Although countless books have been devoted to the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., few, if any, have focused on King's appropriation of, and contribution to, the intellectual tradition of personalism. Burrow argues that King's adoption of personalism represented the fusion of his black Christian faith and his commitment not only to the social gospel of Walter Rauschenbusch, but most especially to the social gospel practiced by his grandfather, his father, and black preacher-scholars at Morehouse College. Burrow devotes much-needed attention both to King's conviction that the universe...

Although countless books have been devoted to the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., few, if any, have focused on King's appropriation of, and contribution to, the intellectual tradition of personalism. Emerging as a philosophical movement in the early 1900s, personalism is a type of philosophical idealism that has a number of affinities with Christianity, such as a focus on a personal God and the sanctity of persons. Burrow points to similarities and dissimilarities between personalism and the social gospel movement with its call to churchgoers to involve themselves in the welfare of...

The Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. explores the development of Dr. King's understanding of the relationship among religion, morality, law, and politics. This fascinating work is part of a broader effort by scholars in various fields to examine unexplored areas in the life, thought, and activism of Martin Luther King, Jr., and it represents the first book-length treatment of how King united moral-religious convictions and political activity. This timely study is also the first in-depth analysis of King's views on the roles that religion and morality ought to play, not only in public...

The Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. explores the development of Dr. King s understanding of the relationship among religion, morality, law, and politics. This fascinating work is part of a broader effort by scholars in various fields to examine unexplored areas in the life, thought, and activism of Martin Luther King, Jr., and it represents the first book-length treatment of how King united moral-religious convictions and political activity. This timely study is also the first in-depth analysis of King s views on the roles that religion and morality ought to play, not only in public...

About the Contributor(s): Lewis V. Baldwin is Professor of Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. He is the author or editor of eleven books on Martin Luther King, Jr., including The Voice of Conscience: The Church in the Mind of Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). Rufus Burrow Jr. is Indiana Professor of Christian Thought at Christian Theological Seminary. He has authored or coauthored three books on King, including Martin Luther King, Jr. for Armchair Theologians (2009).

It has been nearly fifty years since Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. Appraisals of King's contributions began almost immediately and continues to this day. The author explores an astonishing number of King's chief ideas and social-ethical practice: his concept of a moral universe; his doctrine of human dignity; his belief that not all suffering is redemptive; his brand of personalism; his contribution to the development of social ethics; the inclusion of young people in the movement; sexism as a contradiction to his personalism; the...