A communist political activist during his early years, Herberg gained wider public recognition as a social philosopher and sociologist of religion, as well as a Jewish theologian.

William Herberg, commonly known as "Will," was born on June 30, 1901, to a Jewish family in the shtetl of Lyakhavichy, Belarus, located near the city of Minsk in what was then part of the Russian Empire.

[1] The family's economic position deteriorated in America, however, and Will's parents were divorced about ten years after arriving in the United States, with Will and his younger brother raised by his mother, who earned money as a housekeeper and small-scale manufacturer of knit fabric belts.

[2] During his high school years, Herberg demonstrated great capacity as a student, studying mathematics, physics, German, Hebrew, and French, while writing poetry in his spare time.

[2] While at City College, Herberg studied mathematics, English literature, and various physical sciences, developing a keen interest in psychology and the writings of Sigmund Freud.

[3] Herberg was suspended from City College in the fall of 1920 due to frequent absences from military science class, accentuated by an altercation with the officer in charge of the course.

[4] The couple would become intellectually compatible throughout Herberg's long ideological journey from communist youth journalist to conservative political writer and prominent Jewish theologian.

[14]" The original author to whom Herberg referred to was Quaker Philosopher of Religion, D. Elton Trueblood, who coined the term "cut-flower civilization" in his 1944 book, The Predicament of Modern Man.

[17] Herberg's memorial service was held in the Great Hall of Drew University in Madison, New Jersey, and was attended by a throng of rabbis, professors, and former students and political associates.