Similarly, neither the seminary nor the church had many illusions that they would dominate California society and culture. Second, it has helped prepare us for the unprecedented religious and cultural pluralism that has come to characterize California. There is a third way in which our shared origin in Christocentric Liberalism prepares us well for the future. The greatest theologian of the 20 th century, Reinhold Niebuhr, suggested that there are three main ways of understanding human social experience. One way of understanding this experience is tragic , essentially the view that good and evil are so intertwined that one must do evil to accomplish good.
Creativity brings destruction.
Another view of the world emphasizes pathos . Niebuhr wrote in a time when Existentialism was a much more important force than it is today. At the same time, we see signs of the pathetic world view today. If you don't believe me, spend some time on Telegraph Avenue or on the steps of this church. Reinhold Niebuhr advocated an appreciation of irony as an alternative way of being in the world.