Community
The concept of "beloved community" can be traced to the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, who wrote that humans should always be considered "ends" not "means." This philosophy was embraced and enlarged by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who made it a cornerstone of his civil rights activism. (File Photo)
UPDATED March 3, 2026
Special to United Methodist Insight | March 2, 2026
Key Points:
- Harvard philosopher, Josiah Royce, coined the term “Beloved Community.”
- Martin Luther King, Jr. developed Royce’s idea and applied it to active Christian witness.
- We can build Beloved Community by making sure that each and all are treated as ends in themselves and not as mere means to an agenda.
The language of “beloved community” is everywhere these days. Many have found it to be a compelling description of the kind of world Christians should build, and I agree. The United Methodist Council of Bishops has even released a book bearing the title: Building Beloved Community: The Courage to Love in the Face of Tyranny (Abingdon, 2025). It is a good resource.
But just what do we really mean by the term “beloved community”? Time will tell. However sustained theological and philosophical reflection can help take us deeper. After all, the last thing we want is for this substantive concept to become yet another cliché offered up in a time of peril.
The term “beloved community” is typically associated with the writing and work of Martin Luther King, Jr., but he inherited the language from earlier sources. Most credit the early-twentieth century Harvard philosopher, Josiah Royce (1855-1916), with coining the term in his 1913 book, The Problem of Christianity. Royce wrote that beloved community “will constitute what, in our discussion, shall be meant by the term ‘The Realm of Grace.’”
This vague and suggestive terminology can get lost in the clouds. Royce was a modern philosopher who subscribed to the school of thought known as “Idealism.” Idealism taught that ordinary experience could be unified in one single, all-encompassing consciousness. It is easy to write him off as an ivory tower theorist.
But Martin Luther King, Jr. was indebted to this tradition for his very practical, world-changing advocacy. King studied philosophy and theology at Boston University before hitting the streets in search of social justice. In fact, he referred to a much earlier philosopher when working out the dynamics of human rights within community. That philosopher was the German, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804).
Kant had many flaws, but his famous Categorical Imperative taught that people should never be treated merely as means to an end. People are ends in themselves. They possess their own value and should not be exploited for the agendas of others.
Martin Luther King, Jr. even quoted this principle from Kant in sermons and talks. For instance, during worship in 1962 at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, King thundered: “The great philosopher Immanuel Kant said, in what he called his categorical imperative, that ‘every man [sic] should so live that he treats every other man [sic] as an end and never as a means.’” That’s right. King said this out loud – in a Sunday sermon.
Kant had taken the idea further and argued that ideal community is an environment where all people are treated as ends in themselves. He called this the “Realm of Ends” – perhaps something like Josiah Royce’s “Realm of Grace.”
In 1965 Martin Luther King, Jr. employed this language when he preached at Temple Israel of Hollywood: “Each of us lives in two realms, the ‘within’ and the ‘without.’ The within of our lives is somehow found in the realm of ends, the without in the realm of means.” He elaborated by speaking of our inner life, our spiritual nature, our unique value as inhabiting the “realm of ends.” Our exterior necessities, conveniences, and use of technology participate in the “realm of means.”
This distinction may seem to be useless when we are in a hurry to create justice, but then again, measuring ideas by their usefulness is not necessarily good for the soul! Kant, Royce, and King were onto something when they argued for meaning and value beyond the immediate, beyond the measurable, beyond the useful. People, created in the image of God, have a greater worth.
Building any kind of community equal to this human dignity will protect the value of every member. It will treat each as an end and not merely a means for accomplishing an agenda. Ultimately, the “Realm of Ends” is the “Beloved Community.”
Theoretical? Sure. But let’s remember that the best advocates for justice over the past century have often been labeled book worms or described as irrelevant dreamers. When those of us committed to action disregard the value of anyone who seems to stand in our way, we become yet another user. It’s a hard truth to swallow, but we have sometimes paid attention only to those who can advance our cause.
The philosophical principles advocated by Martin Luther King, Jr. move us toward a definition of community that keeps us honest. Otherwise, we might simply slap together whatever kind of human association we desire (and we control) and call it “Beloved Community.”
I would rather work for a realm – a holy kinship – where each and all are valued the same as ends in themselves. That would be a truly “beloved” community.
Kristen Schell
The Rev. Christopher P. Momany. Photo by Kristen Schell.
The Rev. Dr. Christopher P. Momany is an historian and writer serving as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Dowagiac, Michigan. His most recent books are: “Compelling Lives: Five Methodist Abolitionists and the Ideas That Inspired Them” (Cascade, 2023) and the collaborative “Awakening to Justice: Faithful Voices from the Abolitionist Past” (InterVarsity, 2024). He is now working on a history of the philosophical principles that grounded the American abolitionist movement.