Essay about Martin Luther King - The Prophetic Minister...

Walter Brueggemann writes, â€Å"Prophecy is born precisely in that moment when the emergence of social political reality is so radical and inexplicable that it has nothing less than a theological cause,† (B, 6). Not only do prophetic ministers grab hold of communities stuck in despair, but they also rally communities to keep reaching for a better future. Jeremiah, a prophetic minister of the Old Testament, delivered a message from the Lord to the Hebrew people who were struck with despair after their community had been split and one half destroyed. He wrote, â€Å"‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future,’† (Jer. 29:11). This is the true essence of a†¦show more content†¦Royal consciousness can be described as the prevailing culture that prophetic ministry in turn criticizes and tries to break. Brueggemann gives the example of three fo ld culture of King Solomon which includes an economy of affluence, an oppressive social policy, and a turn to static religion. Israel became a consumer culture under King Solomon’s rule, and the Israelites no longer needed to depend on God for sustenance, (B, 26). With an economy of affluence came the presence of forced labor, which Brueggemann labels the oppressive social policy, (Brueggemann, 27). Lastly, Brueggemann characterizes the Solomonic reign with a static religion â€Å"in which God and his temple have become part of the royal landscape†¦,† (B, 28). While he illustrates royal consciousness in terms of Solomon’s reign of the Hebrew kingdom from 966 to 922 B.C., the main structure of royal consciousness can be seen and criticized in almost every culture. Israel was in a crisis of turning away from God, and the prophetic ministers of the Old Testament criticized the prevalent royal consciousness of the Hebrew culture as well as urged them to cha nge their ways. I will now analyze King’s letter in light of this definition of prophetic ministry. King’s prophetic ministry really takes a stand when he criticizes the white moderates and later on, the white church. King addresses the white moderates first in the nineteenth paragraph of hisShow MoreRelatedThe Civil Rights Movement And The American Civil Movement958 Words   |  4 PagesJackson, Esau Jenkins, Gloria Johnson-Powell, Clyde Kennard, Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King, Jr., Bernard Lafayette, W. W. Law, James Lawson, Malcolm X, John Lewis and many more. On December 1, 1955, the modern civil rights movement began when Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for refusing to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama. 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