Agape On Cross

Reinhold Niebuhr is the most famous theologist and thinker in America in 20th century. Meanwhile, he is the representative of the New Orthodoxy theology and the founder of Christianity Realism. His thoughts and activities deeply influenced the modern America society and the whole western society.In this article, it was first mentioned the academy's research for Niebuhr from the aspects of both Chinese academy and the western academy. Secondly, I emphasize on the three basic characteristics of Niebuhr's thoughts: he bas'ed his theory on the belief of Christianity and insisted on the position of apology; he has the social reality in mind; he emphasized on human's relation in the existing situation. These three characteristics of Niebuhr's thoughts are not independent. They're mingling and embody the topic of this article—Agape. The third part of this article is the most important one. Many researchers always take it for granted that the interest and elucidation of "sin" are the point of the Niebuhr's thoughts, however, in this article, "sin" is not the only nuclear but one of the necessary support to Niebuhr's mansion of theory. In his thoughts, there is still another per foliate motif—"Agape", he considered "agape" as "impossible possibility" and the ultimate dream of human beings as meaning pursuers.The article emphasizes its analysis on the relationship of Man's freedom and sin, sin and love from the initial aim of Man's place. Niebuhr thoughts that agape is theessentiality principle of human beings. It symbolizes the agape and mutual love. Agape is about God and sacrifice, it's absolute, unconditional, sacrificial; mutual love is about human beings, it's relative, conditional, reciprocal. The relationship of agape and mutual love is dialectic. Agape is shown as justice in social reality, justice is the embodiment in social reality of ideal of loves, meanwhile, justice passes two principles of it again —Freedom and coming to realize equally. People place themselves in the conjunction of nature and spirit, finity and infinity, history inside and history outside. As human beings, people talk to God, their situations of oneself determine the possibility of agape, agape should first guarantee its absolute place and surpassment, at the same time, and it should realize its own reality. So, the surmounting and reality of agape always demonstrate enormous tension.Niebuhr's theology is situation, he has not come to probe into people's essence and God's agape in terms of ontology, he see from realistic situation and historical truth existence of paradox type of people and that the rule of natural instinct of people is agape. He insists on regarding faith of Holy Bible as the prerequisite, reviewing the era in him and social reality are, and the conclusion is that agape is a kind of "impossible possibility" that the conclusion and has social effects.