The Measure of a Man

2013 Reprint of 1959 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. In August 1958 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., preached two sermons, "What is Man?" and "The Dimensions of a Complete Life," at the first National Conference on Christian Education of the United Church of Christ at Purdue University. In response to demands made by conference attendees, King allowed publication of the addresses. With King's consent, the sermons were published by the Christian Education Press in a short book entitled, "The Measure of a Man." The press and King arranged for proceeds to be shared evenly, after the former had recovered its costs of publication. King first developed the theme of "What Is Man?" during his seminary days. King believed the sermon's title to be "one of the most important questions confronting any generation," proposing that man is many things: "a biological being", "a being of spirit" who is "made in the image of God" and "sinners in need of God's divine grace".