Probably no religious leader in American history is so closely identified with suffering as Martin Luther King Jr. Even before his assassination nearly 49 years ago, he pushed for civil rights through demonstrative suffering on the streets of Montgomery, in the jails of Birmingham, and the bridges of Selma. As a pastor and theologian, then, how did King account for this suffering that he pursued but did not deserve?
To answer this question and more, I’m joined on The Gospel Coalition Podcast by Mika Edmondson, pastor of New City Fellowship OPC, a church plant in southeast Grand Rapids, Michigan. Edmonson recently earned a PhD in systematic theology from Calvin Seminary, where he wrote a dissertation on King’s theology of suffering, recently published as The Power of Unearned Suffering: The Roots and Implications of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Theodicy, the first volume in the Religion and Race series from Lexington Books.
Related Resources from TGC:
- Is Black Lives Matter the New Civil Rights Movement? by Mika Edmondson
- Ugly Stain, Beautiful Hope: My Response to Mika Edmondson by Albert Mohler
Is there enough evidence for us to believe the Gospels?
In an age of faith deconstruction and skepticism about the Bible’s authority, it’s common to hear claims that the Gospels are unreliable propaganda. And if the Gospels are shown to be historically unreliable, the whole foundation of Christianity begins to crumble.
