Is idealistic confidence in democratic principles based on a "too optimistic view of human nature?"

Is "bourgeois civilization...in grave peril (p. 239)?"

How does Niebuhr distinguish "what is false in democratic theory from what is true in democratic life (p. 255)?"

What does Niebuhr mean when he says (p. 239) that the community requires freedom as much as the individual?

How are the human capacities for evil as well as good derived from the "spiritualization" of human impulses?

If "the simple distinctions between good & evil, between selfishness & altruism...[are] invalid," how can Niebuhr use a phrase like "children of light & children of darkness?"

How can the children of light arm themselves with the wisdom of the children of darkness but remain free from their malice?