Description: MLK and the Practice of SpiritualityThe scholarship on Martin Luther King Jr. is seriously lacking in terms of richly nuanced and revelatory treatments of his spirituality and spiritual life. This book addresses this neglect by focusing on King's life as a paradigm of a deep, vital, engaging, balanced, and contagious spirituality. It shows that the essence of the person King was lies in the quality of his own spiritual journey and how that translated into not only a personal devotional life of prayer, meditation, and fasting but also a public ministry that involved the uplift and empowerment of humanity. Much attention is devoted to King's spiritual leadership, to his sense of the civil rights movement as "a spiritual movement," and to his efforts to rescue humanity from what he termed a perpetual "death of the spirit." Readers encounter a figure who took seriously the personal, interpersonal, and sociopolitical aspects of the Christian faith, thereby figuring prominently in recasting the very definition of spirituality in his time. King's "holistic spirituality" is presented here with a clarity and power fresh for our own generation.
Brief description: Lewis V. Baldwin is emeritus professor of religious studies at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee. His works include, from Fortress Press, There Is a Balm in Gilead: The Cultural Roots of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1991); To Make the Wounded Whole: The Cultural Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. (1992); and Never to Leave Us Alone: The Prayer Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010).
Review Quotes:
"Revives My Soul Again is a "lifeline" in these challenging and critical domestic and global times. Stay alert is the resounding message of this new and exciting book." --Jewelnel Davis, Columbia University
"Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Christian commitment and spiritual intelligence animated his public witness. Revives My Soul Again resuscitates this often overlooked dimension of King's moral framework, while demonstrating how his open, engaging, and inclusive spirituality might still inform us today." --Jonathan L. Walton, Harvard University
"Revives My Soul Again offers fresh insight into Martin Luther King, Jr.'s personal spirituality and how it fueled and funded his work for justice. A must read!" --Keri Day, Princeton Theological Seminary
"This collection of essays, written by some of America's most important religious scholars, capture the spirituality of Martin Luther King, Jr. in ways that no other text written on King has been able to do. Books on King flow like a current, but Revives My Soul Again will fundamentally turn the current in a new direction." --Willie Jennings, Yale University
"Revives My Soul Again is a brilliant collection of essays dedicated to revealing those complex and mysterious forces that compelled Martin Luther King, Jr. to struggle in the rugged valley to move humanity to the Mountain Top of equality and peace. This volume demonstrates that if we wish to know King's ultimate power, we must understand and grapple with his spirituality." --Aldon Morris, Northwestern University
"Revives My Soul Again is indispensable for scholars of religion, race, and American history, and for all who care about building the beloved community. It is one of the most useful books published on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life, thought, and legacy in the last decade." --Charles Marsh, University of Virginia