Dr Martin Luther King Jr Research Paper

George Whitefield shared the gospel with the African Americans through incorporating his storytelling techniques and simplifying the matters of the scriptures in a way that could be understood easily by the slaves as they were at the time. As time proceeded and slaves started attending camp meetings and expanded their knowledge of the scriptures, they got more conversant with preaching, and after a while, the African American Preacher came to be. The slave's incorporated aspects of preaching from their African heritage to the ways the whites were preaching. The African American way of preaching involves music, dance, oratory whereby the preacher is the main source of attention, and he or she captures the attention of the people fully. Martin Luther King apart from being known for leading the civil rights movement was also known for his preaching abilities.

He wanted to become a good speaker himself in future. One of the early orators that influenced the young Martin Luther King Jr was Rev. William Holmes Borders2. Borders was a preacher at the Wheat Street Baptist Church which was located a few blocks away from his home. Borders were such a talented and educated preacher that he was offered and accepted a position as a radio host. King emphasizes that even his role models, that he would sneak away from home to go and listen to were also products of both systems. They implemented the African American social gospel traditions and also the European-American ideologies since they were also products of white colleges which they had attended to get an education.

For instance one of his first role models, Rev. William Holmes Borders attended Morehouse then proceeded to attend Garret Theological Seminary at Northwestern3. Kings education and his knowledge of European-American theological ideas placed him at a different level with other African American clergymen. King acknowledged that his father and grandfather were not just Baptist ministers, but they were also pioneering supporters of an African American social gospel Christianity. When Rev. A. D. Williams arrived in Atlanta, social gospel activism was becoming famous amongst both white and black people. encouraged his congregation to register as voters by holding meetings to encourage the people. Also, he organized a march to City Hall which was not supported by all the members of the clergymen.

Some of the laid back ones saw it as a bad decision7. Early Education King joined Morehouse College at the age of fifteen where he was taught by a family friend known as Professor George D. Kelsey. King discussed politics and theological matters with Pius who was also a Morehouse graduate. King also interacted with Howard University president Mordecai Johnson regarding the same matters. Basically, King was mostly aware and in contact with many religious black leaders who joined academic intellect with a thorough understanding of the African American religious traditions. King Jr. was able to use the exposure to prominent African American social gospel intellectuals to be able to understand the act of theological training as bringing together the need to follow his father’s calling and his desire to be respected as an intellectual with vast knowledge in the field of religion in both the European American theology and the African American traditional beliefs.

He accepts that religious beliefs can also be based on reason and by so doing accepts to become a minister a career that he had previously rejected9. Career Decision Martin Luther King Sr. had always wanted his sons to follow in his footsteps and become ministers at the Ebenezer Church. However, both of them didn’t want anything to do with preaching. Both of them attended Morehouse; however, A. He preached to his fellow student workers where they worked on a tobacco farm in Simsbury. At the time he had already received his preaching license and accepted the opportunity to carry out weekly religious gatherings on the farm they worked. It took him a few weeks to finally decide, but when he did, he called his mother from Simsbury and informed her that he had finally decided to become a minister.

Later on, he describes his calling as neither dramatic nor spectacular; it was simply a culmination of his experiences10. Once King made his decision, his friends realized that there was no way in changing his mind. He also attributed his fascination to liberal theology to the ability of liberal religion to be able to answer new problems that arise as compared to its counterpart, fundamentalism, which was intended to preserve the old faith in the constantly changing times. King, therefore, aimed to combine the best in liberal theology with the best aspects of neo-orthodox theology. By so doing he would combine aspects of his former beliefs with the religious teachings from his father, grandfather and generally the entire Baptist Church in connection to its African American roots11.

When King joined Boston University, he was trying to learn how to use his theological training to enrich his preaching and by so doing return to his roots as a Baptist preacher. Crozer had provided King with the chance to question his theological heritage but by the time he was completing his studies there he had become even more sceptical on the issue of theological liberalism. He, however, uses his own words to push similar ideas but in a different context as compared to the original Brook paragraphs. Conclusion Martin Luther King Junior was known for numerous things. He was a Civil Rights Movement supporter, he is known for his I Have a Dream speech and many more aspects. The fact that he is a preacher and the process that he underwent to develop himself as a preacher is one of the key elements that he was able to become everything he is known for.