University of Denver Digital Commons @ DU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies 8-1-2014 Setting the Captors Free: Soteriology in the Thought and Praxis of Martin Luther King, Jr. Jacob W. Kines Jr. University of Denver Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd Part of the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Kines, Jacob W. Jr., "Setting the Captors Free: Soteriology in the Thought and Praxis of Martin Luther King, Jr." (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 339. https://digitalcommons.du.edu/etd/339 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies at Digital Commons @ DU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ DU. For more information, please contact [email protected],[email protected]. SETTING THE CAPTORS FREE: SOTERIOLOGY IN THE THOUGHT AND PRAXIS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. _________ A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology Joint Ph.D. Program University of Denver __________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy __________ by Jacob W. Kines, Jr. August 2014 Advisor: Dr. Ted Vial Author: Jacob W. Kines, Jr. Title: Setting the Captors Free: Soteriology in the Thought and Praxis of Martin Luther King, Jr. Advisor’s Name: Dr. Ted Vial Degree Date: August 2014 ABSTRACT This dissertation seeks to illuminate aspects of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s theological legacy that have thus far either gone unnoticed or have been inadequately addressed. In particular I am concerned to unearth King’s soteriological legacy for historically privileged groups, especially those claiming a Christian identity. This project explores the ways in which King’s theological method, doctrine of God, and theological anthropology informed his soteriology. Special attention is given to King’ social location as a fourth generation African American preacher reared in the racially hostile South, and the ways in which his early experiences shaped the questions, tasks, and aims of his theological program. From the early days of his teen years, King was acutely aware of the problem of evil, particularly in its social dimensions, and he began to explore what his role would be in its elimination. During his formal education at Morehouse College, Crozer Theological Seminary, and Boston University, King refined the theological conceptions that he had inherited from the Black Baptist tradition of his youth while forging his own unique perspective. Over the course of his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, King’s praxis-oriented approach to doing theology provided ongoing clarity and epistemological certitude. King’s soteriology, in both its personal and social dimensions, still stands as a much needed complement and corrective for Christians in places of power and privilege today. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am profoundly grateful for my undergraduate professors David McKenzie and Harvey Hill who first modeled for me the importance of academic rigor as a Christian vocation. Next, I thank Noel Erskine, a King scholar who challenged me to push beyond simplistic renderings of King’s legacy while pointing to areas of his theology that merited further exploration. Also, I express my profound gratitude to the members of my dissertation committee, Katherine Turpin, Luis Leon, Carrie Doehring, Don Messer, and Ted Vial. Without the encouragement of Don at every step of the process, it is unlikely that I would have completed this project. Special thanks to my dissertation advisor, Ted Vial, for whom I have the utmost respect. Professor Vial, a committed academic theologian and teacher (in my experience not often found in a single person), has inspired and encouraged me to transcend many of my academic and intellectual limitations. Above all, I am grateful for the support of my family. Without the support of my mother, Joan, both financially and otherwise, my formal education would not have been possible. Finally, I thank my wife, Valerie, and children, Kate, Sam, and Evie. The sacrifices they have made for me to pursue and complete this project are incalculable. They have magnanimously endured the challenges and collateral costs of writing a dissertation. More than any intellectual or academic source, Valerie has taught me the salvific power of love. iii CONTENTS INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………................ 1 CHAPTER 1. KING’S PRAXIS-ORIENTED METHOD ……………………………... 9 2. KING’S DOCTRINE OF GOD ………………………………………… 52 3. KING’S THEOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY ……………………….. 96 4. SOTERIOLOGY: SETTING THE CAPTORS FREE …………………. 146 CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………… 209 BIBLIOGRAPHY …………………………………………………………………… 212 iv INTRODUCTION Despite the seemingly innumerable accounts offered by historians, social scientists, and theologians, as well as those proffered by popular culture, the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. remains misinterpreted and, worse, misappropriated by many. It has been argued by one political scientist that King was a “person of color” who had political ambitions professionally, but due to the societal limitations imposed on African Americans during the King years, he saw the ordained ministry as the next best alternative.1 Others have argued that King is “best understood as a theologian,”2 while still others have claimed that he was “neither a systematic theologian, nor a great religious thinker.”3 Clayborne Carson, who has dedicated most of his career to preserving King’s writings, speeches, and orations, claims that King’s identity and legacy has become so distorted over the years that he wonders “if he would be welcome at Martin Luther King Day.”4 That is, King’s concern for the plight of the poor, his 1 Peter Lawler, Professor of Political Science at Berry College, made this statement in a conversation with this writer. The desire to better understand King’s constitutive commitments became the topic of an undergraduate thesis. 2 Luther D. Ivory, Toward a Theology of Radical Involvement: The Theological Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Nashville: Abington, 1997), 16-17. 3 Ira Chernus, American Nonviolence: The History of an Idea (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2004), 161. 4 Clayborne Carson, Interviewed by Tavis Smiley in MLK: A Call to Conscience [Tavis Smiley Presents PBS Television Series]. Dir. Allan Palmer, Prod. Sasheen Artis. Original air date: 31 March 2010. 1 impatience with government spending to support violent campaigns abroad at the expense of desperately needed programs of social uplift at home, and his penetrating analysis of the interrelationship of many of the nation’s social maladies would not likely be welcomed as a topic of conversation at commemoration events claiming to honor King’s legacy. Scholarship in recent years has sought to reclaim King’s legacy, particularly his contribution as a theological thinker. The challenge has been due in part to the lack of clarity about what it means to be a theologian. There is no general consensus regarding the tasks of the theologian, the audience(s) to whom the theologian makes a claim to attention, or the criteria employed for adjudicating “truth” claims. David Tracy has made a significant contribution to resolving these issues. He helps denote the distinct, but perhaps inseparable sub-disciplines within theology including formal (academic), systematic (ecclesial), and practical (public).5 Kenneth Smith and Ira Zepp were among the first to provide an account of the intellectual sources that influenced King’s thought. In later years their work came under heavy criticism for not fully appreciating the degree to which King’s social location as a an African American in the racially hostile South, his family of origin, the church of his youth, and other aspects of his social milieu contributed to his later thought and praxis. Lewis Baldwin and James Cone, as well as biographers Taylor Branch and David Garrow have done extensive work in complementing what was previously missing in that regard. 5 David Tracy, The Analogical Imagination: Christianity in an Age of Pluralism (New York: Crossroad Publishing, 1981), see especially Chapters 1 and 2. 2 Identifying the specific doctrines that undergirded King’s social activism and leadership in the Civil Rights Movement has been done most effectively by Noel Erskine, Richard Wills, Rufus Burrow, James Cone, and Luther Ivory. Erskine offers what he sees as the proper method and tasks of theology, and he argues on those bases that King rightfully deserves his place “among the theologians.” He introduces King’s praxis- oriented approach to theology, and contrasts his method and aims with that of James Cone, Paul Tillich, and Karl Barth. Wills focuses primarily on King’s theological anthropology, and Burrow illuminates the ways in which Boston personalism contributed to King’s concepts of God and the human condition while also offering helpful links to his social activism. Cone is insistent that King was primarily the product of the Black church, and that any analysis of King’s theology must be viewed through that lens. Ivory’s work most closely resembles this project in locating King as a praxis theologian of “radical involvement.” His treatment of King’s praxis addresses many of the major “traditional” theological doctrines, but he fails to deal adequately with King’s soteriology. This dissertation seeks to illuminate aspects of King’s theological legacy that have thus far either gone unnoticed or have been inadequately addressed. Surprisingly little consideration has been given to the relationship between King’s conceptions of God, anthropology, and soteriology. While both Erskine and Ivory introduce King’s method of doing theology, they do so, for the most part, implicitly. And, although Wills argues that King’s theological anthropology is foundational, his anthropology can only be understood as it is held in tension with his doctrine of God and as that tension is related to his broader concern (eliminating evil/salvation). Finally, King’s epistemology has not 3 received proper consideration.