W.E.B. Du Bois: Toward Agnosticism, 1868-1934

by Brian L. Johnson

Overview

Brian L. Johnson's remarkable biography of W.E.B. Du Bois describes the evolution of religious views from Du Bois's birth until his resignation as editor of Crisis magazine in 1934. W.E.B. Du Bois: Toward Agnosticism, 1868-1934 traces Du Bois's mounting skepticism through his earliest church experiences to his sociological training in Berlin culminating with his writings in Crisis magazine. Johnson argues that despite Du Bois's frequent use of Protestant religious rhetoric, the mature Du Bois was a critic of African American religious organizations and their leaders, and a scientifically oriented agnostic who did not adhere to any religious orthodoxy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780742565753
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	09/05/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	154
File size:	216 KB

About the Author

Brian L. Johnson is chief of staff at Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, and associate professor of English in its Center for Integrated Studies.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction
Chapter 2
Chapter 1: The First Congregational Church of Great Barrington
Chapter 3
Chapter 2: T. Thomas Fortune's New York Globe (Freeman) and Great Barrington's 'Very Religious' and 'Strange' Settlers
Chapter 4
Chapter 3: From a Christian Pragmatism to Social Science: Fisk, Harvard &Berlin
Chapter 5
Chapter 4: Silent Times: The Preacher, the Scholar, and the American Negro Academy
Chapter 6
Chapter 5: As the Crow Flies
Chapter 7
Chapter 6: The Agnostic Pulpit: The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races
Chapter 8 Epilogue: The Great Ghandhi, The Prophet of Communism, and Agnostic Legacy

Editorial Reviews

Johnson uses many excellent quotations and excerpts from Du Bois' writings to demonstrate Du Bois' agnosticism....This book is a fine introduction to a side of Du Bois that, in Johnson's opinion, has been 'wholly avoided.'

Free Inquiry

In W.E.B. Du Bois: Toward Agnosticism, Johnson maintains that Du Bois scholars have avoided examining the role of agnosticism in Du Bois' life....Johnson uses many excellent quotations and excerpts from Du Bois' writings to demonstrate Du Bois' agnosticism....this book is a fine introduction to a side of Du Bois that, in Johnson's opinion has been "wholly avoided."

Free Inquiry - Norm R. Allen Jr.

Johnson uses many excellent quotations and excerpts from Du Bois' writings to demonstrate Du Bois' agnosticism....This book is a fine introduction to a side of Du Bois that, in Johnson's opinion, has been 'wholly avoided.'

May 2010 Free Inquiry

In W.E.B. Du Bois: Toward Agnosticism, Johnson maintains that Du Bois scholars have avoided examining the role of agnosticism in Du Bois' life....Johnson uses many excellent quotations and excerpts from Du Bois' writings to demonstrate Du Bois' agnosticism....this book is a fine introduction to a side of Du Bois that, in Johnson's opinion has been "wholly avoided."--Norm R. Allen Jr. "Free Inquiry, April/May 2010 "

Johnson uses many excellent quotations and excerpts from Du Bois' writings to demonstrate Du Bois' agnosticism....This book is a fine introduction to a side of Du Bois that, in Johnson's opinion, has been 'wholly avoided.'--Free Inquiry, May 2010

From the Publisher