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King's God: The Unknown Faith of Dr Martin Luther King Jr by Robert James "Be" Scofield Nov/Dec 2009 Tikkun Although Martin Luther King served as a Baptist minister, this article from Tikkun shows that, as a young man in the liberal Crozer Theological Seminary (1948-1951), King rejected majority of the orthodox Christian doctrines, most central of which is perhaps the deity of Jesus. In The Humanity and Divinity of Jesus, a paper written for the class "Christian Theology Today," King clearly lays out his non-orthodox view on the deity of Jesus: "The significance of the divinity of Christ lies in the fact that his achievement is prophetic and promissory for every other true son of man who is willing to submit his will to the will and spirit of God. Christ was to be only the prototype of one among many brothers. The appearance of such a person, more divine and more human than any other, and in closest unity at once with God and man, is the most significant and hopeful event in human history. This divine quality or this unity with God was not something thrust upon Jesus from above, but it was a definite achievement through the process of moral struggle and self-abnegation." A few more King's liberal views on core Christian doctrines: Virgin Birth. King is frank here: "We of this scientific age will not explain the birth of Jesus in such unscientific terms." Jesus's early disciples saw his "spiritual life so far beyond theirs," explains King, that they believed that Jesus's uniquesness could only be explained biologically. Bodily Resurrection. Jesus's followers "had been captivated by the magnetic power of his personality," King writes, which led them to believe that he "could never die." Second Coming. "It is obvious that most twentieth century Christians must frankly and flatly reject any view of a physical return of Christ," says King boldly. "The final doctrine of the Second Coming is that whenever we turn our lives to the highest and best there for us is the Christ." Regarding heaven, King understands that it is located here on earth: "When we see social relationships controlled everywhere by the principles which Jesus illustrated in life--trust, love, mercy, and altruism--then we shall know that the kingdom of God is here." The author, therefore, concludes: "It should not be surprising then that while Dr King served a Baptist church, his first choice of religion was Unitarian Christian (which later merged with Universalism). Coretta Scott had been attending Unitarian churches for years before she met and married Martin, and they both attended Unitarian services while in Boston." 馬丁路德金的神：馬丁路德金的信仰鮮為人知的一面 眾所週知，馬丁路德金是浸信會牧師。但這篇在 Tikkun 刊登的文章說，從他在神學院時的學術論文顯示，年青時的馬丁路德金拒絕了很多正統的神學觀點，當中最核心的要數耶穌的神聖。以下的論文文字清楚解釋他對耶穌神聖的非傳統觀點： 「基督的神聖的意義在於，他的成就，對每個願意服從上帝意志的真正人子，具先導作用。基督只是在眾多兄弟中的一個原型。出現這樣一個比所有人都更神聖和更人性，同時與上帝和人聯合的人物，在人類歷史上是最重要和最充滿希望的事件。耶穌的神聖素質或與神合一，不是從上而下強加的本質，而是透過道德掙紮與自我克制過程而獲得的成就。」 馬丁路德金還有其他自由神學的思想： 童女產子。他說得清楚：「我們這科學時代不再如此非科學地解釋耶穌之出生。」他認為耶穌的門徒經驗耶穌之「靈性遠超凡人」，所以相信唯有與別不同之純潔成孕才能解釋耶穌的獨特性。 身體復活。馬丁路德金如此寫道：耶穌的跟隨者「完全臣服於他的人格力量」，至使他們相信耶穌「不可能死」。 基督再來。他大膽宣稱：「很明顯，大多數二十世紀的基督徒必須坦率地斷然拒絕任何基督身體將再來的想法。」他解釋：「基督再來這教義的意思是，每當我們的生命向最高處邁進，基督便向我們再來。」 至於天堂，他主張地上的：「當我們看到世界各地的社會關係彰顯耶穌在生命中示範的原則—信任、愛、憐憫、利他主義—那麼我們就知道，神國在這裡。」 所以，本文作者如此寫道：「這樣，我們便無需驚訝，雖然金博士在浸信會事奉，他的宗教首選是 Unitarian 基督教（它後來與 Universalism 合併）。他的夫人在認識馬丁之前，多年來都是上 Unitarian 教會的；他倆在波士頓的時候，都是參與 Unitarian 的主日崇拜的。」      
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