MLK Denied Christianity?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Timmay

Timmay

Puritan Board Freshman
I’ve seen claims that he denied central tenets of the faith but I can’t find out what or if he did.

I did a search in here and turned up nothing. Is this true?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Timmay said:
I’ve seen claims that he denied central tenets of the faith but I can’t find out what or if he did.

I did a search in here and turned up nothing. Is this true?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I believe he was unorthodox, liberal, mainstream, etc. A forerunner to what we see today.

www.thegospelcoalition.org

9 Things You Should Know About Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday of January each year. Here are 9 things you should know about MLK.
www.thegospelcoalition.org www.thegospelcoalition.org
 
He unfortunately was a heretic. One of the key things he denied was the deity of Christ. According to Jesus' own words, this is damnable heresy.
 
Directly from one of his published seminary essays:

"Where then can we in the liberal tradition find the divine dimension in Jesus? We may find the divinity of Christ not in his substantial unity with God, but in his filial consciousness and in his unique dependence upon God. It was his felling of absolute dependence on God, as Schleiermaker would say, that made him divine. Yes it was the warmnest of his devotion to God and the intimatcy of his trust in God that accounts for his being the supreme revelation of God. All of this reveals to us that one man has at last realized his true divine calling: That of becoming a true son of man by becoming a true Son of God. It is the achievement of a man who has, as nearly as we can tell, completely opened his life to the influence of the divine spirit."​
​
"[T]he orthodox view of the divinity of Christ is in my mind quite readily denied. The true significance of the divinity of Christ lies in the fact that his achievement is prophetic and promissory for every other true son of man who is willing to submit his will to the will and spirit og [sic] God. Christ was to be only the prototype of one among many brothers."​
​
"This divine quality or this unity with God was not something thrust upon Jesus from above, but it was a definite achievement through the process of moral struggle and self-abnegation."​

Martin Luther King, Jr., unless he repented of these beliefs and turned to biblical, orthodox Christology, was unquestionably a heretic.
 
Last edited:
I have found that when this stuff is brought up, just Like Nelson Mandela 's terror wing, umkhonto we sizwe, people tend to go nuts as their secular saint was unmasked. So beware...
 
Taylor Sexton said:
Directly from one of his published seminary essays:

"Where then can we in the liberal tradition find the divine dimension in Jesus? We may find the divinity of Christ not in his substantial unity with God, but in his filial consciousness and in his unique dependence upon God. It was his felling of absolute dependence on God, as Schleiermaker would say, that made him divine. Yes it was the warmnest of his devotion to God and the intimatcy of his trust in God that accounts for his being the supreme revelation of God. All of this reveals to us that one man has at last realized his true divine calling: That of becoming a true son of man by becoming a true Son of God. It is the achievement of a man who has, as nearly as we can tell, completely opened his life to the influence of the divine spirit."​
​
"[T]he orthodox view of the divinity of Christ is in my mind quite readily denied. The true significance of the divinity of Christ lies in the fact that his achievement is prophetic and promissory for every other true son of man who is willing to submit his will to the will and spirit og [sic] God. Christ was to be only the prototype of one among many brothers."​
​
"This divine quality or this unity with God was not something thrust upon Jesus from above, but it was a definite achievement through the process of moral struggle and self-abnegation."​

Martin Luther King, Jr., unless he repented of these beliefs and turned to biblical, orthodox Christology, was unquestionably a heretic.
Click to expand...
Sad.
 
arapahoepark said:
I have found that when this stuff is brought up, just Like Nelson Mandela 's terror wing, umkhonto we sizwe, people tend to go nuts as their secular saint was unmasked. So beware...
Click to expand...
Matt Chandler was recently comparing MLK to a prophet of God. That man has fallen so far...
 
ZackF said:
Chandler is famous for saying he’d hire a black pastor who was 7 on a scale of 1-10 over a white man who was an 8.
Click to expand...

Which is patent partiality, which is sin, which makes Chandler a hypocrite, which exempts me from listening to him, at least on these matters.
 
Last edited:
ZackF said:
Chandler is famous for saying he’d hire a black pastor who was 7 on a scale of 1-10 over a white man who was an 8.
Click to expand...
Ok, I am familiar with that. Yes, that was a very bad look. I believe that clip was in By What Standard by Founders
 
I watched the movie Selma recently and it seems as if God did bless his ministry to some extent. In in more recent years new evidence was release that seems to indicate he had deeply rooted sexual sins but I remain skeptical of that data. The movie depicts that information as fuel to overburden him and his family so we would stop what he was doing. I can see that happening but I can honestly say that it seems plausible. In reference to his theology (atleast in college) it isn't aligned to christian orthodoxy. Based on some of his college term papers he seemed to be Unitarian, rejects penal substitution and the fall. He compares Martin Luther and Calvin's theology (here if interested) in somewhat high level detail (Boston College). Some of his conclusions seem to indicate Unitarianism and the denial of a substitutionary atonement and even states the fall doesn't indicate total depravity.

Unitarian? "we must affirm that Christ is a unitary personality, and this unity we find in his own ego. There is nothing in rational speculation nor New Testament thought to warrant the view that Jesus had two personal centers. We must then think of Christ as a unitary being whose divinity consists not in any second nature or in a substantial unity with God, but in a unique and potent God consciousness. His unity of {with} God was a unity of purpose rather than a unity of substance."

In reference to Penal substitution he states " Christ’s death was not a ransom, or a penal substitute, or a penal example, rather it was a revelation of the sacrificial love of God intended to awaken an answering love in the hearts of men.".

He rejected the fall " We are compelled, therefore, to reject the idea of a catastrophic fall and regard man’s moral condition from another point of view. Man’s fall is not due to some falling away from an original righteousness, but to a failure to rise to a higher level of his present existence."
 
Last edited:
RobertPGH1981 said:
I watched the movie Selma recently and it seems as if God did bless his ministry to some extent. In in more recent years new evidence was release that seems to indicate he had deeply rooted sexual sins but I remain skeptical of that data. The movie depicts that information as fuel to overburden him and his family so we would stop what he was doing. I can see that happening but I can honestly say that it seems plausible. In reference to his theology (atleast in college) it isn't aligned to christian orthodoxy. Based on some of his college term papers he seemed to be Unitarian, rejects penal substitution and the fall. He compares Martin Luther and Calvin's theology (here if interested) in somewhat high level detail (Boston College). Some of his conclusions seem to indicate Unitarianism and the denial of a substitutionary atonement or even the need since the fall doesn't indicate total depravity.

Unitarian? "we must affirm that Christ is a unitary personality, and this unity we find in his own ego. There is nothing in rational speculation nor New Testament thought to warrant the view that Jesus had two personal centers. We must then think of Christ as a unitary being whose divinity consists not in any second nature or in a substantial unity with God, but in a unique and potent God consciousness. His unity of {with} God was a unity of purpose rather than a unity of substance."

In reference to Penal substitution he states " Christ’s death was not a ransom, or a penal substitute, or a penal example, rather it was a revelation of the sacrificial love of God intended to awaken an answering love in the hearts of men.".

He rejected the fall " We are compelled, therefore, to reject the idea of a catastrophic fall and regard man’s moral condition from another point of view. Man’s fall is not due to some falling away from an original righteousness, but to a failure to rise to a higher level of his present existence."
Click to expand...
Not sure I would trust a hollywood movie over a report. Hollywood is known to push a narrative.
 
retroGRAD3 said:
Not sure I would trust a hollywood movie over a report. Hollywood is known to push a narrative.
Click to expand...

I realize that but would prefer to give him more credit. I was really saddened to learn all this information a few years ago and always viewed him as a hero. When this information came out it put me in a state of denial but its probably true. It is perhaps a side of me that doesn't want this to be true. Not only did this information come to light but I also saw his understanding of theology poor as well.
 
RobertPGH1981 said:
I realize that but would prefer to give him more credit. I was really saddened to learn all this information a few years ago and always viewed him as a hero. When this information came out it put me in a state of denial but its probably true. It is perhaps a side of me that doesn't want this to be true. Not only did this information come to light but I also saw his understanding of theology poor as well.
Click to expand...
I can sympathize. It's always rough to find out things like this about someone we consider a role model or hero.
 
Wretched Man said:
Matt Chandler makes me cringe.
Click to expand...
At least he’s honest and transparent. That means a lot to me in both church and secular settings. If I lost out on an opportunity because of sex, race or anything else immutable I’d want to know.
 
ZackF said:
At least he’s honest and transparent. That means a lot to me in both church and secular settings. If I lost out on an opportunity because of sex, race or anything else immutable I’d want to know.
Click to expand...
I was referring to him in general. There’s something about him that annoys me.
 
RobertPGH1981 said:
Unitarian? "we must affirm that Christ is a unitary personality, and this unity we find in his own ego. There is nothing in rational speculation nor New Testament thought to warrant the view that Jesus had two personal centers. We must then think of Christ as a unitary being whose divinity consists not in any second nature or in a substantial unity with God, but in a unique and potent God consciousness. His unity of {with} God was a unity of purpose rather than a unity of substance."

In reference to Penal substitution he states " Christ’s death was not a ransom, or a penal substitute, or a penal example, rather it was a revelation of the sacrificial love of God intended to awaken an answering love in the hearts of men.".

He rejected the fall " We are compelled, therefore, to reject the idea of a catastrophic fall and regard man’s moral condition from another point of view. Man’s fall is not due to some falling away from an original righteousness, but to a failure to rise to a higher level of his present existence."
Click to expand...

Are these actual quotes from him? Are they sourced? Pretty grim reading!

Edit: I just realised these are MLK quotes - I had read it as you attributing the quotes to Matt Chandler and was very shocked. I have read of MLKs heretical views before.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Herald
  • Locked
Christian Student Denied Diploma
Replies
9
Views
2K
KMK
KMK
reformedminister
  • Locked
Shallow Christianity
2 3
Replies
71
Views
9K
SueS
S
P
  • Locked
Christianity and quackery
2
Replies
41
Views
6K
R Harris
R Harris
P
  • Locked
Christianity in China
Replies
0
Views
1K
pilgrim3970
P
king of fools
  • Locked
Christianity and racism
Replies
6
Views
2K
FrozenChosen
F
Back
Top