Among other eras in history, he considers the prime of classical Athens, when he could have enjoyed the company of luminaries "around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality," along with "the great heyday of the Roman Empire."

These considerations of ancient Greece and Rome, in what would be King's final speech, speak to his close engagement with the Classics throughout his writings.

As one whose courses consider how classical ideas have contributed to public dialogue in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, I want to address here two particular points of contact with ancient Greece that loom large in King's thinking and teaching: King's advocacy of the Greek concept of agape, transcendent love for others, is critical to his message; and his embrace of Socrates as a model of civil disobedience, is revealing of his method.

More than "love"
At the core of King's social teaching lies the necessity for human beings to embrace an all-encompassing love for one another.

But the English word "love," with its abundance of associations, was too imprecise for what he wanted to convey. In order to express more clearly the type of transcendent love for humanity he was advocating, King turned frequently in his speeches to the ancient Greek he had studied at Crozer Theological Seminary and Boston University.

Building on the work of contemporary theologians - the American Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878-1969), the Swede Anders Nygren (1890-1978) and the German Paul Tillich (1886-1965) - King underscored the distinctions between the Greek words eros (romantic love), philia (the love of personal friendship) and agape. Continue reading

Sources

• ABC Religion & Ethics. The article is by Timothy Joseph, an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Classics at the College of the Holy Cross.
• Image: Unheard Voices

In a public statement the diocese said that complicated voting rules, which limit the power of people in Hong Kong to choose their representatives, are an offence against basic civil rights.

Acts of civil disobedience could be "reasonable" in response to such offences, the statement indicated.

Continue reading

This is one of the most stirring documents in American history: a courageous and compelling defence of civil disobedience, a call to Christian activism and an intellectual defence of the natural law as a reflection of an order in the universe established by its creator. While gay rights advocates have framed the struggle for same-sex marriage as the "new civil rights movement", it is doubtful that they would agree with Dr King's strong defence of the natural law.

In view of its importance, we are publishing some of the most significant paragraphs from Dr King's letter. The complete document is available at many sites on the internet.

16 April 1963

My Dear Fellow Clergymen:

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms…

There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience. You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. Continue reading

Sources

• MercatorNet
• Image: George's Journal