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Martin Luther King Search for Meaning

Decent Essays

King’s interpretation of the scriptures was not a literal one, in The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus, he clearly explains how he interpreted Jesus: “the orthodox attempt to explain the divinity of Jesus in terms of an inherent metaphysical substance within him to me seems inadequate… In an attempt to expand his understanding of God, and apply it to his life, King searched for the deeper significance of the history and context of the Bible, suggesting, “we should delve into deeper meaning… and somehow strip them of their literal interpretation”.

By searching for a deeper interpretation of the events of the bible, King was able to extract a sense of meaning from Jesus’ life. For King, God’s giving of his only son, came to represent …show more content…

King applied this concept to his teachings by stressing the idea of brotherhood, that everyman must love his neighbor, ““We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools” . This notion of brotherhood, combined with his non-violent approach inspired by Gandhi, was why King stressed unity and equality, instead of simply more rights for black people. King did not advocate that African American’s should have more power over their oppressors, instead he fought to end oppression and discrimination universally.

Australia is a western, multicultural nation; however injustice and discrimination still occurs. Australian’s hold prejudice against Aboriginal people for the same reasons that white citizens discriminated against African Americans; because it is ingrained in our cultural norm to view them as inferior, unable to handle government support, or live a ‘civilized’ life. Because of the similarities between the societies, Australian’s can gain wisdom and insight from King’s religious responses to life questions. King used his theology and Christian Theism to respond to the racism in his society. Because he interpreted the bible in a deeper, less literal way, King was able to extract the spiritual concepts of his religion and use them to inspire a

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