From his enslavement to freedom, Frederick Douglass was one of America's most extraordinary champions of liberty and equality. Throughout his long life, Douglass was also a man of profound religious conviction. In this concise and original biography, D. H. Dilbeck offers a provocative interpretation of Douglass's life through the lens of his faith. In an era when the role of religion in public life is as contentious as ever, Dilbeck provides essential new perspective on Douglass's place in American history.
Douglass came to faith as a teenager among African American Methodists in Baltimore. For the rest of his life, he adhered to a distinctly prophetic Christianity. Imitating the ancient Hebrew prophets and Jesus Christ, Douglass boldly condemned evil and oppression, especially when committed by the powerful. Dilbeck shows how Douglass's prophetic Christianity provided purpose and unity to his wide-ranging work as an author, editor, orator, and reformer. As "America's Prophet," Douglass exposed his nation's moral failures and hypocrisies in the hopes of creating a more just society. He admonished his fellow Americans to truly abide by the political and religious ideals they professed to hold most dear. Two hundred years after his birth, Douglass's prophetic voice remains as timely as ever.
D. H. Dilbeck is a historian from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and author of A More Civil War.
D. H. Dilbeck does a very fine job assessing and then discussing the importance of the black prophetic voice to this reformer and Christian activist." - Spirituality & Practice
"A superb account of one man's 50-year fight for human rights and freedom in America. Recommended for those interested in the U.S. Middle Period, Civil War, African American history, and all readers." - Library Journal, starred review
"Offers a religiously oriented study-not a conventional biography-of Frederick Douglass, emphasizing the pervasive importance of Christianity in his life and thought . . . Compact and attractively written." - Journal of American History
"Undertakes the difficult project of bringing coherence to the seldom related spiritual narratives, biblical language, and religious symbolism in Douglass' speeches and writings. . . . A significant contribution." - Journal of Church and State
"Although his early religious interests are usually missing from most accounts, in Frederick Douglass: America's Prophet Dilbeck insists that 'Douglass held fast to the Christian faith his entire adult life.'" - Claremont Review of Books
"Dilbeck has produced a religious biography that sheds light on the sacred sources of a well-known public career." - Choice
"In this concise biography, D.H. Dilbeck focuses on the development of Frederick Douglas's prophetic Christianity and its 'core theological convictions' as integral to his political activism." - Journal of the Civil War Era
"In America's Prophet, Dilbeck shows a more radical side of Douglass, who relied on the teachings of Christ to fight the immoral practices of slavery. . . . In looking at Douglass' life encounters with domestic and international clergy, Dilbeck vividly displays his frustration with their complicit reaction to the denial of blacks' civil and human rights. He shines a great light on another aspect of Douglass as one of America's prophets." - Reading Religion
