Frederick Ludwig Herzog (1925–1995) was an American systematic theologian at Duke University and minister of the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

. An impassioned champion of

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life o ...

, his academic focus was

liberation theology Liberation theology is a Christian theological approach emphasizing the liberation of the oppressed. In certain contexts, it engages socio-economic analyses, with "social concern for the poor and political liberation for oppressed peoples". I ...

Life

Herzog was born on November 29, 1925, in

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North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...

. He earned his doctorate from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

in 1953 under the supervision of after having studied in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and Switzerland, where he was an assistant to the theologian Karl Barth. He was ordained to the ministry of the

, the successor to the German Reformed denomination of his childhood. In 1960, he joined the faculty at

Duke Divinity School The Divinity School at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, is one of ten graduate or professional schools within Duke University. It is also one of thirteen seminaries founded and supported by the United Methodist Church. It has 39 regular ...

. Herzog taught Christian theology at Duke until his sudden death during a faculty meeting on October 9, 1995. In the spring of 1970, he wrote the first North American article by a white theologian on liberation theology, following James Cone's ''Black Theology and Black Power'' published in 1969, and in 1972 his ''Liberation Theology'' was published. In ''Justice Church'' Herzog extended his methodology for liberation theology in North America. During the final ten years of his life, his writings were strongly affected by his work in Latin America, especially Peru where he assisted with the support of a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

-related seminary, the cause of which he was championing at the moment of his death. His daughter,

Dagmar Herzog Dagmar Herzog (born 1961) is Distinguished Professor of History and the Daniel Rose Faculty Scholar at the Graduate Center, City University of New York. She has published extensively on the histories of sexuality and gender, psychoanalysis, theolo ...

, is professor of history at the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the C ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

Published works

*Herzog, F. ''Liberation Theology'' *Herzog, F. ''European Pietism Reviewed'' *Herzog, F. ''Justice Church'' *Herzog, F. ''God-Walk - Liberation Shaping Dogmatics'' Two books have been published referring to his work: *''Theology & Corporate Conscience: Essays in Honor of Frederick Herzog'' (ed by MD Meeks, J Moltmann, FR Trost) *''Theology from the Belly of the Whale: A Frederick Herzog Reader'' (ed by

Joerg Rieger Joerg Michael Rieger (born 1963) is a German professor of Christian theology whose work emphasizes economic justice and political movements. Rieger is also an ordained minister of the United Methodist Church. Life and career Born on August 3, ...

) The Duke University Libraries has a collection of his papers:
Guide to the Frederick Herzog Papers, 1947-2011 and undated (bulk 1947-1995)
Pertinent Articles:
Religion-online.org

References

Bibliography

* * * * * 1925 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American theologians Academics from North Dakota American Christian theologians American male non-fiction writers American people of German descent Christians from North Carolina Christians from North Dakota Duke Divinity School faculty Liberation theologians People from McIntosh County, North Dakota Princeton University alumni Religious leaders from North Carolina Religious leaders from North Dakota Seminary academics United Church of Christ ministers 20th-century American clergy {{US-theologian-stub