Filters

EVENTS

03.13.26

Slow Theology in a Frantic World, with Nijay Gupta

Join us for an Online Conversation with Nijay Gupta on March 13.
Learn More
03.23.26

Take Up the Tale: Bringing the Epic Tradition Into Our Time, with Malcolm Guite

Join us in Washington, DC on March 23, 2026 for an Evening Conversation with Malcolm Guite.
Learn More

Trinity Forum Membership

Join or Renew Your Trinity Forum Membership

GIVE

Give a One-Time Gift or Explore Planned Giving

The President’s Circle

Become a Leading Supporter of the Trinity Forum

Sponsorships

Sponsor a Conversation, Podcast, or Reading

Children of Light and the Children of Darkness

This Trinity Forum Reading features selections from Reinhold Niebuhr’s The Children of Light and The Children of Darkness with an introduction by Wilfred M. McClay, Frank Wolf, and Tony Hall.

Price range: $5.00 through $10.00

We are pleased to present this Trinity Forum Reading, featuring selections from Reinhold Niebuhr’s The Children of Light and The Children of Darkness with an introduction by Wilfred M. McClay, Frank Wolf, and Tony Hall.

Published in 1944 amid World War II and the fight against Facism, The Children of Light and the Children of Darkness contains Reinhold Niebuhr’s defense of democracy grounded in a Christian understanding of our sinful human nature. In this Reading, Niebuhr critiques an unquestioning optimism in “progress” while explaining how democracy, with its checks and balances that account for self-interest, makes justice possible. He argues that effectual politics and good leadership are possible only when we understand the limits in which we operate. Amid today’s  fractured political climate, Niebuhr’s defense of democracy continues to be relevant.

Additional information

Format

,

Related

Democracy In America
City of God
Lost Tools of Learning
On Being Human