Religion: Words & Works

¶ "In America, Christianity faces the danger of becoming a utilitarian faith, a faith that is practiced for the sake of getting something here and now," said Yale University's H. Richard Niebuhr, professor of theology, in a lecture at the University of Michigan. A utilitarian faith, declared Theologian Niebuhr (brother of Theologian Reinhold Niebuhr), is "the kind that says it is a good thing to believe in God because it will make you prosperous. A utilitarian faith takes the form of mental health. It allays anxiety. It makes you feel as you feel when you've had a good hot bath. This is the adjustment of religion to the American way of life, to the refrigerator and the Cadillac way of life. This kind of faith never says: 'I tremble for my country because God is just.' "

¶ The State Department ended the academic stir caused by Protestant-oriented Harvard Divinity School's recent appointment of British Historian Christopher Dawson to a new chair in Roman Catholic studies. The department denied Dawson a visa—"for a strictly medical reason," which it refused to disclose. The reason: pulmonary tuberculosis, diagnosed by a U.S. Public Health physician who examined Dawson, 68, in London. Dawson's British physicians disagree with the diagnosis, have given him a clean bill of health, which he still hopes may change the State Department's mind.

¶ Chicago gave Evangelist Billy Graham a cold shoulder last week. After a poll on whether to sponsor a Graham crusade, the Church Federation of Greater Chicago reported that church bodies representing ; 338,000 members were in favor—but those representing 693,000 members stood opposed or uncommitted, mainly on the ground that mass meetings give an incomplete presentation of Protestantism. Decision : no invitation for Billy.