The Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Desmond Mpilo Tutu

263 Pages·2007·1.055 MB·English

by  Johnny Bernard Hill (auth.)

The Theology of Martin Luther King,Jr.
and Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Black Religion / Womanist Thought / Social Justice
Series Editors DwightN. Hopkins and Linda E. Thomas
Published by Palgrave Macmillan
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Whiteness and Morality: Pursuing Racial Justice through Reparations and Sovereignty
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The Theology of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Desmond Mpilo Tutu
By Johnny B. Hill
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The Theology of
Martin Luther King, Jr. and
Desmond Mpilo Tutu
Johnny Bernard Hill
Foreword by
J.Deotis Roberts
THETHEOLOGYOFMARTINLUTHERKING,JR.ANDDESMONDMPILOTUTU
Copyright © Johnny Bernard Hill,2007.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2007 978-1-4039-8482-1
All rights reserved.No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published in 2007 by
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ISBN 978-1-349-54008-2 ISBN 978-0-230-60885-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230608856
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First edition:November 2007
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To all the women who have loved me
My wife,Trinia;mothers,Johnnie Marie and Carolyn;sisters,Gina,
Leanette,Sherri,Joyce,Melissa,Teresa,Qiana,and Cheryl
Your support,love,and encouragement over the years has meant
more than words can say.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Series Editors’ Preface xi
Foreword xv
List of Acronyms xvii
Introduction: The Theology of Martin Luther
King, Jr. and Desmond Mpilo Tutu 1
1. Exploring the Meaning of Reconciliation and Community 13
2. From Every Mountainside: Reconciliation and
the Beloved Community 51
3. The Rainbow People of God: Reconciliation and Apartheid 89
4. Ambassadors of Reconciliation: Comparing Martin Luther
King, Jr. and Desmond Mpilo Tutu 115
5. The Power of Nonviolence: Mohandas K.Gandhi’s
Influence on King and Tutu 129
6. In Dialogue with Liberation Theology 153
7. Building a Legacy of Peace: Quest for Justice and
Reconciliation in a World of Difference 173
Notes 205
Selected Bibliography 235
Index 245
Acknowledgments
This project is the culmination of many prayers, hopes, and dreams.
I am very grateful to many people who have offered, over the years,
generous resources, thoughtful and comforting words, as well as gen-
uine criticism when necessary.
Time is rarely taken out of the business of life to thank those who
we know as family and friends. I would like to first of all express grat-
itude for the support of my sisters (Gina, Leanette, Sherrie, Joyce,
Melissa, Teresa, Qiana, and Cheryl) and brother, Michael L. Cook. To
my parents in marriage, Charlie and Carolyn Simmons, I say thanks.
Andolia O. Eaton, who adopted me while in seminary at Duke has
been a constant source of comfort amid an otherwise tumultuous cli-
mate. I am also indebted to my extended family of Second Baptist
Church in Evanston, Illinois and White Rock Baptist Church in
Durham, North Carolina. To Dr. Reginald Van Stephens and Rev.
Mark A. Dennis, your continual spiritual encouragement has meant
more than words can say.
I have always maintained that teachers give us more than knowl-
edge. They give us inspiration, guidance, and hope. This has certainly
been the case in my experience. I wish to thank several professors and
mentors who have contributed a great deal to my academic and min-
istry development. I cannot express enough my deep sense of gratitude
to Dr. J. Deotis Roberts, who taught at Duke Divinity School and from
whom I got the inspiration for this study. Since the beginning of my
theological education, Dr. Roberts has been a patient mentor, advo-
cate, and teacher. Both Dr. Roberts and his lovely wife, Elizabeth, are
champions in their Christian witness and truly ambassadors of Christ.
At Duke Divinity School, where many of the initial ideas for this
study were formulated, I would like to express appreciation for Stanley
Hauerwas, Gregory Jones, Greg Duncan, Geoffrey Wainwright,
William Turner, and Richard Lischer. In particular, I am eternally
x Acknowledgments
grateful to Peter Storey andMichael Battle who first introduced me to
the thought of Desmond Tutuand the courageous witness of Christian
communities in apartheid South Africa.
To my friends and colleagues at Louisville Seminary, I am thankful
for their generous graciousness and for giving me room for growth.
While there are too many to name, I want to especially recognize Scott
Williamson, Amy Plantinga Pauw, Kathryn Johnson, David Hester,
and Dean Thompson for invaluable feedback and suggestions on this
project. I would be remiss if I do not acknowledge the support of
Laura Marsh whose administrative assistance has been incomparable.
Finally, I am sincerely appreciative for the support and guidance of
Henry J. Young, Steve Long, and Michael J. Battle. It would take more
than is possible here to express my appreciation for their commitment
to my intellectual development and preparation for ministry.
Of course, this project would not be possible had it not been for the
unfaltering love and support of my wife, Trinia. She has been a
tremendous source of inspiration and strength. To that, I say thanks.
Series Editors’ Preface
With the first book comparing and contrasting Martin Luther King, Jr.
and Desmond Mpilo Tutu, Dr. Johnny Bernard Hill tells us a critical
and comparative story about the lives and theologies of these two men
who received Nobel Peace Prizes and impacted the course of their
nations, the segregated United States and apartheid South Africa. Hill
focuses on the theme of reconciliation. King has become synonymous
with the U.S. civil rights movement, that is, “love the enemy.” Tutu is
equated with the South African anti-apartheid struggle, that is, “turn
the other cheek.” In the course of unfolding this pioneering narrative
of faith and society, Dr.Hill draws on multiple intellectual traditions.
The book takes the reader on a journey encountering King’s published
books, rare documents from the King papers at Boston University, and
texts at the King Center in Atlanta, various books by Tutu, a host of
writings that set the historical backdrop for segregated United States
and apartheid South Africa, and the thought of modern and postmod-
ern scholars. Hill maintains convincingly that the modern idea of rec-
onciliation reeks with Kant’s distortion of rationality that created an
individualistic and provincial practice of reconciliation. Moreover,
Hill traces the view of reconciliation from biblical times to the present.
The fundamental discovery is the historical separation of personal
autonomy from social equality.
Rather than apolitical individualism and singular inward obsession
with the self, King reworked reconciliation in the context of concern
for neighbor, human dignity, and the beloved community. King gifts us
with “human dignity.” Tutu shares the “ubuntu” alternative. King
arose out of Protestant liberalism of modernity and the southern black
Baptist church. Tutu emerged from his Anglican church and his Xhosa
linguistic traditions. Combining his missionary and indigenous back-
grounds, Tutu links reconciliation to a new notion of “rainbow people
of God.” King appreciated the love of God in all individuals inclusive