People have long found last words fascinating. I once received as a gift a book that collected famous people’s final statements before they died. They ranged from silly to profound, but somehow they all carried unseen weight. I’m not sure if the same applies to last sermon titles, but as Isaac Villegas notes in a new essay, Martin Luther King Jr.’s (for a sermon he never got to preach) was “Why America May Go to Hell.”
And I must say, that feels pretty prescient. But here at the Century, we are not giving in to despair. We will cover important developments in this hellscape—like proposed bills that would require the 10 Commandments to be displayed in public classrooms—with groundedness. And of course there is still an important place for humor and essays about the value of rambunctious kids in a church service.
Our video of the week features a philosophical chat with David Dault, who answers my questions about Mr. Rogers, French philosophy, and John 8. Plus scroll down for plenty of other great new content!
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“On April 4, 1968, hours before his assassination, Martin Luther King Jr. phoned the office at Ebenezer Baptist Church back home in Atlanta. It was a Thursday, and he had to let the church secretary know his sermon title for Sunday’s service: Why America May Go to Hell.”
