“Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Reading Guide
By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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How to Use this Reading Guide:
This Reading Guide has been designed to give you the optimal experience
in reading “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In
conjunction with this Reading Guide, you will find in “Your Account” 5 videos
pertaining to this reading and “Letter to Martin Luther King,” to which King was
responding in his letter. We recommend you watch these videos before you begin
the readings as they will give you the necessary background and understanding of
the readings and the skills you will practice as you read.
After watching the videos, look through this Reading Guide. Notice the
themes you will track, write these in the back of your book and place page
numbers next to them as you find references to them in the reading. Notice the
list of Principles and the explanation of Natural Law. You can write these in your
book and look for them as well. Read through the Thought and Discussion
Questions and ponder them as you read. You can also glance through the
Enrichment Material and see if there is anything provided there that you might
want to watch or read over before beginning the readings.
Write down your thoughts, insights and questions in the margins and in the
back of your book (or printout of the readings) as you read. If you run out of
space, keep writing in a notebook so that you don’t lose all the valuable ideas
these readings give you. Discuss your insights with others and apply all you learn!
Videos to watch:
*Available in “My Account” on the Ten Boom Institute website
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Introduction to this month’s reading- with tips on reading letters
Book Review: “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
Author Bio: Martin Luther King, Jr.
Reading Skill: Track Themes
Principle Focus: Natural Law
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Principles:
1. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
2. Self-purification is necessary before direct action is taken.
3. Historically freedom has not been given by the oppressor; it must be
demanded by the oppressed.
4. “Sin is separation.”
5. “Time is neutral.”
6. “The time is always ripe to do right.”
7. In all things, “There is a more excellent way of love.”
8. “The means must be as pure as the ends we seek.”
9. Human law must harmonize with natural law to be binding.
10. It is wrong to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.
Natural Law:
Martin Luther King, Jr. on natural law from the reading:
“…there are two types of laws: there are just and there are unjust laws. I
would agree with Saint Augustine that ‘An unjust law is no law at all.’
Now what is the difference between the two? A just law is a man-made
code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code
that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in terms of Saint Thomas
Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal or natural law.
Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human
personality is unjust…
Let us turn to a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust
law is a code that a majority inflicts on a minority that is not binding on itself. This
is difference made legal. On the other hand a just law is a code that a majority
compels on a minority to follow that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness
made legal.
Let me give another explanation. An unjust law is a code inflicted upon a
minority which that minority had no part in enacting or creating because they did
not have the unhampered right to vote…
There are [also] some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in
its application.”
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1. Consider how these clarifications of just and unjust laws can be applied in a
home and work environment. Are there ever just and unjust laws in these
places? How will an understanding of natural law improve the laws we
create and control at home and work?
2. Ponder his explanations and compare them to America’s Founding period
and the “taxation without representation” issue. You could even compare
this reading to the Declaration of Independence.
Monthly Challenge: Find as many natural laws in the reading as you can and send
them to the online group for discussion.
Themes:
*Track these as you read
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Natural rights
Silence
Waiting and time
Freedom
Education
Morality
Violence
Love
Law
Conscience
Thought and Discussion Questions:
1. What is the letter to Martin Luther King from the pastor’s asking King to
do? What are they upset about? Why? Do they have good cause?
2. How does King answer the pastors’ concerns? Does he make his points?
Who is right?
3. Why did King almost never answer criticisms? Why did he answer this one?
4. What does King say about the city of Birmingham? How would these
pastors have taken King’s criticism in this letter?
5. Was King diplomatic? Why or why not?
6. Did he speak the truth? How do you know?
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7. What is King’s worldview? Was his outlook skewed by his worldview? Was
the pastors’? Is yours?
8. What is “non-violent direction action’? Does it differ from Gandhi’s
approach? How? Is it a true principle?
9. What is King’s central message? What does he want these men to do? Can
they do it?
10.What does he teach about law? Is he right?
11.What kind of education does King have? What role is his education playing
in his life? Is it blessing others? How? Can your education bless you and
others? How?
12. Did King have public virtue? Why or why not?
13. Was King’s cause just? Why or why not? How can you learn to better judge
whether or not a cause is just? Or who to support politically? Or how to
move society toward liberty?
14. What other sources have you read which discuss the same principles or
themes discussed here? What do they say?
15. What more do you need to learn to better understand what King is
teaching? Which concepts do you not understand thoroughly?
16. What principles did you find in addition to those listed above?
17. How can a better understanding of natural law improve your home life,
family or business?
18. Is the behavior of the white moderates true to human nature?
19. Why has this letter been so popular? Why does it resonate? Why is it
memorable?
20. Which quotes did you love? Why?
21. What is extremism? What causes someone to be called an extremist? Are
all of us extremists? Why or why not? Should we be?
22. Why is tension important in our lives? How can you create positive tension?
Enrichment Materials:
Videos:
1. The first 8 minutes of this video contains a clear background on segregation
in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960’s. The rest of the videos gives details
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of how the March on Washington was organized:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmRmf5VqcGs
2. Debate between Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HGr-UJSf9k
3. “I Have a Dream” Speech at the Washington Monument:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vDWWy4CMhE
Civil Rights Personalities, Events and Issues:
*You can research the following to learn more about the Civil Rights Movement:
1. In the letter, King states, “I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in
the Negro community. One is a force of complacency…The other force is
one of bitterness and hatred, and comes perilously close to advocating
violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups that are
springing up over the nation, the largest and best known being Elijah
Muhammad’s Muslin Movement.”
Here King is referencing Malcolm X and his leadership under Elijah
Muhammad in evangelizing black conversion to Elijah’s specific brand of Islamic
belief. Malcolm X has a fascinating personal history that is virtually directly
opposite to the life and experiences of King. His is a fascinating story which has
been detailed in The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told by Alex Haley. Malcolm
X collaborated extensively on this autobiography and approved it before his
death. A big word of caution here, though, if you decide to dig deeper and read
this book. While I learned much in this autobiography and for several reasons am
glad I read it, the nature of Malcolm’s lifestyle before his conversion to Islam is
graphically told here and there are selections I wish I had never read because of
their vile nature. Youth should definitely not read it and adults should read it with
caution, perhaps skipping those sections that begin to describe Malcolm’s
activities in detail.
Some things to look for if you do read it would be:
1. Look for the formation of Malcolm’s core beliefs in childhood
2. Consider why he chooses the lifestyle he does before prison
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3. Look at his self-education for the books that he reads, how he read
them and what he is looking for. He is forming his worldview during his
studies in prison and it defines the rest of his life.
4. Consider the basic principles Malcolm forms new life on and compare
those to the principles of King. Ponder how these principles are
informing the solutions they propose to the same problem of
segregation.
5. Ponder how Malcolm X became such a powerful leader and speaker.
6. Watch as Malcolm is forced to re-evaluate his core principles when
Elijah’s infidelity comes out and especially when he visits Mecca and
learns the true doctrine of Islam.
7. Ponder how his life and the Civil Rights Movement may have been
different if Malcolm had lived longer after returning from his Sabbatical.
2. Bloody Sunday March 7, 1965
3. March on Washington
4. Rosa Parks
5. FBI wiretapping of King’s activities
6. Civil Rights Act of 1964
7. Freedom Riders
8. Ku Klux Klan
9. Segregation
10. Elijah Muhammad and Wallace D. Fard
11. President John F. Kennedy
Biographies for further reading about Martin Luther King, Jr.:
1. My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr., by Coretta Scott King. Written by
Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife.
2. And the Walls Came Tumbling Down, by Ralph Abernathy. Published in
1989 by a reverend associate of King’s, this was the first book to openly
accuse King of extramarital affairs.
3. A Way Out of No Way, by Andrew Young. Autobiography written by a close
friend of King’s about the Civil Rights Movement.
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