Book Review: Strength to Love

Strength to Love by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1963. 192 pp)

Born in 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader of the African-American Civil Rights Movement. King rose to prominence during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and orchestrated the 1963 March on Washington where King gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. King earned the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. He was assassinated in 1968.

A Big Deal 

Martin Luther King, Jr. is a big deal. I recall learning about his life and his influence on civil rights early and often in grade school. I heard his famous “I Have a Dream” speech long before I knew what it meant. King County—where I live—originally named after William Rufus King is now named after MLK.

Yet for all I’ve learned about King over the course of my education, I knew little about the origins of King’s thought. Aside from a passing mention of King as a Baptist minister, the facts I was taught regarding King sit mostly on the secular side.

Photo by Scott Ableman 

Thus, I found King’s theological inspiration fascinating. When I read his “Letter from Birmingham Jail” for a college course, my life changed. I found an ethic by which to live. I had no clue that King spent so much time in the public eye grounded by his theological inspiration.

A Collection 

For this reason, I found King’s Strength to Love incredibly fascinating.

A compilation of 15 separate sermons, Strength to Love follows a variety of topics. Loving neighbors and enemies represent a major theme. Contextual issues such as a Christian’s response to Communism also populate the pages.

If you have heard MLK’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, you’ve heard his unparalleled eloquence. King’s possesses stolid and erudite prose. As such, you could underline every other sentence.

The Continual Journey 

But for me, the most fascinating sermon concludes this book. Titled “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence”, the chapter unveils the MLK’s theological journey.

In his words,

“In my senior year in theological seminary, I engaged in the exciting reading of various theological theories. Having been raised in a rather strict fundamentalist tradition, I was occasionally shocked when my intellectual journey carried me through new and sometimes complex doctrinal lands, but the pilgrimage was always stimulating, gave me a new appreciation for objective appraisal and critical analysis, and knocked me out of my dogmatic slumber” (146).

Having experienced theological study, such sentiments ring true with me. Reading King’s words about his time in preparatory study reminds me of the journey we all take in faith, in philosophy, and in life. Without King’s intellectual journey, we more than likely would not have seen such a powerful external representation of his beliefs.

The Foundations of Faith 

Likewise, King’s honesty about his faith inspires me.

“God has been profoundly real to me in recent years. In the midst of outer dangers I have felt an inner calm. In the midst of lonely days and dreary nights I have heard an inner voice saying, ‘Lo, I will be with you’” (153).

Photo by Nathan Gibbs

In statements such as these, I find profound awe. This man—arguably the most important figure in the 20th century—relied heavily on his faith. Underneath his intellectual journey and his public leadership in the civil rights movement was a foundation in Christian faith.

In Appreciation of the Man 

Of course, Martin Luther King’s influence reaches far beyond Christian circles. As a philosophical system, King’s views on nonviolence are revolutionary. MLK openly announces the influence of Gandhi on his positions—a position clearly outside of orthodox Christianity but nonetheless an influence on King’s beliefs.

But, reading King talk about faith in Jesus and the importance of the church in tender words all while admitting his intellectual journey gives me courage.

If you are a fan of Martin Luther King or are interested in hearing his positions from his voice, Strength to Love is a mandatory read.

Verdict: 5 out of 5

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Posted by: Donovan Richards

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Book Review: The Law of Love and the Law of Violence

The Law of Love and the Law of Violence by Leo Tolstoy; translated by Mary Koutouzov Tolstoy (Mineola: Dover Publications, 2010; originally published in 1948. 128 pp)

Leo Tolstoy is a late nineteenth century Russian novelist known best for War and Peace and Anna Karenina. In his youth, Tolstoy studied law at Kazan University. Tolstoy gained massive wealth from his fictional writing, and as a result, developed into a social reformer and Christian anarchist in his later years. Tolstoy died in 1910.

Letter from Birmingham Jail 

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” represents the most influential document from my undergraduate years. Read in conjunction with an ethics class, King’s words resonated in ways I had previously never felt. Penning the words behind iron bars, King urged his disciples to stand against injustice through non-violent resistance. He claimed people ought to speak against immoral laws and perhaps even break those laws in order to illustrate injustice. But, he argued, people must break those laws nonviolently, and must also accept the consequences of the laws they’ve broken. To fight evil with evil is to lose the principles you fight for.

King’s principles of nonviolent resistance trace back to the famed Mahatma Gandhi. Even though Gandhi receives justified attention for his philosophies of non-violent civil disobedience, his views trace back to the writing of Leo Tolstoy. Similar to tracing modern guitar players to the nimble fingers of blues musician Lead Belly, I am intrigued to trace the roots of an idea to its source.

Christian Anarchy: Love Instead of Violence 

With The Law of Love and the Law of Violence, Tolstoy promotes a society where love replaces violence. To be clear, Tolstoy views violence as an all-encompassing word. Violence certainly means bloodshed, but it also refers to any source of conflict occurring by force. Tolstoy observes a world specialized in violence:

“The mistake of all political doctrines, from the most conservative to the most advanced, which has brought men to their present lamentable condition, is the same: to keep men in society by the aid of violence so as to make them accept the present social organization and the rule of conduct that it imposes” (18).

For Tolstoy, no part of society escapes the rot of selfishness. Whether the Church, the marketplace, or government, society seeks violence to approve the way of life.

The law of violence has governed society for centuries, according to Tolstoy. Historically, humanity never ventures far from yet another war. Interestingly, Tolstoy points to the printing press as the foundation for a potentially pivotal change in society. He writes,

“In proportion as education has spread, as printing has replaced writing, the Scriptures have become more accessible. Men cannot help but perceive the striking contradiction between the order of existing things upheld by the Church, and the evangelistic doctrine that it acknowledges as being holy. Read and understood as it is, the Scriptures appear to be a frank and explicit denial of both the State and the Church” (26).

Finding accessibility to the written Word, the individual congregant uncovers alternative doctrines to the established Church. With the rise of Protestantism comes competing claims to the truth of Scripture. Because the Church no longer carries the exclusive right to biblical interpretation, the theological foundations for absolute love found in Scripture become known to the masses.

By properly understanding Scripture, Christians can challenge the status quo. Where violence surrounded Christian doctrine in the institution of the Church, the Gospel urges Christians to reconsider.

“The Christian doctrine, the real significance of which we are grasping more and more, teaches that man’s mission is to manifest ever better and better the Rule of all; and it is love that proves the presence of this Rule in us” (32).

Love: The Basis for Non-Violent Civil Disobedience 

Tolstoy purports if love becomes the singular governing rule, the relationship with society must fundamentally change. No longer can we operate businesses under mendacious principles; no longer can we seek warfare as a mode of justice; no longer can we seek change in light of injustice by replacing violence with violence.

Therefore, a Christian guided by love seeks to right injustice through non-violent means. Recognizing the consequences of non-violent disobedience, a Christian will gladly accept the injustice of jail time for the sake of exposing violence in the system.

Does such an example work? It is hard to say. Jesus willingly accepted the injustice of the Cross and the gospel found completion in the resurrection. The work of Martin Luther King resonates deeply in the American psyche. Yet, many Christians adhere to the long-standing tradition of just war theory. As for me, I align with King, Gandhi, and Tolstoy. Fight violence with love and courageously accept the consequences. If you are interested in non-violent disobedience as an ethical stance, I suggest reading The Law of Love and the Law of Violence.

Verdict: 4.5 out of 5

Where do you stand? Is violence ever admissible? Is the law of love too extreme? Do you agree with Tolstoy’s biblical interpretation?
Share your thoughts below.

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Posted by: Donovan Richards

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Powell's Indie Bound Amazon