Washington: Former FBI chief James B. Comey ended a months-long Twitter tease Monday when he confirmed that he is the owner of a cryptic, nature-photo-loving account with the name Reinhold Niebuhr.

Since the spring, when Gizmodo journalist Ashley Feinberg sleuthed that the account belonged to Comey, thousands of people have retweeted and analysed the account’s nature photos and brief phrases.

“Beautiful fall day at West Point. Lone kayaker on the Hudson.” — Reinhold Niebuhr (@FormerBu) October 18, 2017

“So what you’re telling us is: Mueller is the lone kayaker over a river of treasonous information . . . right?” one responded. Another: “The scene of Benedict Arnold’s crimes. Hmmm. . .”

Photos last week about Iowa triggered panting speculation that Comey is running for president, an endeavour that often begins with the Iowa straw poll and then the caucuses there.

“Is this a veiled nod to some political future? (very pro, if so),” wrote one.

Some embraced the total vagueness:

“Watching migrating white pelicans in Iowa thinking about Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer” — Reinhold Niebuhr (@FormerBu)

“Understood. The condor has feathered its nest. I repeat: the condor has feathered its nest.” — pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) October 22, 2017

On Monday, Comey tweeted the account’s sixth tweet: A photo of himself.

So that’s one mystery solved. But who is Niebuhr, and why did Comey name the account after him?

Our best guess comes from religion reporter colleagues who after the Gizmodo reporting found Comey’s undergraduate thesis at the College of William & Mary. The paper was about Niebuhr, a prominent theologian.

Jack Jenkins wrote in Think Progress that while most Americans wouldn’t know Niebuhr’s name today, “he was once unavoidable: beginning in the 1930s and extending into the 1960s, Niebuhr’s various treatises on the intersection of Christianity and public life were at the centre of innumerable public debates, and his voice was a constant in conversations about the moral dimensions of war, use of nuclear weapons, and civil rights.”

Among those who have quoted and called Niebuhr their favourite theologian are thinkers and politicians from Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to David Brooks and John McCain, Jenkins wrote.

In a spring piece in Christianity Today, Steven Weitzman wrote that for leaders across the ideological spectrum, Niebuhr “offers a justification for pragmatism, for the use of force, and for the moral compromises that political action imposes”:

“How did this particular theologian become so many politicians’ moral and spiritual compass? Niebuhr developed a view known as Christian realism, believing the human ego would undercut our attempts to better the world. According to Niebuhr, people need to shed their self-righteous illusions and perfectionist pretensions to set their sights on more modest solutions. Niebuhr warned that people should never assume they could eliminate evil. In fact, they should be on guard lest their moral ambitions lead them into a self-deluded and destructive pride.”

Comey’s thesis compares Niebuhr with Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell. At the time, the televangelist had emerged as a central figure in American politics following the election of President Ronald Reagan. Comey’s study was an effort to understand how each man would answer the question: “Why should the Christian be involved in politics?”

Comey, who Jenkins said is a Methodist, in the paper rejects what he sees as Falwell’s “numbers game” approach to Christianity and what he characterises as a concept of a “Christian America.” Instead, Comey embraces Niebuhr’s version of nationalism,” Jenkins summed up.

On Sunday, Comey tweeted a photo of birds, and said he was “thinking about Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer.” The prayer is one of the most famous American meditations, adopted by clergy as well as many 12-step programmes. It reads: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and wisdom to know the difference.”

Niebuhr’s vision of Christianity lived out in America — and Comey’s selection of the name — is striking in 2017, when a more Falwellian, America-first Christian nationalism has roared to the fore.

With the rush Monday about Comey confirming he is “Reinhold Niebuhr” (or @FormerBu), there was still almost zero discussion of the theologian whose name the account bears. The chatter in comments and articles was all about Comey’s political future and what he might accomplish now that he’s trying to be in public “in useful ways.” His final tweet read:

“Goodbye Iowa. On the road home. Gotta get back to writing. Will try to tweet in useful ways.” — Reinhold Niebuhr (@FormerBu) October 23, 2017

And answered by Rogue CPI:

“Tweeting a copy of the Presidents tax returns would be *super* useful, ya handsome string bean of justice.” — Rogue CPI (@RogueCPI) October 23, 2017