2 Liberalism's contribution to the philological-historical criticism of biblical literature has been of immeasurable value and should be defended with religious and scientific passion. Of course there is one phase of liberalism that I hope to cherish always: its devotion to the search for truth, its insistence on an open and analytical mind, its refusal to abandon the best light of reason. The basic change in my thinking came when I began to question some of the theories that had been associated with so-called liberal theology. I was absolutely convinced of the natural goodness of man and the natural power of human reason. I became so enamored of the insights of liberalism that I almost fell into the trap of accepting uncritically everything that came under its name. Liberalism provided me with an intellectual satisfaction that I could never find in fundamentalism. My early theological training did the same for me as the reading of Hume did for Kant: it knocked me out of my dogmatic slumber.Īt this stage of my development I was a thoroughgoing liberal.
But despite the shock the pilgrimage was always stimulating, and it gave me a new appreciation for objective appraisal and critical analysis. Having been raised in a rather strict fundamentalistic tradition, I was occasionally shocked as my intellectual journey carried me through new and sometimes complex doctrinal lands. Like most theological students I was engaged in the exciting job of studying various theological theories. Ten years ago I was just entering my senior year in theological seminary. In this essay, King stresses the academic influences that have led him to embrace nonviolence as “a way of life.” 1 He also relates that his “involvement in a difficult struggle” had changed his conception of God from a “metaphysical category” to “a living reality that has been validated in the experiences of everyday life.” God had become “profoundly real” to him: “In the midst of outer dangers I have felt an inner calm and known resources of strength that only God could give.”
#MARTIN LUTHER KING JR QUOTES ON OPTIMISM SERIES#
On 10 July 1959, Christian Century editor Harold Fey asked King to write an article for “How My Mind Has Changed,” a series of “statements by significant thinkers” reflecting their intellectual and spiritual development over the previous ten years. Chapter 15: Atlanta Arrest and Presidential Politics.
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