tailored leftover from the wild and wooly frontier evangelistic campaigns” and accuses Nixon of violating the establishment clause of the Bill of the Rights.
The New York Times reported on the essay, and it remains the second most frequently cited Niebuhr piece by scholars, according to Dr. Miles’ survey of published academic writings.
But from the transcript, from editing marks on the manuscripts and from her own analysis of the rhetoric of the essay, Dr. Miles concludes Ursula Niebuhr was “not only a major influence but virtual co-author.”
Dr. Miles believes she was a close collaborator on much of Reinhold Niebuhr’s later writings, particularly those on politics. They did have a double byline on a couple of pieces, but generally she went uncredited.
In her Christian Century article, Dr. Miles calls the omission “troubling” but suggests Ursula’s role increased after Reinhold had a series of strokes beginning in 1952. With the strokes, came depression.
“As writing became more difficult for him,” Dr. Miles writes, “her editorial role increased to the point where we can say that she was not only editor but also co-author. Perhaps it was hard for him to admit even to himself the full extent of her contribution to his late writings. Perhaps she, for the sake of his pride or morale, did not insist that her name be included.”
For the Christian Century piece, Dr. Miles sought out Elisabeth Sifton, daughter of the Niebuhrs and herself a book editor and author. Dr. Miles quotes her as saying Ursula Niebuhr’s influence is “all over the place” in Reinhold Niebuhr’s writing, as far back as the 1932 book Moral Man and Immoral Society.
Further support for Dr. Miles’ championing of Ursula Niebuhr’s role comes from Robin Lovin. He’s Cary Maguire University Professor of Ethics at Perkins School of Theology, and has written extensively about Reinhold Niebuhr.
He credits his colleague with making a connection “hidden in plain sight.”
“The question is not whether Professor Miles is right about their collaboration,” he said, “but why Niebuhr scholars like myself never paid attention to it before.
“Perhaps that’s because Niebuhr scholars are mostly male, and feminist scholars are mostly critical. Rebekah Miles is unique in the way that she incorporates Niebuhr’s realism into her feminist Christian ethics. Realists tend to see things that other people weren’t looking for.”
Former president Carter wrote editors of The Christian Century about Dr. Miles’ piece, and added a little history of his own.
“I read with great interest the article in CC about Ursula Niebuhr,” he said. “There is no doubt that she played a major role in her husband’s writing, although not recognized as co-author. Referring to their criticism of President Nixon (and others) for having worship services in the White House, she was quite pleased when I refused to do so, and delivered to me a complete set of audio recordings of Reinhold’s sermons and lectures.”
Mr. Carter added: “Billy Graham was somewhat displeased at the time, but understood later when I explained my complete commitment to separation of church and state.”
Dr. Miles calls the Ursula-Reinhold writing relationship her one and only “discovery” in academic research, and plans a couple of more articles about it.
But there’s room for more, she said.
“I’m hoping there’s some young scholar who wants to take it on as a dissertation project.”
Rebekah Miles wants to give credit where credit is due in the writings of the great 20th-century American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr.
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Dr. Miles had long suspected that Niebuhr’s wife had a key role in his writing, partly because in the introduction to his 1965 book Man’s Nature and His Communities he refers to their “joint authorship,” though the book appeared under his name only. 
