Posted on July 7, 2026
Interpretation: Susan Sparks article “Reinhold Niebuhr Was Wrong”
Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 2026, Vol. 80(3) 251–260
Abstract
This essay challenges Reinhold Niebuhr’s claim that laughter belongs only in the “outer courts” of faith and
must fall silent in the Holy of Holies. Through historical, theological, and cultural analysis—as well as lived
pastoral experience and an unapologetic dash of humor—this essay demonstrates that humor is not merely
permissible within the sacred but essential to it. Laughter offers perspective, strengthens community, disarms
power, loosens our grip on rigid certainties, and opens a pathway to forgiveness. Most important, humor
functions as a spiritual life-support system in moments of profound suffering, where despair threatens to
eclipse faith. In such spaces—which are themselves the true Holy of Holies—laughter becomes a courageous
act of hope. Ultimately, this essay contends that humor is not a threat to holiness but one of its deepest
expressions.