Paperback / softback. New. ISBN 0199843961 9780199843961 [GB]

ISBN10: 0199843961, ISBN13: 9780199843961, [publisher: Oxford University Press Inc, New York] Softcover Paperback. Scholars universally acknowledge the role that Christian belief played in the social movement engendered by Martin Luther King Jr. Yet few have actually delved into the complexity of King's theology itself. The centrality of one aspect of his theology in particular - imago Dei, the belief that human beings are made in God's image - has been surprisingly overlooked.In this book, Richard W. Wills Sr. offers a comprehensive analysis ofKing's appeal for civil rights by investigating his understanding of imago Dei. Wills begins by tracing the evolution of this idea through the history of Christian thought, showing the intellectual sources Kingdrew on in constructing his own beliefs. Wills then demonstrates how King employed this idea in his civil rights work. The belief that we are all made in God's image was crucial, Wills shows, to King's understanding of human nature and equality. While King shared with many of his black church forebears the view that humanity's creation by God was a powerful argument for the equality of all people, he also took the concept much further. For King, being made in God's image meant that human beingshave not only the right but also the power to reshape society and to build a "beloved community" on earth. Though explicitly grounded in Christian faith, the doctrine of imago Dei ...
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