Date
5-20-2026
Department
Rawlings School of Divinity
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Theology and Apologetics (PhD)
Chair
Kevin King
Keywords
Evangelical Theology, Black Theology, Carl F. H. Henry, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., James H. Cone, Theology, History, Evangelicalism, Civil Rights Movement, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Segregation, 1960s, Christian, Beloved Community, Racial justice
Disciplines
Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion
Recommended Citation
Christian, Lisa P., "Examining Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Through a Historical Lens of Black Theology and Evangelical Theology: Forming a More Perfect Theology" (2026). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 8401.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/8401
Abstract
A key theological justification for nonviolent resistance in the Civil Rights Movement is “Letter From Birmingham Jail.” This dissertation presents a historiographical and theological analysis of King’s letter, arguing that it serves as a framework for critiquing the validity of Black and Evangelical theologies’ responses to injustice. It engages in a critical dialogue between Black theology and evangelical theology, examining how theologians such as James H. Cone and Carl F. H. Henry interpret King’s claims about justice, morality, and nonviolent resistance within the context of segregation in the 1960s South.
Tracing key theological developments that shaped the doctrines, dogmas, and traditions of these theologies, this study focuses on their divergent understanding of sin, suffering, and racial justice. It demonstrates Black theology’s affirmation of King’s integration of divine justice and social liberation, and demonstrates evangelicalism’s often resistant acceptance of his civil rights witness, with only partial convergence in later appropriations of his moral vision.
The dissertation advances a new concept, the Kingian theological quadrilateral, arguing that King’s synthesis of Scripture, justice, reconciliation, and direct action exposes the limitations of each theology when held in isolation. This framework allows for an integrated theological approach, one that unites biblical doctrinal fidelity with active commitment to justice, recovering King’s vision of the Beloved Community as normative Christian praxis to transcend partial interpretations toward a more integrated framework, a “more perfect theology,” a theologically coherent account of the Church.
