Theologian of synthesis: the dialectical method of Martin Luther King, Jr. as revealed in his critical thinking on theology, history, and ethics

Abstract

This dissertation examines Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dialectical method, as particularly developed from his reading of G. W. F. Hegel and extended and modified in his own views on theology, history, and ethics. However, few have sought to map the forms of rationalization that controlled how King understood and developed his own account of religious thought, historical movement, and ethical rationality. In this dissertation, I identify the form of rationality that best captures how King understood theology, history and ethics as dialectical, that is, the synthesis of two conflicting views, movements, and actions. Conclusively, this study will suggest a way of understanding praxis and theology as entailing a unity of critical reason/rationality and social action as these were displayed in the dialectical thinking of King in religious thought, history and ethics.