Was MLK Jr. a Christian?

They did, I agree.

BUT we are not talking about the FBI. We ate talking about MLK Jr.'s explanations of his faith.

He preached the empty tomb and undying Christ. But he explained this (apart from the pulpit) as outward expressions of inner experiences.

Those ho followed Christ eorehis death were drawn to his personality. They found God (this higher ethical existance...good conquering evil) in Christ. When Jesus died this truth (this "god") lived on in them rather than dying with Christ.

MLK's explanations is that in a pre-scientific age these inner experiences found an outward expression in the myth of a bodily resurrection, virgin birth, and divine Christ.

But if you strip away what we know is false (the supernatural) you arrive at the foundation. The grave was empty (the ethical philosophy of Jesus did not die with the man).

I'm sorry, but that is NOT Christianity any more than the Jefferson Bible is Christian.

 

With liberal Christian, yes, I was speaking of liberal Christianity. With MLK I was referring to "historical Jesus" as later used by the Jesus Seminar.

 

What hearsay?

MLK wrote several times what he believed. We know what he believed.

If any member here claimed to believe what MLK wrote (several times) that he believed they would be denounced as non-Christian.

Christians have a bad habit of "Christianizing" men who have done great things.

 

It isn't. It is a seminary paper expressing his beliefs and letters as a civil rights leader.

For example, his Letter from a Birmingham Jail continues the discussion of Jesus' "God consciousness".

Elsewhere MLK wrote "We may find the divinity of Christ not in his substantial unity with God, but in his filial consciousness and in his unique dependence upon God. . . . The orthodox attempt to explain the divinity of Jesus in terms of an inherent metaphysical substance within him seems to me quite inadaquate."

In his "Christian Theology for Today" MLK identified Gandhi as an individual who greatly reveals the working of the Spirit of God.


I understand that to you that may be within our faith. But to me, it is not.

 

If you submitted a theological paper to me that I thought was wrong but adequately presented your belief it would have no bearing on your grade.

Regardless, MLK could have recanted rather than reemphasize his previous stated belief.

It may be more fair to say MLK was influenced by a liberal college than to say he lied to get a passing grade.

 

I agree to an extent.

Where we disagree is that I believe to reject Christ's divinity (or to redefine Christ's divinity as Jesus having a God consciousness as MLK expounded upon in his seminary paper and reaffirmed briefly in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail) excludes one from being a Christian.

We also disagree in that I believe redefining Christ's resurrection as Jesus' philosophy living on after His death is non-Christian.

I agree rejecting the Virgin Birth may not indicate a lost state.

But the other two do (the last one rejects Paul's definition).

 

We can put this I'm perspective by looking at other men who did great things but were not by definition Christian.

Like MLK, Thomas Jefferson allowed, with some failures, the moral teachings of Christ to affect his life. He also lived by a "Christian" philosophy that he adapted to his purpose in life. But he also denied the supernatural. Like MLK, he viewed Christ's bodily resurrection and divinity as a myth established after Christ's earthly ministry to outwardly make sense of a philosophy that did not fit the culture contemporary to its authorship.

I'd say Jefferson, like MLK, was not a Christian. It does matter what people believe.

Like MLK, Mahatma Gandhi fought for civil rights and non-violence. And he was also influenced by the teachings of Christ (among other religious texts). Like MLK, Gandhi did not view Christ as offering supernatural salvation. He did not view Christ as God.

I'd say Gandhi was not a Christian.

We can say being born anew is necessary. We all agree on that. But Christians also have a set of Christian beliefs that MLK, Jefferson, and Gandhi lacked.

We should not cheapen our faith to be inclusive of men who made great strides in this world.

When we do, we exchange the gospel of Jesus Christ for a social gospel.