HOW MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. GOT HIS NAME

The ancient Hebrews believed in the power of names. Parents gave names to their children based on their hopes and aspirations for a particular child. A change of circumstances or a change of character often called for a new name to express the change that had taken place, as in the case of Abram to Abraham and Jacob to Israel.

With this Biblical understanding of the inherent power of a name, it is, therefore, interesting to note how Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. came by his name.

In 1934, Michael King, a black pastor from Atlanta, Georgia, travelled with a group of Baptist pastors to the Holy Land and then attended a week-long Baptist World Alliance conference in Berlin. While in Germany, King and others visited many of the religious, historical sites related to Luther and his work of Reformation.

King was so inspired by the life of Luther that upon returning home he changed his name to Martin Luther King, Sr. and changed the name of his five-year-old son to Martin Luther King, Jr. The rest is history. 

Taken from The Preface of The Charismatic Luther by Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt, available from Amazon and from www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html