Talat's Reviews > Strength to Love

Dr. King's eloquence, rhetorical power and Christian witness inspire at every turn of phrase. each page is saturated with prophetic power. "Strength to Love" (1963) is a collection of sermons that Dr. King delivered in the late 1950s and 1960s and edited for print. I feel challenged to identify what the most powerful part of this book is. Every page seems to bear the best of the book's message. Dr. King's gospel of social justice and non-violence consistently radiates forth. Of special interest to me is Dr. King's explanation of the formative role of Gandhi's satyagraha movement on Dr. King and the civil rights and freedom movement. In at least one proleptic passage, Dr. King sounds the call against war, though it would not be until April 4, 1967 (yes, mysteriously one year to the day before he was assassinated) that he would explicitly warn us that our nation would lose her soul if it continued its involvement in Vietnam. The sermons are simply gorgeous. Dr. King weaves his own reflections and urgings with poetry, African-american spirituals, and philosophy. This is truly a book that transmits the transformative message of Jesus. Dr. King also discusses the influence of Gandhi and the _satyagraha_ movement on his thinking and on the subsequent unfolding of the civil rights movement and Dr. King's later decision to take a stand against the war in Vietnam.