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→Amillenialism and the Social Gospel
Martin Luther King Jr. preached counter to dominant eschatological theologies in the South, holding what might be described as an amillennial view. Millenialists, on the whole, assert the literal Second Coming of Christ and adhered to a specific role of the church and the nation of Israel in salvation history. King’s rejection of this theological position was crucial in understanding King’s ardent defense of working towards the establishment of civil rights for African Americans. In order to explain King’s position, I will begin by explaining its opposite, premillennial dispensationalism, a view common among fundamentalist Christians and evangelicals in the South. This view gained much traction in United States during the 19th and 20th centuries. According to LeAnn Snow Flesher, the key features of premillennial dispensationalism include:
<ul style="list-style-type:circle">
<li>“a dichotomy between Israel and the Church</li>
<li>a narrowly defined true church in contrast to the church</li>
<li>a rigidly applied literalism in the interpretation of the Bible</li>
<li>a rapture that precedes a seven-year Tribulation</li>
<li>a second opportunity for Jews to receive Christ's kingdom</li>
<li>a distinction between law and grace; and a compartmentalization of Scripture”</li><ref> Flesher, LeAnn Snow. "The Historical Development of Premillennial Dispensationalism." Review And Expositor: An International Baptist Journal 106, no. 1 (February 1, 2009): 35</ref></li>
</ul>
Though space does not permit to discuss all of these at great length, the combination of these theological doctrines procures a certain indifference to injustice at the hands of governmental authority. It emphasizes an operative notion of grace and divine justice. In other words, Christ will establish justice at the Second Coming and there is not much we fallen human beings can contribute. Furthermore, it advances a decline narrative, meaning that when societal situations worsen, it is a sign that the Second Coming is on the horizon.
Now, King’s theological commitments could not be more opposite. As Amanat and Bernhardsson claim, Martin Luther King Jr.’s eschatology could be described as amillenial.<ref>Amanat, Abbas, and Magnus Thorkell Bernhardsson. Imagining the End : Visions of Apocalypse From the Ancient Middle East to Modern America. London: I.B.Tauris, 2002.</ref> As a result, there is no understanding that the establishment of justice in the temporal order is something Christ will operatively take care of at the Second Coming. Instead, there is more emphasis on what is famously called the “Social Gospel.” This theology emphasized the church’s role in renewing and establishing peace which squared with, as stated above, the moral law of God. Thus, King’s brand of theology was one that could not be divorced from the church’s involvement in the public sphere. In fact, it demanded the church’s engagement in it to confront social injustice and oppression.
===Non-Violence===
