ABSTRACT

In 1938, Reinhold Niebuhr decided to change the title of his book God and History to Beyond Tragedy. Niebuhr had come to rethink human action, sin, and hope in light of recent historical events, and tragic literature and theories were shaping his thought. Beyond Tragedy, as well as Reinhold's later The Irony of American History, uses tragedy and literary genres for theological exploration and expression. Suffering, loss, pathos, spectators, recognition, betrayal, despair – there is much in Christ's passion that is in a tragic mode, as Niebuhr came to realize. Tragic categories and examples are helpful in his theology, but the nature of their relationship remains unclear. Niebuhr's essay "Christianity and Tragedy" in Beyond Tragedy is interesting in its technique. It probes as it redacts with an amiable, confident uncertainty. Niebuhr's later work examines irony as a way to make sense of theology and tragedy. Tragedy and theology have an odd relationship, which is why Niebuhr struggles to relate them.