Summary: A short book that felt longer than it was because it felt like a book report.
I like the idea of introduction books. Short books that are able to give an introduction to an idea or a person can be very helpful, but also very hard to write.
I have read a number both the Armchair Theologian books and the Oxford Very Short Introduction Series. They are a very mixed bag. The best of the Armchair Theologian series that I have read is the book on Aquinas by Timothy Mark Renick.
This book by Scott Paeth is definitely on the weaker side. I am still glad I read it because I did not know much about the biography or context of the Niebuhr brothers. Their context and history is important to their writing. I have read at least one book by each of the brothers. So I was not coming into the book blind.
But after the biography sections, the discussions of their work and books read more like short book reports and less like a cohesive narrative. It is not a bad book on the Neibur Brothers, but it is not what I would consider one of the better of this class of “introduction to” books.
The Niebuhr Brothers for Armchair Theologians by Scott Paeth Purchase Links: Paperback, Kindle Edition
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An ebook was provided by the publisher for purposes of review.
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