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Philippians and Philemon: Prison Epistles, Part 2

  1. Lesson One
    Overview of Philippians (Philippians 1–4)
    22 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  2. Lesson Two
    Philippians: Suffering and Community (Philippians Review)
    22 Activities
  3. Lesson Three
    Overview of Philemon
    22 Activities
  4. Lesson Four
    Paul and Slavery (Philemon, Romans 6 Review)
    17 Activities
    |
    1 Assessment
  5. Lesson Five
    Social Impact
    9 Activities
    |
    4 Assessments
  6. Course Wrap-Up
    Course Completion
    1 Activity
    |
    1 Assessment

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Philippians and Philemon: Prison Epistles, Part 2 Social Impact In Front | American Civil Rights and the Bible
Lesson 5, Activity 4

In Front | American Civil Rights and the Bible

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One of the better-known relationships between the Bible and social activism is found in the ministry and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech given at the 1963 march on Washington D.C., he quotes from Isaiah 40:4-5, casting a vision of a biblical society transformed to mirror the harmonious communion of God:

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

 

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

—Martin Luther King, Jr.

In a final speech before his assassination, King seems to hint at his premature death by connecting his role in the civil rights movement with that of Moses as he led the Israelites through the desert, but did not live to see his people inhabit the land that God had promised them: 

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land!
—Martin Luther King, Jr.

While King is the most well-known civil rights activist, many other African Americans referred to the Bible in their pursuit of justice. Modjeska Simkins, the secretary of the NAACP in South Carolina, drew on a wide range of biblical themes and images in confronting racism. She compared white persecution and lynching to the murder of Abel by his brother Cain in Genesis, and offered a connection between Job and the African-American people:

Like ourselves—Job (was in a) great struggle against power. In Ephesians 6:12 we find, [“]For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness in this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.[”] Make no mistake. That is where we are. Wrestling against evil in high places—against poor, disenfranchised, various forms of racial and sexual abuse, obvious and subtle . . . We are striving to exist in an alien society.   

James Lawson was a Methodist minister who worked with King and other activists, and after King’s death, continued to train younger activists in the tactics of non-violence. When faced with persecution he insisted:

The politics of Jesus and the politics of God are that people should be fed, that people have access to life, that people should be treated equally and justly. Especially the marginalized. The poor, the illiterate, the jailed, the hungry, the naked—those are all terms Jesus uses.

Lawson found not only guidance but also strength in the Bible. 

There’s an idea in the New Testament that love vanquishes all fear. There is all across the Bible the advice, “Do not be afraid! Do not be dismayed. When you see all these things happening, do not be alarmed.”

Along with his fellow activists, guided and empowered by the Bible, Lawson had an enormous impact on American society and the place of African Americans within it.”

Sources and helpful resources: David L. Chappell, A Stone of Hope: Prophetic Religion and the Death of Jim Crow, 2004, pp. 63, 66;; Heidi Hall, “Civil rights advocate James Lawson was rooted in faith,” in The Tennessean, March 02, 2017; Martin Luther King, Jr., “I Have a Dream,” Research and Education Institute, August 28, 1963; Martin Luther King, Jr., “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” Americanrhetoric.com, April 3, 1968. 

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