The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Was a time all news stories referred to King as "the Rev.," that is, "Reverend" because of his bachelor's degree in divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa. King was a Baptist preacher.

Somewhere along the modern line of history, King's theology degree was shuffled off into a dark corner or a closet, as the folks who make decisions for the rest of us decided religion did not now, nor had it ever, played a part in American life. Except, maybe, among white racists who used their concept of religion to keep the black man down. 

That still is the case. I cannot remember the last time anyone referred to King as "Reverend King." For the last 40 or more years, King lost his preacher title and became "Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.," or just "Dr. King." 

How did King become a doctor? What kind of doctor was he? No one ever says.

I had to look it up. King received his Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University in 1955. His dissertation was entitled "A Comparison of the Conceptions of God in the Thinking of Paul Tillich and Henry Nelson Wieman." 

So, King's doctorate is about religion.