Presenter Status
College Writing Instructor, English
Presentation Type
Lecture Recital
Location
Buller Hall, Room 250
Start Date
24-5-2019 3:20 PM
Presentation Abstract
When scholars interpret the sermons of Martin Luther King Jr., such as his last sermon, they investigate his delivery of the speech and how it has stood the test of time. A common example is “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” which King delivered on the eve of his death. Many say that he delivered this sermon like it was his last one—as if he were fully aware. Because of scholarship, this sermons has survived, but there is a lens that has not been explored extensively—the influence of medieval rhetorical theory on his scholarship as a theologian. There is a common thread that goes through his mentors and travels up to Robert of Basevorn, who wrote The Form of Preaching that was published during the medieval period. For this paper, we will explore this lens through “Love is Action” and “Paul’s Letter to American Christians.” I will show the influence of Medieval preaching, making King an ideal candidate for this position.
Biographical Sketch
Chloe is a second-year graduate student at La Sierra University in English. After graduation, Chloe intends to enter a Ph.D. program in rhetoric.
Included in
American Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Medieval Studies Commons
Martin Luther King Jr.: The Ideal Medieval Preacher
Buller Hall, Room 250
When scholars interpret the sermons of Martin Luther King Jr., such as his last sermon, they investigate his delivery of the speech and how it has stood the test of time. A common example is “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” which King delivered on the eve of his death. Many say that he delivered this sermon like it was his last one—as if he were fully aware. Because of scholarship, this sermons has survived, but there is a lens that has not been explored extensively—the influence of medieval rhetorical theory on his scholarship as a theologian. There is a common thread that goes through his mentors and travels up to Robert of Basevorn, who wrote The Form of Preaching that was published during the medieval period. For this paper, we will explore this lens through “Love is Action” and “Paul’s Letter to American Christians.” I will show the influence of Medieval preaching, making King an ideal candidate for this position.