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This paper examines Martin Luther King Jr.’s theology of nonviolence through a transnational Christological genealogy linking E. Stanley Jones and Mahatma Gandhi. Challenging interpretations that treat Kingian nonviolence as a derivative ethical strategy, the study argues that King articulated a transnational Christological praxis shaped by postcolonial moral imaginaries. Jones’s reconfiguration of Jesus—detached from Western ecclesial authority and imperial power—created a space in which Gandhi could appropriate Jesus as an ethical guide without abandoning his Hindu identity. Gandhi, in turn, mediated this Christology through indigenous traditions of ahimsa, embodied suffering, and disciplined moral action, a vision that deeply influenced King’s understanding of nonviolence and the beloved community. Engaging the AAR Presidential Theme FUTURE/S, the paper argues that King’s emphasis on moral agency, embodied suffering, and refusal of technocratic power offers a theological alternative to contemporary forms of dehumanization, algorithmic governance, and political abstraction.
This paper explores how Reinhold Niebuhr influenced the theological and organizational underpinnings of King’s non-violence. A major problem in the literature and public consciousness is the straight line drawn between Mahatma Gandhi and the non-violence of King and Lawson, which represents a fundamental misunderstanding of this syncretism and cultural translation. Historians question Andrew Young’s claim that King regarded nonviolence as “a Niebuhrian stratagem of power,” as King did not explicitly state this. However, if we take a closer look at what Young is saying and the theological and philosophical developmental of non-violence in the Kingian context, we see some undeniable truth in his assessment. Understanding Niebuhr’s influence on King allows scholars to disentangle the complexities and roots of King’s relationship to non-violence, liberal Christianity in America, and foreign policy.
This paper reconstructs Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision of global justice by examining the political theology underlying his positions on war abolition and international boycotts. While recent scholarship emphasizes King’s political thought, this paper argues that his theological imagination remains central to understanding his approach to global justice. Against portrayals of King as merely a latecomer to war abolition, an absolute pacifist, or Christian realist, the paper situates his views within a distinct tradition of African American Protestant Liberalism and its internationalist vision for global justice. The paper reconstructs King’s account of war abolition and international boycotts and the theological commitments that shaped his arguments. It concludes with a critical assessment of the tensions, problems, and contemporary relevance of King’s political theology.