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“Was not Jesus an extremist for love: ‘Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.’”
In this passage, King cites the Sermon on the Mount from the Gospel of Matthew (5:44). Jesus’s charge to love one’s enemies thus grounds King’s claim that he, like Jesus or Martin Luther or Abraham Lincoln, is an “extremist for love.” What he means by this is that has chosen to be extreme, by loving someone who hates him, for instance, in the name of something good, like love or charity. With segregation, people have opted to be extreme in the pursuit of evil, as when children are denied entry to an amusement park simply because of the color of their skin. All of King’s examples prefer an approach that, while perhaps confrontational, derives from the hope to do good for and in the world. Nonviolent direct action, which King shows often involves prayers and hymns, is a way to “do good to them that hate you.” The paragraph ends with King’s powerful demand that readers must decide what kind of extremist they want to be, committed either to love or to hate. The former is the necessary position of people for whom justice is of central importance, he explains.
“Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake.”
Here King turns to the Old Testament for an example of the enduring power of civil disobedience. The Book of Daniel includes the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, three Hebrew men who refuse to bow to a gilded image installed by King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, an act that would violate their faith. As punishment, King Nebuchadnezzar has the men thrown into a furnace to die. Miraculously, they emerge unharmed. Nebuchadnezzar is so profoundly affected by their survival that he promotes the three to high offices and proclaims that no one in Babylon may speak against God. King’s use of this example demonstrates that the history of civil disobedience is biblical as well as secular. As the story of these three men makes clear, God protects those who respect the obligations their faith places upon them.
“Is organized religion too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world.”
Ekklesia is a Greek word that appears in the New Testament. It is usually translated as "church." By going back to a word from early editions of the Bible, before it was translated into English, King stresses the need to return to the idea of a church that is a true congregation. In response to his own question about the limitations of organized religion, he imagines finding the true meaning of faith in fellowship in the Bible. In this way, he suggests, he will not only find a place where his faith can flourish, but he can also see how faith can offer “hope” to all, to the “world.” By inserting a word that is likely to be unfamiliar to his audience, King notes that it might be necessary to embrace an understanding of faith that is also somewhat unfamiliar to achieve the ends of justice, for him an integral component of religion.
“But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.”
In this passage, King celebrates white activists who have joined various campaigns for civil rights. Even though they could have chosen an easier path, as they do not suffer the oppression that the Black protesters face, these allies have embraced an ideal that King understands in religious terms, calling their participation a form of “witness” and their efforts a “spiritual salt.” For him, they provide an example of what the gospel should mean to everyone. King is clear across the letter that he has been disappointed by white clergy and white moderates, but these activists have provided a way for his hope to endure.
