They Looked for a City: A Comparative Analysis of the Ideal of Community in the Thought of Howard Thurman and Martin Luther King, Jr.

An analysis and comparison of the ideal of community in the thinking of Howard Thurman (1900-1981) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (1926-1968). For both, the search for community was a life-long quest and the ideal of community was the single, underlying thesis of their thoughts and ministries. The significance of this study lies in its examination of each man's respective approaches to the explication and application of the ideal of community. It is the claim of this study that a comparative analysis of this concern in Thurman and King can yield fruitful insight into the conception, character, and actualization of human community.