Niebuhr c. 1927
- Google AI Overview
Reinhold Niebuhr wrote the famous
Serenity Prayer (“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change…”) in the early 1930s, amid the rise of Nazism and global turmoil, as a call for mature, responsible love and action against injustice, not passive acceptance, urging people to find courage to change evil (like Nazism) and wisdom to know what to accept, reflecting the desperate need for ethical clarity during that era, notes Rehabs.in and The Presbyterian Outlook.
Key Context:
- Timing & Purpose: Niebuhr penned the prayer (around 1932-1933) for his summer congregation, grappling with the spread of evil and the need for Christians to act responsibly, even when facing morally hazardous situations, as seen in Germany.
- Action vs. Acceptance: While often used for personal serenity, Niebuhr intended it to encourage active engagement and fighting against societal evils, rather than merely accepting them, as he later discussed in The Irony of American History.
- Not Just for Recovery: Though widely adopted by Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), its original context was theological and political, addressing the profound moral challenges presented by Nazism and global war, as detailed in Rehabs.in.
The Prayer (Original Version):
“God, give us grace to accept with serenity the things that cannot be changed,
Courage to change the things that should be changed,
And the wisdom to know the difference”.
Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr (June 21, 1892 – June 1, 1971) was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Wikipedia