A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Customer Reviews:

What a dream!.......2007-05-30

This set of Dr. King's sermons/speeches is a dream come true. To hear his powerful words coming from his own mouth is so inspirational. I'm really glad I purchased these. Arthur Dunklin, Ph.D.

Deep and moving.......2007-05-17

It's hard to believe Martin Luther King was 39 when he died. His eloquence can be heard in his famous speeches but the fullness of who he was, his spiritual depth, can only be heard in his sermons. These CDs are inspiring and profoundly moving. He is one of the greatest American preachers of all time and the greatest in the twentieth century.

Timeless lessons.......2007-02-27

I have had A Knock at Midnight in book and cassette tape form for many years, and at least twice a year I listen to them. The sermons are timeless, and make clear that we were in the presence of greatness when Dr. King was alive. Listening to this CD truly is inspirational. I have given them as gifts for years, and always receive heartfelt thanks.

MLK "A Knock at Midnight" Sermon Series Review..........2006-02-17

The sermon series is awesome!!! Each sermon has an introduction that gives the listener valuable tidbits about the sermon. You can feel the effect of MLK's powerful oration abilities. All of the sermons are still relevant today and anyone who has a pulse can benefit from listening to the set.

A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Average customer rating:

White and a brother of Dr. King!!
PittsburghPreacher
A Profound Message
I wish I could give this EXPERIENCE 10 stars!
A fabulous collection of soul-stirring preaching.

A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Manufacturer: Hachette Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette

General | Books on Cassette | Audiobooks | Formats | Books

African-American & Black | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Accessories:

Sony WMFX479 Walkman

ASIN: 1570425728

Amazon.com Audiobook Reviews

Brief introductions to the sermons from spiritual leaders and friends, including Dr. Joan Campbell, Billy Graham, Dr. Robert Franklin, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, offer personal insights into King's life, work, and legacy. An interesting note from the producers explains how the recordings of the sermons (published in a hardcover companion of the same name) were pieced together. In word and in voice, these are masterpieces of theological literature from one of the world's great orators, who Robert Franklin rightly says may well be "the greatest religious intellectual of the twentieth century." (Running time: 8 hours, 6 cassettes) --Uma Kukathas

Book Description

These 11 historic sermons--some complete recordings of entire addresses, others reconstructed from various church services--make plain why Martin Luther King Jr. considered his "first calling and greatest commitment" to be a preacher of the gospel. As an orator he is second to none, drawing his audience in with an urgency that resonates through every soaring cadence of his familiar, powerful voice. Using insights from psychology, philosophy, and the Bible, he appeals to the heads as well as the hearts of his congregations, explaining that personal and social change can only be effected by adopting a morality of love in service of God and humankind. While King's concern for social justice is a common theme throughout, each sermon is a jewel of literary artistry, as it presents a simple problem, examines its complications, and offers a startling and often challenging resolution. Topics range from "Rediscovering Lost Values," a caution that scientific progress without moral progress can result only in a step backward for humanity, to "An American Dream," a wake-up call to the "self-evident truth" of equality proclaimed in the Constitution. Brief introductions to the sermons from spiritual leaders and friends, including Dr. Joan Campbell, Billy Graham, Dr. Robert Franklin, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, offer personal insights into King's life, work, and legacy. An interesting note from the producers explains how the recordings of the sermons (published in a hardcover companion of the same name) were pieced together. In word and in voice, these are masterpieces of theological literature from one of the world's great orators, who Robert Franklin rightly says may well be "the greatest religious intellectual of the twentieth century." (Running time: 8 hours, 6 cassettes) --Uma Kukathas

Download Description

With fiery words of wisdom and a passion for justice, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., inspired people everywhere to perform extraordinary acts of courage and ignited one of the most influential movements of the twentieth century. This is the definitive collection of eleven of his most powerful sermons, from his earliest known audio recording to his last sermon, delivered days before his assassination. With introductions by renowned theologians and ministers including Reverend Billy Graham and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, filled with moving personal reflections and firsthand accounts of the events surrounding each sermon, 'A Knock at Midnight' is Dr. King's living voice today--an irresistible call that resonates and inspires the greatness in us all.

Customer Reviews:

White and a brother of Dr. King!!.......2007-01-15

What a blessing to listen to these sermons of my brother in Christ Dr. King. Never throughout my life did I hear these. Why?

America, wake up!!! You are a great nation, because of the freedom bestowed upon us by none other than Jesus, the Messiah (Christ).

And those people, brought here as slaves (believe me I've heard it ad nauseam going through school, but just listen), have helped make us a great nation!

Now listen - we are ALL slaves - every one of us. To who? To ourselves!

If you think I'm a religious zealot - absolutely, freakin' not. I am a former slave, that's all. No more, no less. Saved by the blood of the Lamb. And now filled with the love of His Spirit, and loving my fellow man, regardless of color or background.

I look forward to meeting you in heaven Dr. King!

(Let's pray for Dr. King's constituents, that they would come to know the Lord, and love all, black and white, and gain God's strength as Dr. King did.... and keep loving one another, faults and all - 'cause we know we all got faults, but our hearts should be turned towards perfection! Thank you Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords!!!)

PittsburghPreacher.......2004-08-08

Simply phenomenal added dimension of Dr king that the general public who know him as an inspired civil rights leader must come to know. He was nspired, energized and directed by the word of Almighty God and conscience. Oh for leaders today to be likewise constituted.

A Profound Message.......2002-07-21

The sermons in A Knock at Midnight are both deeply moving and a powerful reminder of the greatness of Dr. King. This collection should be read and heard by everyone, especially the young of today who have been fed a Dr. King who somehow only delivered one speech ("I Have a Dream"). As a middle school teacher I found the sermons to be an excellent way for my students to move beyond the platitudes about Dr. King to a much deeper understanding of his life and ministry. To read and listen to these great sermons is an absolutely wonderful experience, but at the same time a sad reminder that today we have no great voice of moral authority like his. Fortunately we do have his words and voice preserved for us and our children.

I wish I could give this EXPERIENCE 10 stars!.......2000-05-04

Notice I refer to the cassettes and the companion book as an EXPERIENCE as I both listened to and read the REVEREND King! Although the media focused on the visible part of his ministry, the civil rights movement, his sermons are profound and awesome in their implications for today as well as their in their powerful delivery during the mid-1950's through 1960's. Although I will cherish both the cassette series and the book, it is through hearing the SPEAKING of Dr. King that really made me breathless! Thank you LORD God for sending us your messenger Dr. King to give us a wonderful earthly ministry for a brilliant and brief time (much like Jesus Christ). Simply awesome!

A fabulous collection of soul-stirring preaching........1999-03-24

A fabulous collection of soul-stirring preaching by one of this century's finest preachers. Many people know King as a great political leader, fiery orator, and creative organizer. This collection of sermons will convince the world that King was first and foremost an anointed preacher. His sermons ring with authenticity and resound with relevancy. Kings messages speak profoundly to our troubled times and offer both prophetic insight and divine guidance as we attempt to find our way into the next millinium. This collection of sermons, with their superb introductions and commentaries, is perhaps one of the finest efforts of its kind. It will certainly be a source of pleasure and insight for generations to come.

Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Average customer rating:

Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 075678655X

Book Description

In his gripping, behind-the-scenes account, journalist William Saletan reveals exactly how, thirty years after Roe v. Wade, "pro-choice" conservatives have won the abortion war. Having successfully turned abortion into a privacy issue, conservatives now prevail on issues ranging from abortion's legality and parental notification to Medicaid, rape, and cloning; consequently, reproductive autonomy is now becoming inaccessible to the young and the poor. This eye-opening exposé tells how abortion rights activists--people who desired social change, women's equality, and broader access to health care--have had their message co-opted in a culture of privacy and limited government. Bearing Right is also a story about the essentially conservative character of the United States today.
Saletan tells how, beginning in Arkansas in 1986 during the administration of Governor Bill Clinton, the National Abortion Rights Action League repackaged the abortion issue to give it broader appeal to conservatives. Pro-choice conservatives adopted this new rhetoric and made the abortion issue their own. Saletan takes us through the key events in the ensuing story--the fight over the nomination of Judge Robert Bork, the election of Governor Doug Wilder in Virginia, the convergence of the Bush and Clinton positions on abortion in 1992, and much more--right up to the present day.
This book is a crucial lesson in how politicians and interest groups can change the way we vote, not by telling us facts or lies, but by reshaping the way we think--in part through mass marketing. Today, the abortion rights movement must ask itself what it has won and what it is fighting for. This book is sure to play a role in answering that question.

Customer Reviews:

A good historical analysis, but offers no vision.......2006-05-10

Mention the word `abortion' in casual conversation, and you are likely to find yourself in the midst of a heated debate, whether it is over legality, restrictions, the rights of minors, or parental control. However, the debate within the pro-choice movement about reactive and proactive strategies is often overlooked. William Saletan's book, Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War describes the internal struggles faced by key players in the pro-choice movement in the last 20 years.

Bearing Right examines the critical players- both individuals and interest groups- in the abortion rights movement, the frame of abortion rights activism, the impact of rhetoric on that frame, and the role of increasing conservatism among individuals that identify as pro-choice. Saletan explores key ballot measures, court cases, legislative initiatives, and elections that have shaped the strategies of the pro-choice movement. Saletan's book recounts the critical history of the pro-choice movement in the United States in an honest and frank manner. While Bearing Right is easy to read, its contents will outrage any loyal pro-choice activist, like myself.

Bearing Right starts the reader out in Arkansas in 1986, during Bill Clinton's reign as governor. Saletan describes the costly success of pro-choice efforts to defeat Amendment 65, which would have limited public funding for abortion in Arkansas. The campaign against this ballot measure did more than just kill an amendment in one state; it laid the groundwork for the messages of the pro-choice movement for decades to come.

Bearing Right provides a detailed analysis of the language used to convince constituents to vote for or against particular candidates and/or legislation, and the reasoning behind employing particular slogans, such as "Keep Big Government Out of Bedrooms" (p.24). Saletan shows how the frame of a message can influence not only the outcome of a particular campaign, but also the strategy of your opponent. Bearing Right describes the pro-life movement's careful and clever use of pro-choice language and strategies to achieve their own goals.

Saletan describes conflicting views of pro-choice big-wigs, who frequently make concessions in order to win a short-term goal. Saletan's book paints a grim picture of Kate Michelman, Executive Director of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League (NARAL) from 1985 to 2004. Saletan scrutinizes over Michelman's decision-making regarding NARAL endorsement and involvement in various campaigns across the country. While seeking to provide an in-depth analysis of critical players in the pro-choice movement, Bearing Right does little to acknowledge their hard work, turning each success into a calamity.

Bearing Right also explores how pro-choice candidates, such as Virginia Governor Doug Wilder, spun their views to win an election. Even though Wilder identified as pro-choice, he approved of legislation requiring parental consent for minors seeking an abortion. Bearing Right describes Wilder's position on abortion and parental consent as the reason why Wilder won the election. Saletan describes Wilder's campaign as a crucial juncture in the pro-choice movement, introducing the concept, and power of a pro-choice moderate. Bearing Right highlights the anxiety of being pinned a liberal, and the ways politicians have crafted their image to avoid that label, especially in the context of abortion.

Saletan tries to concentrate on the trend towards conservativism within the pro-choice movement, as evidenced by the title of the book. However, it's no secret that pro-choicers have crafted their messages to appeal to the politically moderate population. The title should have read, Bearing Right: how the pro-choice movement sold out the liberals. Also, while this trend is important to highlight, the more interesting facet of the book centers on the role of rhetoric and messaging. In addition, Saletan's title suggests that the abortion war is over; I would argue not only that the abortion war is not over, but also that the pro-choice movement is in need of an army of troops to come to the rescue.

Saletan's chronological account of pro-choice campaigns helps the reader understand how critical court cases and elections coincided. Saletan refers the reader back to earlier initiatives that influenced the messaging of later campaigns. However, Saletan spends significantly more time describing the events of the late 1980s and early 1990s, devoting only the last quarter of the book to the last 10 years. While earlier events laid the groundwork for the strategies of the late 1990s, the unbalanced treatment underemphasizes the importance of recent pro-choice activities.

In its concentration on the late 1980s and early 90s, Bearing Right omits some key influences on the pro-choice movement. For example, Saletan does not even mention the advent of the internet, which has had a significant impact on all social movements. Websites and email have completely altered advocacy in both positive and negative ways. The internet has changed the face of communication, one of the main components of Saletan's book. While he did not have to spend an entire chapter on the topic, at least some mention of the internet would have informed the reader that Saletan is living in the 21st century.

Bearing Right ends rather abruptly, leaving the reader hanging on regarding what happens next. While Saletan states that the book "suggests new ways to think not just about abortion but also about politics, dialogue, and the communication of ideas" (p.1), Bearing Right merely provides ways of thinking about the debate, rather than offering concrete solutions. Pro-choice readers will undoubtedly put the book down frustrated. While critique and analysis are important, so is vision, and Saletan provides none.

Despite these drawbacks, Bearing Right is a critical read for anyone involved in the pro-choice movement. While it may be difficult for key activists to swallow, this book forces the reader to evaluate the meaning of being pro-choice, and to think long and hard about making certain concessions to win short term goals. While Saletan does not point this out explicitly, Bearing Right emphasizes the need for long-term goals in the pro-choice movement. Bearing Right would also be a good book for individuals interested in the role of rhetoric and politics- particularly candidates running for elected office, since Saletan focuses on the impact of frames and messaging.

The pro-choice movement is in desperate need of inspiration. We have been on the defensive ever since Roe v. Wade in 1973, and the majority of Americans have sat back and watched while the right to abortion has been chipped away with restriction after restriction. Now that South Dakota has passed legislation outlawing abortion, maybe people will wake up and smell the coffee. As we continue on this fight to define and advocate for abortion and women's rights, Bearing Right offers not only essential historical background, but also a way of examining the parameters of abortion rights and rhetoric. But you will have to draw your own conclusions about the next steps to take.

Unfortunate Title, but Valuable Analysis.......2005-02-09

This unfortunately titled volume is sure to attract many puzzled and curious readers: "They/we won the abortion war?!? When did that happen?" But William Saletan's conservatives are the "pro-choice conservatives"; right-to-life activists call them liberals and politicians call them moderates. These swing voters, conservative but not radical, pro-choice but pro-restriction, have dictated the terms of engagement in the abortion war from the late 1980s on. And Saletan's well-written account of abortion politics since that time gives no indication that the conflict is over, or will be any time soon.

Bearing Right begins its narrative in Little Rock, Arkansas, 1986. Pollster Harrison Hickman is leading a focus group on a proposed amendment to the Arkansas constitution to ban public funding of abortions, while the strategists of the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL) watch from behind a darkened glass panel, discussing how to turn the values of the Arkansas populace against the popular amendment. Remarkably, they succeed.

Despite voters' widespread disapproval of public funding for abortion, Hickman found a pair of key weaknesses: women were far less likely to support the amendment when rape entered the picture, and men reacted strongly when the amendment was portrayed as government intrusion into private family decisions. The resulting media campaign based on Hickman's insights marked the beginning of a dramatic shift in the terms of the public discourse on abortion rights. Pro-choice activists embraced the language of libertarian conservatism, the first slip onto a politically expedient slope that would gradually erode the meaning of "choice." They soon found that their ungrammatical new slogan, "Who Decides-You or Them?," was just as useful to their opponents for enforcing patriarchy and limiting the rights the poor and the young as it was for defending abortion rights generally. The only possible answer to the question was "you," but different groups had very different ideas of who, exactly, "you" referred to.

The story of the internal workings of NARAL is relevant to a wide array of scholars, activists, and general readers. For political scientists and historians it presents a compelling and personalized case study on rhetoric, special interests and the meanings of populism. The strategy decisions of NARAL and their consequences underscore the importance of what questions are being asked and in what contexts as competing interests try to define the "will of the people."

As Saletan points out in his less-than-subtle way, the abortion war highlights the pitfalls of sacrificing principles for expediency: inevitably, once the terms of debate are shifted toward the middle, especially in a disingenuous way, the double-tipped pen of rhetoric will write both ways. By 1992, recruiting Barry Goldwater to help defeat an Arizona ballot measure that restricted abortion rights, "pro-choice activists had reached the summit of victory stripped of the cumbersome weight of much of their agenda." "They had conquered the middle ground," Saletan concludes, "and the middle ground had conquered them." More interesting for activists and ideologues may be Saletan's discussion of "the right to choose life." Ironically, as pro-life and pro-choice rhetoric converged into a libertarian chimera of ideals and politics, it was the common ground that lost out. Within the framework of the public debate, in which abortion rights were protected by keeping the government out of personal, family (not individual) decisions, there was little room for protecting the rights of minors or working women to carry pregnancies to term against the respective demands or threats of parents or employers.

Unfortunately the intriguing NARAL story, based on organizational records and interviews, gradually dissolves into the broader context of the recent history of national abortion politics, essentially a distillation of fifteen years of news specials and newspaper clippings. The narrative loses momentum and coherence as it disconnects from the personalities and details of NARAL, and the issues spread from bans on abortion funding and government interference to parental consent laws, rape and incest exceptions, dilation & extraction/partial-birth procedures, cloning and stem cell research, and beyond.

Bearing Right is hardly adequate as a general account of abortion policy and politics; it leaves far too much out. The role of jurisprudence is mentioned occasionally but largely ignored, discussions of state abortion laws are unsystematic, and there is no analysis of the formal positions and ideologies that inform abortion activism. Even if the premise in the title is granted, the question of how the war was won is only partially answered. But what this book does do, it does very well. Saletan's extensive experience as a political correspondent shines as he analyzes the choices and public positions of activists and politicians, and though his biases are obvious, his work makes a strong enough attempt at a balanced treatment that it can-and should-be read profitably by combatants on either side, and the civilians in between as well.

More than one type of conservative.......2004-10-29

Reviewer Humbug obviously doesn't see more than one facet to conservatives. For the sake of a manageable title, Saletan didn't say "anti-government" or "libertarian" conservatives, but once you start reading the book it's clear. It's the best analysis I've seen of abortion politics; I've long felt that both sides were framing the issue wrong. In my view it should be about helping women with the resources to carry their children to term, the pro-life feminist position. Saletan captures that dynamic pretty well - pro-choice feminists reluctantly using the libertarian stick to win, in effect giving power over the issue to people (and legislators) who think abortion should be legal but constrained by sensible restrictions through democratic institutions, not the courts.

Readable and Thought-Provoking Contemporary History.......2003-12-15

This is an extremely readable and well-written recounting of the course of the politics of abortion from the perspective of the "sides" of the issue. As such, it's probably bound to tick off both "sides" at one point or another -- and I wouldn't take extreme negative reviews seriously, because they don't really appreciate the depth and clarity of the analysis. While I might quibble with some of the details, there's no denying it's a very well-researched book and one that, unlike most political tomes this side of Al Franken, can be read without feeling like you're stuck reading a textbook. My only real complaint is with the cover -- once again, a picture of a full-term pregnant woman to frame a book about abortions done months and months earlier, and this one with a little suggestion of female anatomy -- not helpful in taking the book seriously. But don't take this book by its cover -- if you're interested in genuine thoughtfulness and a little inside baseball on the give and take of an issue that touches most of the hot buttons of American politics, this is the book.

Eye-opening.......2003-10-26

This was completely different from everything I've read about this issue before. The details about what goes on behind the scenes are amazing, the polls and focus groups and how every word you hear from the politicians is gone over with a fine tooth comb to spin the public. I highly recommend for anyone interested on either side or in politics generally.

The War is Far from Over.(Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War)(Book Review): An article from: Conscience

Average customer rating:

The War is Far from Over.(Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War)(Book Review): An article from: Conscience
Cecile Richards
Manufacturer: Catholics for a Free Choice
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Philosophy | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Conscience, published by Catholics for a Free Choice on December 22, 2003. The length of the article is 1281 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The War is Far from Over.(Bearing Right: How Conservatives Won the Abortion War)(Book Review)
Author: Cecile Richards
Publication: Conscience (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2003
Publisher: Catholics for a Free Choice
Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Page: 42(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books