Introduction
When it comes to the domain of humanities, John Wesley and Martin Luther King Jr. are considered to be among the most important figures that were known for making reforms in the religious sector. They were both pastors from different generations. John Wesley sailed from England to Georgia during the colonial period in the 18th century. John is well known for being among the people who formed the movement of Methodism. Martin Luther King was well known for fighting for the American civil rights movement in the eighteenth century through non-violent protests. The reason for choosing these two figures is that they have contributed a lot in humanity and thus have influenced many people in the world. The two have many similarities and differences in the in lives. In similarities, the two got oppositions from the people of what they were doing. In their differences, Martin Luther King fought hard for the civil rights movement and never deterred because of anything. John Wesley however, his faith was deterred when he lost the love of his life.
John Wesley
In 1703 John Wesley, was born in Epworth by Susanna Wesley and his father was Samuel Wesley. He was the fifteenth child out of the 19 children that his parents had in that life. The family came from the background of the Anglican Church. Samuel was a priest of the Anglican Church. The mother was the one responsible in ensuring that all the children knew about their religion and taught them how to live morally upright. All of Samuels’s children received their early childhood education. This enabled them to learn the Latin and Greek language (Outler &. Heitzenrater, 2002). The children were also able to know more about the New Testament at the click of their fingers. John Wesley attended the Charterhouse School where he was able to learn about discipline and religion. He did Bachelor of Arts and continued until he finished his masters in Oxford.
When John was five years old, an incident that occurred changed his life for good. The roof of their house caught fire while everyone was able to vacate the house john was trapped in the second floor. However, he was able to be saved by a parishioner. The fact that he was saved from the flames changed his religious beliefs for life thus made him be the man he became (Hurst, 2003, p.102). He joined the holy club formed by his brother Charles that was influenced by religion. In 1725, he was ordained as a deacon. James Oglethorpe asked John to go to Savannah, Georgia a British colony to serve as the minister. He sailed to Georgia and while in the voyage, he encountered the Moravian missionaries. He was impressed by their faith and courage because they were going to America to preach to the Indians. The strength of the Moravian influenced his works of Methodism.
Many things happened while he was in Georgia that made his faith in the church to decline. This was because he was in love with a woman who ended up marrying another man. He returned to England after those events. The fact that he was impressed by the Moravian way of life thus prompted him turn to them for support. He sought counsel from Peter Boehler a Moravian missionary together with his brother. His faith in the church was still shaky. Something occurred called the Aldersgate experience that changed his heart in 1738(Outler &. Heitzenrater, 2002). In this experience, he heard someone reading the Martin Luther’s preface and continued to the epistles to the Romans. He felt his heart being warmed by this reading. He went to Germany, which was the Moravian capital. He assisted George Whitfield who was a former holy club member. This was through the request of George who was popular and had quite a following. At first, he was uncomfortable but sooner enjoyed the preaching of George.
Achievements
John Wesley had his own views about Christianity in that he started meetings in his own home. The members in the meeting became bigger in that he started classes with eleven members who had a leader. In the classes they discussed about their spiritual lives, they collected the money that would be used in charities and they read their bibles. In the meetings the women and men, always separated. The movement got so many followers and the movement was called the Methodists (Hurst, 2003, p.103). The movement however was not well received by the public and thus were persecuted and humiliated by the people. The reason was that people believed that the church was leading the people astray. When he died in 1791, he had many followers from people from America and England. In the modern world, the Methodist church has over three million followers from all over the world. The fact that he had so many followers made him start a school called the Kingwood school. The reason for this was that he wanted his follower’s children to have education.
Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King was born in 1929 and was assassinated in 1968. The name Luther originally was not in the names of martin but was changed by his father because he admired the reformer from Germany called martin Luther. Martin Luther king has two siblings a sister and a brother. Martin Luther grew up in a family that was very religious the reason for this was that his father was a pastor and very religious. He grew up in a well off neighborhood for the African Americans in the United States at that time. The neighborhood was called the Sweet Auburn. As a young child martin was seen to be very gifted thus went to the segregated schools in America. While at a young age of fifteen years, he attended the Morehouse College. In that college, he was able to study both law and medicine.
In the beginning, he did not show any signs that he wanted to follow on his father’s footsteps in becoming a pastor. There was mentor who changed his view when he was in college called Dr. Benjamin Mays. Dr. Mays was very vocal in fighting for racial equality and theology (King &. Carston, 2001, p.330). In 1948, he joined a seminary college that was located in Pennsylvania called the Crozer Theology seminary. In that college, he studied bachelor of divinity degree and became the class president of the class. He earned a doctorate degree in systematic theology at the Boston University. While he was studying for his doctorate degree, he found the love of his life Coretta Scott who later became his wife and the mother of his four children. Martin became the pastor for the Dexter Avenue Baptist church.
Achievements
Martin Luther King and his family lived in Montgomery one of the most segregated areas in America. Rosa Park who was working as a secretary of the Local National Association for the colored people boarded a bus. While she was in the bus, she refused to stand in order to give up her seat for a white person. This act caused her to be arrested. Martin Luther was in charge of a bus boycott that occurred for about 381 days. This boycott caused economic strain especially on the transit system. They were fighting for equality especially on the buses where they were segregated. This boycott was successful in that it is unconstitutional for segregating people on the public buses. This boycott also earned a good reputation for martin Luther as being organized and using resistance that did not lead to violence.
After that Martin Luther, together with other ministers formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). The main reason for the formation of this particular group was to help in fighting for equality in the nation (King &. Carston, 2001, p.342). When he was the chairperson of the SCLC group, he was able to travel all over the America and educated people on the importance of having non-violent protests especially in the civil rights movements. He was also able to communicate with other religious leaders in America. In the Birmingham campaign proved to be the hardest hurdle for Martin Luther. The reason for saying this was that he was arrested and placed in the Birmingham prison where life was harsh. In the prison, he wrote a Letter from Birmingham jail. The main reason he wrote the letter was because of an article that was written in the local newspaper that was condemning the protest in the town.
There was a march in Washington that occurred in, which nearly two hundred thousand people attended. This was one of the highlights of the civil rights movement. This march was designed in order for the people to state about the injustices that was happening to the black people in the nation. In this march, that is when the famous line of I have a dream became was a well-known phrase for years to come. The march in Selma was supported by many Americans as well as the president of the United States of America (Sitkoff, 2008). The reason that caused this marc was because of the way peaceful protesters form the SCLC group were captured in brutal manner on national television. In august of that year, the voting rights were passed that caused black people to vote. He inspired a lot the young men in America with his peaceful means to fight for the rights of the minority especially the black people in America. His influence is still being felt in the modern world.
In conclusion, Martin Luther King and john Wesley were two of the most inspiring people in the world especially in the religious world. They both fought hard for what they believed in. John Wesley fought hard for his church no matter the numerous threats that he received. Martin Luther King also fought hard for the civil rights movements through peaceful demonstrations. The two came from a background of religious family, as their fathers were pastors. John Wesley grew up knowing what he wanted to do in life. Martin Luther King however, did not have the ambition of following his father’s footsteps. He changed his mind when he was influenced by one of his mentors when he was in college. Martin Luther King together with other ministers formed the SCLC group in, which he was the president. The group influenced many people and helped shape America to be what it is right now. John Wesley formulated the Methodism church, which right now has over three million followers worldwide.
Reference
Hurst, J. F. (2003). John Wesley the Methodist. Kessinger Publishing, p.103-103.
King, M. &. Carston C. (2001). The autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Interlectual Property Management, p.329-359.
Outler, A. &. Heitzenrater, R. (2002). John Wesley's dermons and anthology. Nashville: Abingdon Press.
Sitkoff, H. (2008). The Struggle for Black Equality. Hill and Wang.
