Kenneth A. Taylor’s “On King, Resistance, Faith, and Despair” appears in Telos 182 (Spring 2018), a special issue commemorating the life and thought of Martin Luther King, Jr. Read the full article at the Telos Online website, or purchase a print copy of the issue in our online store. Individual subscriptions to Telos are now available in both print and online formats.
Martin Luther King, Jr.’s deep and abiding religious faith led him to believe that “the arc of the moral universe is long, but . . . bends toward justice.” Though he believed that God exercises providential guidance over the universe, he did not think that the work of bending the arc of the universe belongs to God alone, with no need for human agency. We humans are urgently called by God to cooperate in the struggle for justice through “vigorous and positive action.” And King knew firsthand how arduous this struggle could be. We toil for justice in a darkened world that creaks and groans under the weight of many and diverse forms of injustice. Heeding the call may cost us much that is dear—including, as it did for King himself, our lives. King was convinced, however, that if our efforts are anchored in faith, we can rest assured that if we do heed the call, we will struggle neither alone nor in vain. The God who calls to us will struggle with us. “Evil dies on the seashore,” says King, “not merely because of man’s endless struggle against it, but because of God’s power to defeat it.” His faith that this is so not only spurred him to action but sustained him in his darkest hours and functioned as a bulwark against a potentially paralyzing despair.
