Featured Martin Luther King Jr. and influences on Black churches

Because of a recent inquiry (brought on by a comment here) I’ve been reading The Papers of Martin Luther King Jr. (on Stanford University’s The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute).

I want to start off by saying that my comments in no way disparage his contributions in the Civil Right’s Movement. This is another topic entirely.

Martin Luther King pastored one church (from 1954 to 1960), the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church in Montgomery AL. He is often (where I live, anyway) associated with Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta GA (where I understand he was ordained).

I had always assumed, therefore, that Martin Luther King Jr. was Christian. But it is very apparent I was wrong.

Martin Luther King Jr. did not believe that Christ was divine – except in his submission to God. MLK did not believe that Christ was “the Word made flesh” or like God in any supernatural sense. He did not believe Christ was born of a virgin. Instead He believed that Jesus was “divine” in that he stood “in unity with God and man”. Jesus “became a true son of man by becoming a true son of God….[he]completely opened his life to the influence of the divine spirit.”

He did not believe that there will be a “Seconding coming” of Christ (physically) but instead that every time we “turn our hearts to the highest and the best there is for us the Christ”.

He did not believe in “a day of Judgment” where Christ will judge but rather a judgment whereby we can measure ourselves by the standards of Christ.

Martin Luther King Jr. did not believe in the resurrection of Christ. Instead he saw this as a myth that arose out of the early church who were ”captivated by the magnetic power of [Jesus’] personality.” Which led to “the faith that he [Jesus] could never die”. The “resurrection” is merely an outward expression of the inner experience. “The people saw within Jesus such a uniqueness of quality and spirit that to explain him in terms of ordinary background was to them quite inadequate”. They could only account for Jesus “in terms of biological uniqueness”. MLK contends they were not being “unscientific in their approach because they had no knowledge of the scientific.”. The “myth” of orthodox Christianity (Jesus being born of a virgin, Jesus being God, Jesus rising from the dead, Jesus coming again physically) are all expressions of “true Christianity” poorly expressed by today’s standards but adequate to the early church.


We know that Martin Luther King Jr. (like Thomas Jefferson) looked to the Bible and Christianity as essential - BUT not as Christians. They followed Jesus not as the Son of God but as a moral teacher (they did not believe in the supernatural aspects of Christianity). I would argue that MLK was closer to Christianity than Jefferson....but closeness does not a Christian make.


My question is whether or not these influences are in traditional Black churches in America. I am asking (I do not know). Are Black churches more prone to replace the gospel of Jesus Christ with a social gospel?

 

I have a friend who is a Black preacher and I would never imagine him denying Christ.

It is disheartening to read MLK's theological writings and sermons. He was a remarkable person, nonetheless.

Many of his writings can be referenced here:

The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute

 

Yes. Remarkable in his contributions and in his failings.

My question is how someone like MLK ends up a Baptist pastor given he was not a Christian and if this was also a sign of a problem with churches.

 

I do not know where MLK ended up in his faith. I know many if his writings reflect the heart of a non-Christian. But many were early writings.

 

I don't know how much I buy the Marxist charges. I knew he was a womanizer.

What we have of his religious views places him outside of the Christian faith, but most were from his time at Crozer and a few sermons at Dexter. He was pastor for a short time at one church and his contributions were mainly as a Civil Rights activist.

If he came to refute his writings I do not know. I would love to see that he repented of his infidelity to Coretta and accepted the faith. I just fo not know.

But I do know he was not a Christian when considered a church leader.

I don't mean this thread to be degrading MLK. Men are fallible. A.W. Tozer is one of my favorite preachers, but as a family man goes he was a failure. We should be able to recognize contributions without idolizing men.

It just amazes me that we consider men like MLK to be Christian when they testify to the contrary. We seem to want to claim people....an actor "converts" and they become our heros of the day.

 

That does not make sense to me. His communist ties were obvious, and that is one reason the FBI file is still sealed?

Doesn't matter, I guess. MLK was before my time....and I'm a Roger Waters fan (saw his concert in Nashville a few years ago). I'm pretty sure Waters has at least some communistic tendencies. They had a whole stage of kids wearing "Resist" t-shirts singing "we don't need no education"....which was a dead giveaway.

 

I agree. I do not see a racial slant in those writings, but they do suggest not only an awareness of social injustice but also a need for resolution.

I agree with MLK when it comes to issues of race.

His writings, however, call into question his Christianity. Even later, in an Easter sermon preached at Dexter. MLK calls into question the idea of a bodily resurrection and eternal life (refering to it as an amalgamation of Hebrew and Greek concepts).

 

Thomas Jefferson had a very similar understanding. He rejected the supernatural aspects of the Bible but took to heart the moral implications.

When we read MLK's sermons realizing his beliefs they are, in a way, more profound towards his work. He focused his message on doing the right thing without knowing the consequences (he believed Christ was unaware of the cross until His arrest was imminent, and when He saw what was to come He was not disuaded but remained obedient to God).

 

I agree with the article. MLK was gifted. Imagine if he were a Christian. His life would have been different, but perhaps he would have done so much more than awakening America to social injustices.