Between Two Rivers: A Memoir of Christian Social Action and Ethics

by Ronald H. Stone

Overview

Between Two Rivers chronicles the life of noted scholar of religion, politics, and philosophy, Ronald H. Stone. From his childhood between the East and West banks of the Des Moines River through graduate work in New York between the Hudson and the East Rivers through his scholarly career and retirement in Pittsburgh, between the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, the book highlights Stone’s focus on Christian social ethics and his prolific writing in the area. The book includes unique insights into some of the renowned scholars Stone worked with closely, including Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and it discusses Stone’s scholarship on the relationship between religion and politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442250055
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	07/16/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	476
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Ronald H. Stone taught for many years at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and the University of Pittsburgh. After retiring, he continues to teach in Carnegie Mellon University's Osher Life Long Learning Program. He studied at Union Seminary and Columbia University in New York City, where he served as Reinhold Niebuhr’s last teaching assistant and met Paul Tillich. He has published more than twenty books on religion, politics, and philosophy, and served as the president of the North American Paul Tillich Society and founding board member of the Niebuhr Society.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1. Birth
2. Childhood
3. High School
4. Morningside College
5. Mexico City College
6. Junior College
7. Pre-Theological Student
8. Marriage and Church
9. New York City
10. Europe
11. Christian Social Ethics
12. Philosophy
13. Oxford
14. Reinhold Niebuhr
15. Faith and Politics
16. Teaching and Leaving Columbia
17. Associate Professor in Pittsburgh
18. “The King’s Chapel and the King’s Court”
19. Early Days at Pittsburgh Seminary
20. The Death of Reinhold
21. Cambridge University
22. Professor of Social Ethics
23. Beyond Niebuhr
24. Realism and Hope
25. Randy in Nova Scotia
26. Urban Ethics Course
27. Seeking Greek Orthodoxy
28. Response to Liberation Theology
29. Paul Tillich
30. Peacemaking and the Presbyterians
31 East Liberty Presbyterian Church
32. Between Jerusalem and Bethlehem
33. Church and Society
34. Reformed Faith and Politics
35. Rome and Budapest
36. Siberia
37. East Berlin
38. Marriage
39. Resistance to Militarism
40. India
41. John C. Bennett
42. Third Presbyterian Church
43. Post–India Writing
44. Peacemaking
45. Theological Educators for Presbyterian Social Witness
46. Robert Chesnut
47. Father, 1990
48. Latin America
49. Urban Ministry
50. Patricia
51. Randall
52. Spies
53. John Witherspoon
54. Justice and Peacemaking
55. Amazon
56. Mother
57. John Bennett and Nuclear Weapons
58. Politics
59. Cuba
60. Just Peacemaking and Humanitarian Intervention
61. Oxbridge Revisited
62. Church and State
63. Letters from Africa
64. Against the Third Reich
65. The Ultimate Imperative
66. Religion in the New Millennium
67. John Wesley’s Ethics
68. Terrorism and Foreign Policy
69. Semi-Retirement and Divorce
70. Christian Social Ethics as Vocation
71. On Speaking to Hezbollah
72. Prophetic Realism
73. Visit to China
74. Return to Rome
75. Marriage and Family
76. Eber: Pioneer in Iowa
77. Moral Reflections on Foreign Policy in a Religious War
78. Niebuhr and Tillich
79. Concluding Reflections
Bibliography

Editorial Reviews

This volume chronicles the life of noted scholar of religion, politics, and philosophy Ronald H. Stone. From his childhood between the east and west banks of the Des Moines River through graduate work in New York between the Hudson and the East Rivers, through his scholarly career and retirement in Pittsburgh between the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, the book highlights Stone’s focus on Christian social ethics and his prolific writing. The book includes unique insights into some of the renowned scholars with whom Stone worked closely, including Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and it discusses his scholarship on the relationship between religion and politics.

Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology

This memoir is a treasure of reflection and analysis, giving us Ronald Stone's account of his exemplary career in speaking with intelligence and relevance to three publics—the church, academy, and general public.

Gary Dorrien

This volume chronicles the life of noted scholar of religion, politics, and philosophy Ronald H. Stone. From his childhood between the east and west banks of the Des Moines River through graduate work in New York between the Hudson and the East Rivers, through his scholarly career and retirement in Pittsburgh between the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, the book highlights Stone’s focus on Christian social ethics and his prolific writing. The book includes unique insights into some of the renowned scholars with whom Stone worked closely, including Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich, and it discusses his scholarship on the relationship between religion and politics.

Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology

Professor Stone’s memoir analyzes the sixty-year history of Christian social action and ethics that involved his passion and politics. I enjoy Ron’s ethical advice—borrowed from the field of boxing, which he practiced in his youth—to always keep the left side of your argument well covered in the midst of intellectual and social struggles.

Gonzalo Castillo

A fascinating overview of Christian theology, ethics, and American politics over the past sixty years as lived out in the life of a major Christian social ethicist, Between Two Rivers offers insight and inspiration for living one's Christian faith as an activist in politics, church, and the academy. Ronald H. Stone's memoir shows the influences of family, friends, and major theologians (especially Reinhold Niebuhr and Paul Tillich) on his ideas and activism, but the reader also sees the development of Stone's own Christian realism rooted in love—a standpoint and grounding so needed in today's interactions of religion and politics.

Mary Ann Stenger

Ronald H. Stone makes a home for his memoir on the lands between great rivers in Iowa, New York, and Pennsylvania. He offers ample evidence that the academic life is not only in-depth study and teaching; but also service to the Church, social protest, and leadership in local communities. Indeed, Ronald proves to be an excellent example of such a life as he leads us though his places between the rivers.

Robert L. Stivers

This is the book we have been waiting for and it is a hard one to put down.

The Humboldt Independent