Martin Luther King, Jr.: Spiritled Prophet

Martin Luther King, Jr.—-Spirit-led Prophet tells the compelling story of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr— pastor, theologian, scholar, orator, civil rights leader, martyr. Spirit-led Prophet chronicles King's activities illustrating his nonviolent faith and how he lived it out in his ministry. In the midst of a tumultuous public life, King prayed for guidance and depended upon God's spirit to lead him. Despite the cruelty and violence of the forces arrayed against the movement, King stressed the necessity to love one's enemies, to believe that unearned suffering is redemptive and to have faith in God's just purposes. Refusing to limit his mission to civil rights, he wrote and spoke passionately against the war in Vietnam and on behalf of the world's poor. He repeatedly returned to his call for the Beloved Community and the building of a just and peaceful social order.

King's influence continues to grow beyond his death with his vision of nonviolent liberation and the final reconciliation God is calling us to spreading around the world.

Martin Luther King, Jr.—-Spirit-led Prophet tells the compelling story of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr— pastor, theologian, scholar, orator, civil rights leader, martyr. Spirit-led Prophet chronicles King's activities illustrating his nonviolent faith and how he lived it out in his ministry. In the midst of a tumultuous public life, King prayed for guidance and depended upon God's spirit to lead him. Despite the cruelty and violence of the forces arrayed against the movement, King stressed the necessity to love one's enemies, to believe that unearned suffering is redemptive and to have faith in God's just purposes. Refusing to limit his mission to civil rights, he wrote and spoke passionately against the war in Vietnam and on behalf of the world's poor. He repeatedly returned to his call for the Beloved Community and the building of a just and peaceful social order.

King's influence continues to grow beyond his death with his vision of nonviolent liberation and the final reconciliation God is calling us to spreading around the world.

Richard Deats is a southerner who was influenced by King while in college. He has subsequently led a life-long commitment to civil rights. He is the editor of Fellowship, the magazine of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and is the author of Ambassador of Reconciliation: A Muriel Lester Reader. He received his PhD at the Boston U. School of Theology in part because that is where King studied. He knew King and later worked with Mrs. King on the Martin Luther King Holiday Commission and the MLK Center for Nonviolent Social Change. He was present in the Rose Garden when President Reagan signed the bill establishing the King Federal Holiday.