Sermon Introductions by MLK

Transcript

[Page 1] M[artin] L[uther] King Jr. [Page 2] [Inserted text in margin: Why Religion? Introduction] Recently a very serious minded friend of mine asked me the question, why religion? I found myself unable to give a concrete answer to this question, for I had never given it a thought. I could have probably answered his question by saying, if you have religion you will go to heaven, but in reality I know nothing about heaven. Or I could have said, if you dont have religion you will go to hell, but personally I dont believe in hell in the conventional sense. Or maybe I could have quoted some scriptural passage, but suppose he doubted even the authority of the Bible. He wanted some concrete evidence on the necessity for religion. And so after giving the question some serious thought, I will attempt to answer it in this sermon. Why Religion? [Page 3] [Inserted in the margin: Life Is What You Make It Introduction] Many people wander into the world, and they pick up everything they can get their hands upon looking for life. They never get it. What they get is existence. Existence is what you find, life is what you create. Therefore, if life ever seems worth while to you, it is not because you found it that way, but because you made it so. Civilizations Great Need Introduction The greatest need of civilization is not political security; the greatest need of civilization is not a multiplicity of wealth; the greatest need of civilization is not the superb genius of science, as important as it is; the greatest need of civilization is moral progress [Page 4] [Inserted in the margin: The Effects of Conversion] There is no greater revolution in the world than conversion to God. It might be profitable to those who have not yet undertaken this internal revolution of their spirits, to acquaint themselves with the three beautiful results of conversion. What Is Man? One of the most pertinent and pressing problems of our time was raised by an ancient poet of Israel when he asked, "What is man?" What men have believed about themselves, what they have thought was their nature and destiny, have been among the most potent facts in history. There are varied and all very good; specially the first.