Evangelical
Monday, February 18, 2008 Labels: evangelicals, religion, Theology 4 commentsThis word unlike the word "Christian" defines more of a characteristic. In one of my classes I have to write a paper contrasting white evangelicals to black evangelicals. In my readings I discovered Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. rejected Jesus' virgin birth, rejected Jesus' resurrection and rejected the inerrancy of the Bible.
This recent knowledge has uncontrollably altered my view of MLK Jr. I cannot consider him an evangelical because the things listed above are foundational principles required for believers.
Was anyone else aware of this? Does this effect the way you view him?
(Disclaimer: This is a reaction to his theology and not a reflection of his achievements during the civil rights era.)
I was not aware of this and yes it does affect the way that I view him. I've never really looked into his theology. I respect the man for what he did for civil rights, but I'll respectfully say he was wrong on his views of Jesus and Christianity.
Since he was an adulterer and a plagiarist, among other things, my opinion of MLK Jr. was already pretty low. So no, this doesn't change anything.
For those of y'all who adhere to the mainstream view of him, you might want to consider an alternate point of view.
I think this carries a secondary topic that needs to be mentioned.
The actions of a person are highlighted in history if that person has done something great or something tragic. History reminds of us this specific incident, and usually nothing more.
While we are all human, and many strive to do something great, we all have moments of failure.
I guess my question on this topic would be, do we need to show his imperfections, or let him continue to be an icon for the civil rights movement? Furthermore, should we only hold such high positions for great Christian people who are able to hide such imperfections?
All have fallen short of the Glory of God, and I know that when I leave this earth, I want to be remembered for the good things I have done, not my mistakes in life.
Finally, no, this does not change my opinion of him.
Layne,
I do not consider him a Christian if he denies the virgin birth, resurrection, and inerrancy of the Bible.
I don't think someone's faults should hinder their accomplishments, but I think his has been embellished . The bus boycott was not his idea. He was asked to speak for them because he was charismatic.
This however is not intended to be about civil rights, however his theological view which was wrong.