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Martin Luther and Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was originally Michael Luther King.
(Just today I found out that little tidbit).
But his name was changed to Martin soon after his birth..
Why is it appropriate that that civil rights leader was named
after the man who started and led the Protestant Reformation?
Because the main goal of that Reformation was for everybody to get educated,
become literate, so that they could read the Bible for themselves.
(The great Protestant martyr William Tyndale translated the Bible
into English in the 1500s when anything but Latin was against the law.
He said that he did it so that "even the common ploughboy"
could read the Bible when taking a break from his farm work.)
This idealism (universal education) had an equality-promoting effect on society,.
For when people become literate they feel "I'm as good as anybody else."
One of the aspects of black slavery in America that early abolitionists railed
against was the law banning education for slaves.
(It's purpose was to make them feel inferior.)
It was clearly a betrayal of the very heart of the Protestant Reformation.
Since Spanish colonies in America preceded English colonies,
And the Spaniards were all Roman Catholic,
And the Catholic hierarchy taught that education was a form
of power to be reserved for the higher classes,
the Spanish were the first to ban education for slaves.
So when the English colonists did the same thing,
they clearly were (shamefully) aping the Catholics,
and so were guilty of violating their own Protestant principles.
It was as if there was a gap in America's Protestant heritage.
Protestantism was for everybody - except for the Blacks.
So by Rev King coming as MARTIN LUTHER King, it was as if God
was telling us it's time to reverse the anti-Christian treason of the past,
namely, the betrayal of the Protestant Reformation.
By depriving black slaves of literacy, the slave-owners had in effect,
barred the door to Martin Luther, the first one.
So God raised up another Martin Luther to make up for,
among other things,the past deprivation of education
which blacks had suffered during slavery and even afterward.
PS: Since the Reformation began in 1517,
with Martin Luther (Roman Catholic priest) posting his 95 theses
(complaints) about the Church on the outside of his door,
this year, 2017, is the 500th anniversary of
the glorious PROTESTANT REFORMATION !!!
(Just today I found out that little tidbit).
But his name was changed to Martin soon after his birth..
Why is it appropriate that that civil rights leader was named
after the man who started and led the Protestant Reformation?
Because the main goal of that Reformation was for everybody to get educated,
become literate, so that they could read the Bible for themselves.
(The great Protestant martyr William Tyndale translated the Bible
into English in the 1500s when anything but Latin was against the law.
He said that he did it so that "even the common ploughboy"
could read the Bible when taking a break from his farm work.)
This idealism (universal education) had an equality-promoting effect on society,.
For when people become literate they feel "I'm as good as anybody else."
One of the aspects of black slavery in America that early abolitionists railed
against was the law banning education for slaves.
(It's purpose was to make them feel inferior.)
It was clearly a betrayal of the very heart of the Protestant Reformation.
Since Spanish colonies in America preceded English colonies,
And the Spaniards were all Roman Catholic,
And the Catholic hierarchy taught that education was a form
of power to be reserved for the higher classes,
the Spanish were the first to ban education for slaves.
So when the English colonists did the same thing,
they clearly were (shamefully) aping the Catholics,
and so were guilty of violating their own Protestant principles.
It was as if there was a gap in America's Protestant heritage.
Protestantism was for everybody - except for the Blacks.
So by Rev King coming as MARTIN LUTHER King, it was as if God
was telling us it's time to reverse the anti-Christian treason of the past,
namely, the betrayal of the Protestant Reformation.
By depriving black slaves of literacy, the slave-owners had in effect,
barred the door to Martin Luther, the first one.
So God raised up another Martin Luther to make up for,
among other things,the past deprivation of education
which blacks had suffered during slavery and even afterward.
PS: Since the Reformation began in 1517,
with Martin Luther (Roman Catholic priest) posting his 95 theses
(complaints) about the Church on the outside of his door,
this year, 2017, is the 500th anniversary of
the glorious PROTESTANT REFORMATION !!!
Published 26th Jan 2017
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28th Jan 2017 9:55pm
Interesting linking of the two Martin Luthers. Yes I am aware of it being the 500th year of the Reformation too.
31st Jan 2017 7:18pm
Actually I would prefer to see Frederick Douglas as the Black hero whose birthday becomes a federal holiday. He was the black slave who escaped into the north and started his own abolitionist newspaper and wrote books, visited Britain. He was quite an accomplished orator. The only big problem with MLK was the fact he didn't support the defensive war against the Communist North Vietnamese invaders. They invaded South Vietnam to unify it with the Communist north. He said things like "the North Vietnamese haven't done anything to us so why should we interfere, meddle in their country." When instead he could have framed it in terms of "Communism = slavery. We need to help the free South Vietnam resist the evil north." He missed out on a glorious opportunity !!
