Contents

• Introduction
• I. The Life of James Luther Adams
• Taking Time Seriously
• A Biographical and Intellectual Sketch
• Harvard Faculty Memorial Minute
• A Celebration of Life
• II. James Luther Adams at 75
• Introduction by the Editor
• The Evolution of My Social Concern
• III. James Luther Adams Papers: Six Decades
• 1. Pessimism and Optimism in Religion
• 2. Christianity and Humanism
• 3. The Stabilizer and the Shatterer
• 4. The Liberal Christian Looks at Himself
• 5. Festschrift: Presentation to Paul Tillich
• 6. The Body and the Soul of Learning
• IV. James Luther Adams Papers**
• Introduction by the Editor
• Papers
• 1. Our Enemy: Angelism
• 2. Religion’s Word Against Religion
• 3. The War of the Gods
• 4. Betraying the World with a Kiss
• 5. Perspectives on the Pluralistic Society
• 6. The Wrath and Love of God
• 7. The Creative Thrust of Conflict
• 8. By Their Groups Shall Ye Know Them
• 9. In the Fullness of Time
• 10. Originality
• 11. A Sense of a Cosmic Reality
• 12. Music: The Language of Hope
• 13. Art, Religion, and Utopia
• 14. Archibald Thompson Davison
• 15. Why Sing?
• 16. Crosses
• 17. The Crucifixion
• 18. The Bridge of Confidence
• Blessed are the Powerful
• A James Luther Adams Chronology

Introduction

James Luther Adams Foundation

Promoting the thought and work of James Luther Adams

The James Luther Adams Foundation is pleased to be a sponsor and a supporter of James Luther Adams. Prophet to the Powerful.  The Foundation was formed in 1977 to help Adams continue his scholarly work during his retirement.  It provided him with secretarial help and produced on videotape and DVD Adams and the church historian, George H. Williams, discussing the films Adams had taken in Germany during the rise of Nazi power in 1936.  It also arranged the disposition of Adams’ papers at the University of Syracuse research library.

Since the death of James Luther Adams in 1994, the JLA Foundation has concentrated on maintaining Adams’ intellectual history.  It does this by continuing the preservation of his tapes and papers and sponsoring the annual James Luther Adams Forum on Religion and Society.  Here lectures are given on topics associated with Adams’ particular concerns for relating Christian faith to society. For maximum exposure, they are moved around the country.  

More information about the Foundation can be found on its web site, www.jameslutheradams.org, or by contacting it at 11 Miller Road, Beverly MA 01915-1315 or scmott@comcast.net (telephone and fax: 978-927-0216).

There are eight other anthologies of Adams’ essays (cf. the web site for more information on these).  James Luther Adams. Prophet to the Powerful stands out, however, in several ways.  Starting with four essays on his life, the papers progress in a manner that indicates his evolving social concerns over the several decades of his writing.  Most of the essays were previously published in a journal, The Unitarian Universalist Christian, which unfortunately is not widely distributed.  Now these essays are in a book and so available for purchase, easily located, and entering libraries that do not carry the journal.  Finally, the entire book is also online, making it accessible at all times in many parts of the world.  This book is a distinct contribution to the maintenance of the diverse and penetrating intellectual heritage of James Luther Adams.  For this the Foundation is deeply grateful to Herbert F. Vetter and the Harvard Square Library.  

Stephen Charles Mott, President

The James Luther Adams Foundation