Sept. 19, 2018

Katsion authors chapter in exploration of Christian thinkers

Dr. John Katsion

Dr. John Katsion, associate professor of communication at Northwest Missouri State University, has contributed a chapter centered on Martin Luther King Jr. to a new book exploring influential Christian thinkers and theologians from across church history in relation to communication studies and media theory.

The book, “Words and Witnesses: Communication Studies in Christian Thought from Athanasius to Desmond Tutu,” draws on Christian thinkers through the Middle Ages to present-day reflections of John Howard Yoder, C. S. Lewis, Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Kuyper and Desmond Tutu, among others. Chapters delve into how the contemporary church and scholars of media can use these thinkers’ work to address specific problems in communication today.

Katsion’s chapter explores how King’s views continue to help Christians deal with the issue of loving enemies. In 1957, Katsion notes, King preached a sermon, “Loving Your Enemies,” that lays out three principles to help the church develop “agape in the soul” as people seek to love their enemies. Katsion asked Christians to apply the principles to radical Islam and the Islamic State, or ISIS.

“In applying King’s ideas, it points to the fact that the only way forward for the church in facing a great evil is that of a radical love for those who hate you,” Katsion said. “Martin Luther King summed up that radical love with the phrase ‘agape of the soul,’ and the rest of the chapter is a call for the church to live that type of love.”