Will Herberg Quotes & Sayings

Modern society has not rid itself of religion, as it fondly believes; it has merely replaced the historical religions by a host of idolatrous cults struggling for possession of the soul of man. — Will Herberg

The attempt made in recent decades by secularist thinkers to disengage the moral principles of western civilization from their scripturally based religious context, in the assurance that they could live a life of their own as "humanistic" ethics, has resulted in our "cut flower culture." Cut flowers retain their original beauty and fragrance, but only so long as they retain the vitality that they have drawn from their now-severed roots; after that is exhausted, they wither and die. So with freedom, brotherhood, justice, and personal dignity - the values that form the moral foundation of our civilization. Without the life-giving power of the faith out of which they have sprung, they possess neither meaning nor vitality. — Will Herberg

Man is homo religiosus, by 'nature' religious: as much as he needs food to eat or air to breathe, he needs a faith for living. — Will Herberg

America seems to be at once the most religious and the most secular of all nations. — Will Herberg

Ultimately all idolatry is worship of the self projected and objectified: all idolization is self-idolization. — Will Herberg