Carrie Kennedy

ET 501—Winter 2021
Precis Assignment
Strength to Love

In Strength to Love, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. offers a collection of sermons,

initially delivered orally and adapted for this text, in which he presents the principle

themes of his life’s work as a pastor and advocate for social justice and racial

reconciliation. These themes serve as the basis for his philosophy of nonviolence.

The title of the book, Strength to Love, encapsulates the compelling paradigm that

King promoted, pairing strength with love, which is often perceived as weakness but

King contends is in fact a powerful force.

He begins by proposing that the biblical mandate found in Matthew 10:16 to

“be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” offers a formula for how

Christians are to operate in the world. He relates the wisdom of the serpent to a

“tough mind” and the harmlessness of the dove to a “soft heart.” He further explains

the dangers of the opposite position – a soft mind or a tough heart – either of which

compound the problem of racial prejudice. Those who are soft-minded believe lies

based on fear or misunderstanding without examining their truthfulness while the

tough-hearted cannot see outside of their own world to that of those who are

suffering. The pairing of a tough mind with a soft heart serves as an anchor for the

rest of the sermons.

    King posits that to have a tough mind and a soft heart is to follow the way of

Jesus. His sermons focus on the teachings of Jesus that illustrate these ideas. The

Parable of the Good Samaritan, for example, told the story of a man who was able to
see outside of his own group (Samaritan) to help someone in need (a Jewish man

who had been beaten and left for dead) even though that person was not an insider

in the same group as he was. In contrast, two others (the Levite and the priest)

passed by without helping even though they did belong to the same group. King

suggests that this story, as well as the way that Jesus lived his life, advocate for

universal altruism, which prioritizes shared humanity over provincial groupings,

and excessive altruism, due to its sacrificial nature.

King tackles other topics that were often addressed by Jesus, including

forgiveness and loving one’s enemies. He acknowledges that these seem impractical

or perhaps even impossible, but advocates that they give way to true change. He

clarifies that the love at work when loving one’s enemies and forgiving those who

have caused harm is ‘agape’ love, the unconditional love of God. This type of love is

costly, but powerful. According to King, the aim of forgiveness is reconciliation. The

aim of love for one’s enemy is to win his or her heart, rather than to win an

argument. Here King states his well-known quote “Darkness cannot drive out

darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

This love, King contends, is much more powerful than the hate that opposes it.

Freedom and justice are also important themes in King’s sermons. He

observes that the evils of slavery in Egypt experienced by the people of Israel in

Exodus is a parallel for the evils of slavery in America and in other parts of the

world. In the face of suffering, King shares that God gives both the sun and the moon

as a source of light for His people. The sun is a light of hope to find a way out of the

darkness and the moon is a light to guide through times of hopelessness and
despair. According to King, liberation for the oppressed and social justice cannot be

separated from a life of faithfulness to God.

As a culmination of this collection of sermons, King describes his journey to

discover a method that would combat injustice. He found himself seeking a holistic

gospel that would address a person’s spiritual well-being, as well as his or her

circumstances. He was also influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi on

nonviolent resistance. His experiences in the bus boycotts of Montgomery, Alabama

in 1954 brought these teachings to life and showed King a way forward for the

injustices faced by African Americans in the United States. This led to the position of

nonviolent resistant for which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is well-known. He suffered

greatly for it but did not lose hope that it was the most effective tool to see systems

of oppression give way to justice and equality.

Facing difficult challenges of injustice that presented themselves to King in

his lifetime revealed the need for a tough mind and a soft heart. King’s words are

filled with hope for change and an acknowledgement that the path is difficult and

filled with resistance. He called people to dream for a better world and gave

practical tools to incite change.